California State University, Bakersfield now has a new tribute to one of its first faculty members.
On Saturday, a dedication was held on campus for two benches that were installed near the Doré Theatre in honor of Dr. Charles McCall, who was the founding chair of the Political Science Department when CSUB opened in 1970.
Funding for the benches was raised by a group of his former students.
“He was a big presence on campus. He really invested 100% of his energy into CSUB, not just the Political Science Department,” said John Busschaert, a former student of Dr. McCall who led the effort. “For a lot of people, Charles kind of impacted their lives. He was just exceptional in a lot of ways. When he passed, I felt there should be some way to remember him.”
Besides being a professor, Dr. McCall was also a big fan of CSUB Athletics, especially the men’s basketball and wrestling teams, and helped raise money for student-athletes.
He was also a member of the Academic Senate and chaired several organizations, including the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan.
Dr. McCall was inducted into CSUB’s Faculty Hall of Fame in 2020 in recognition of his contributions to the university and the community.
Busschaert said he got to know Dr. McCall first as one of his professors. Then, after graduating from CSUB in 1983, he continued to stay in contact with Dr. McCall and maintained a strong friendship with him until Dr. McCall’s death in 2013.
“I was very impressed with him as professor,” he said. “Charles knew exactly what he was talking about. He was not an easy professor, but that’s a good thing. He was a mentor for me and for many.”
After Dr. McCall died, Busschaert said he immediately began thinking of ways to memorialize him on campus and started reaching out to some of his former classmates. However, it took longer than anticipated to bring everyone together and determine the right way to honor Dr. McCall’s legacy.
“It’s definitely overdue,” he said. “It took too long to get here, but I’m glad we’re here.”
Busschaert said the group eventually landed on the idea of having some dedicated benches on campus out of the hope that they would foster communication.
“Charles would always pound home the notion that communication is so vital, especially in politics,” he said. “He said you can work out any problem as long as you communicate, so we thought ‘how do we memorialize communication?’ We thought about having two benches making an L shape so you could have privacy but some communication could happen with someone sitting on the other bench.”
Philosophy Professor Jackie Kegley —who participated in Saturday’s bench dedication — knew Dr. McCall for many years and was a close friend of his.
“He was an outstanding professor and just a cool person. He had a good sense of humor,” she said. “Charles saw the art of everything, and I think that was why he was a such good teacher for his students.”
When Dr. Kegley was informed about the effort to install benches on campus in Dr. McCall’s honor, she said she thought it was a great idea, especially because it was former students who were doing it.
“The fact that they organized this says a lot about his legacy,” she said. “I think these benches will be a nice tribute to him, especially since it came from the students.”
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