A Passionate, Devoted, and Talented Professor Who Will Be Missed by All Of MWCC
By Maddie Willigar | Editor-in-Chief
Mount Wachusett Alumnus and English Professor, David Wyman, unexpectedly passed away on August 12. His presence on campus is one many will miss, and Wyman will be remembered by those at MWCC as someone passionately devoted to his beliefs, students, and poetry.
Regarding the news, President Vander Hooven said, “I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of David Wyman. David was an extraordinary educator, completely dedicated to his students. The Mount has lost a passionate teacher and friend. My thoughts are with his family, friends, and the many colleagues who will miss his love and friendship.”
Having taught at the Mount for eighteen years, Wyman left almost two decades’ worth of impact and memories at MWCC. Michelle Valois, English professor and fellow writer, met Wyman in the tenth grade, where they both attended the same high school. However, it wasn’t until about thirty years after graduation that they re-encountered each other again after Wyman was tutoring in the Academic Support Center (now called the Learning Success Center), where Valois was the director at the time.
Though Valois said that Wyman had always been a “bit of a rebel,” she described him as “one of a kind.” Valois added, “David just was a firm believer in fairness and justice.”
After publishing their first books of poetry at about the same time, Valois said they held poetry readings together. “I would bring my books to sell,” Valois said, “but he would bring his books to give away because he felt that poetry should be free for everyone.”
Valois said that Wyman, who was a Marxist, had a strong set of “principles” that he abided by and stuck with throughout his life. This, in addition to his intelligence and humor, is what Valois said were some of his best qualities. She also said that he appeared to be a great father and that she admired “his fierce love and loyalty for his kid.”
One quality that Valois said most of the MWCC faculty could probably confirm was his ability to “speak truth to power” and always share his thoughts and feelings on certain topics at school meetings.
Dr. Laurie Occhipinti, who had known Wyman since she came to the Mount in 2016, echoed this. Occhipinti, who is the Dean of Liberal Arts, Education, Humanities, and Communications, described Wyman as “fearless” and unafraid to ask difficult questions.
“As the dean for the college, I could always really count on him to look at questions very thoughtfully and always raise any potential problem or issues,” Occhipinti said. Being student-focused, Occhipinti said Wyman constantly weighed how any policy changes or proposals could potentially help or hurt students.
This level of thoughtfulness towards students, along with his clear passion for writing and literature, is what Occhipinti said were some of Wyman’s greatest traits. “He worked incredibly hard in the classroom to make sure that he was always presenting material in a way that was accessible for students so that they could really make progress and learn,” Occhipinti said. But besides his consideration for these students, Occhipinti mentioned that he also had a great sense of humor.
While working with Wyman, both Valois and Occhipinti learned different things from him that they will carry with them. Occhipinti explained that because her background is not in teaching English or writing, Wyman helped build her understanding of how this was “foundationally important for college students” and how he, as well as other professors at the college, were going about teaching it.
Valois said, “What I learned from him wasn’t anything he taught; it was by example.” She added, “I just saw someone who just kept fighting.” Though Valois explained she never had a conversation about it with him directly, she believed that Wyman, who struggled with diabetes, was often in more pain than people realized.
Recalling a few times she had watched him slowly walk around campus from class to class, Valois said, “he kept persevering.” This “image” of perseverance to go teach something that he loved and was passionate about is one that Valois said she learned from and one she thinks many others could learn from as well.
Outside the classroom environment, Wyman was a poet and released two poetry books, Proletariat Sunrise and Violet Ideologies. Some of his poems were also featured in publications such as Squawk Back, Dissident Voice, and Clockwise Cat, along with many others. Occhipinti, who had seen Wyman read some of his work at a poetry reading a few years back, said, “It let me see a whole other side of him.”
Regarding Wyman’s poetry, Valois noted that sometimes as a writer, it can be challenging to “know what impulse to follow,” but that Wyman had a way of taking “leaps of the imagination.” Valois said she admired that his work wasn’t “didactic” and didn’t spell out how you should feel or think. Instead, Wyman’s poems had you constantly re-evaluating and thinking about what each poem meant to you.
Valois, who was in a writing group with Wyman and two other MWCC faculty members, also explained that Wyman was great at reading others’ work and always gave very thoughtful feedback.
Valois said, “Professor Wyman dedicated his life to words: his own words, his students’ words, and the words of all great writers that came before him. To honor him, the English department will be holding a reading this semester…where students, faculty, and staff are welcome to come and read Dave’s words or words that inspired him.”
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