Dr. Michael Letteney
Profile -- (Fall 2000 Newsletter)
When choosing a college, consult the Yellow Pages. Mike Letteney
did.
Letteney was a year out of high school, a transplant from
Massachusetts, and a lumberyard worker in nearby Ventura.
Late in the summer of 1984, he decided he wanted to go to
college. But when he found that the out-of-state tuition he’d
have to pay at a local state college would be comparable to
what he’d pay at a private college, he thought he’d
check out local private colleges.
So he got out the phone book, looked under “colleges,”
and the first private college entry he saw was “Thomas
Aquinas College.” He called Admissions Director Tom Susanka
who told him there was still room in the freshman class. Letteney
got an application, started filling it out, but abandoned
it in frustration when he couldn’t keep his messy freehand
essays from curving over the page. Susanka called and urged
him to complete it. Letteney did and delivered it to Susanka
the next day. That was Thursday. On Friday he was accepted.
On Monday he started school.
He had no idea what he was getting into. In fact, when he
had come to drop off his application, Susanka had to explain
to him the unique character of the College, noting that all
classes were held around tables and that no desks existed.
Susanka went to show him a typical classroom. The first door
they opened happened to be filled to the ceiling with desks
(being stored for a group over the summer). Letteney thought
Susanka was pulling a fast one.
Letteney’s story is stranger still. Less than a year
before, he had intended to join the Army. He had scored high
on his aptitude test and was highly-recruited. The night before
he was to swear in for duty, he walked out in front of a grocery
store after work and met up with a few friends who were drinking
beer – just as a police cruiser came by. Two friends
fled, but Letteney stayed with one on crutches who couldn’t
flee. Letteney was arrested and cited for a public drinking
violation.
The next day the recruiter told him he couldn’t swear
in with an open case pending. He later beat the charge, but
in the meantime his father invited him to come to California,
which he did. Had Letteney not walked in front of the grocery
that night, he would not have ended up in Ventura, not have
gone to the College, not have turned his life around, not
have married his classmate, and not have returned to teach.
Thank you, Mr. Police Man.
Letteney was raised Catholic but wasn’t serious about
his faith. Eventually, his studies took root, specifically,
with St. Augustine in his sophomore year, and he realized
the importance of living the Christian life. He found a love
for philosophy (as well as for his classmate, and now wife,
Marilyn Ellis), and after graduation in 1988 wanted to study
more. He was fascinated with the relationship between modern
science and Aristotelian natural philosophy.
He went to Notre Dame, obtaining a master’s degree in
the history and philosophy of science, another master’s
in philosophy, and a doctorate in philosophy. He was awarded
the distinguished Bradley Fellowship from 1990-93 and from
1994-96, and worked under Dr. Ralph McInerny [see profile
page 4] helping to archive Charles de Koninck’s papers,
organizing a summer Thomistic institute, and assisting at
McInerny’s “Basics of Catholicism” courses.
He wrote his dissertation on the 18th century naturalist,
George Cuvier, who sought to defend the teleological underpinnings
of biology against the rising modernists of the day. Today,
he gets requests from scholars to review related monographs.
He was also teaching introductory philosophy courses for
undergraduates and found a love and gift for teaching. He
wanted to return to his alma mater, but no tutor openings
existed. He took a teaching position at Xavier University
in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he taught the “theory of knowledge”
and various seminars on the history and philosophy of science.
Two years later in 1998, a tutor vacancy arose at the College
and Letteney returned. “I had some apprehension about
coming back to be a colleague with men and women who had been
my teachers, but I was surprised how quickly that went away.
They were so welcoming.”
He is glad to be teaching according to the College’s
unique pedagogy. “At Xavier, I’d come in with a
prepared lecture and would know exactly the kinds of questions
that were going to come up. Here, you have to trust that your
students will find their way. Sometimes, you send out the
opening question on a wing and a prayer. More often than not
your prayer is answered in the most unexpected and delightful
way.”
Today, Mike and Marilyn raise five children together. Thanks
to the Yellow Pages.
-- Qtrly Newsletter, Fall 2000
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