Ted Mitau
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Taking political science with Dr. Mitau
Wouldn’t it be fun to experience that class once again?
Joanne Rawn Kaufman
Mitau’s program for women
Dr. Mitau was concerned about job opportunities for women. Education and nursing were sure bets, but liberal arts grads were difficult to place and often under employed. He set up a program for economics and political science female students. We did have to take typing and office machines to enable job entree, but we were compensated with summer internships and better job placements.
I did not really know what I wanted to do. In retrospect, I should have fully discussed my options with my advisor in the English Department, Ms. Meister, who could have pointed me toward editing, library science or perhaps publishing. At the time one thing was certain -- I did not want to teach. Nothing against teachers, but both my parents taught and I felt as though I'd already had a lifetime of experience in that field! I signed on for the program, and ended with an economics major and a political science minor but found my favorite class had been Pat Kane's fusion of economics, literature, and ethics. The phone call offering my post-graduation job came on a Sunday evening when there was no one around the dorm to share my excitement. I accepted employment with Dr. Walter Judd, Fifth District Congressman. I would work first in Minneapolis home office, then the campaign office and finally in the D.C. office. As Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee and as U.S. delegate to the United Nations, Dr. Judd achieved a higher profile than most congressmen.
Mary Gludt ’59 (deceased) was also in the program and came to D.C. the following year to work for Senator McCarthy. She later earned a law degree. Dr. Mitau had urged women students to consider law as a profession at a time when female lawyers were relatively scarce.
Alison Mossler Wright
What the ‘G’ stood for
Students of Dr. G. Theodore Mitau wondered what the "G" stood for. One morning as Dr. Mitau entered the classroom he slammed the door behind him. The lights went out. A student responded to the situation by joking, "Let there be light." The room remained in darkness. Dr. Mitau turned to the student and said, "If you want to accomplish anything you need to speak in a more authoritative manner." Then pounding his fist on his desk, Dr. Mitau declared in an 'authoritative' manner, "Let there be light!" The lights went on. The student declared in a robust manner: "Now I know what the ‘G’ stands for!"
Thomas J. Philipp
Professor Mitau, my sister and choosing law
Part of the reason I came to Mac was that my older sister, Peg, who started three or four years before me, was enthralled by Ted Mitau and became so turned on about politics that, at the 1952 PE Week political convention, she pushed forward Ike’s name and seems to have invented the “I Like Ike” slogan. (In fact, I think she is responsible for the election of Eisenhower! Minnesota’s early 1952 primary election had a deluge of write-in ballots for Ike, setting him on the road to election as President.) I too liked Ted Mitau a great deal and eagerly looked forward to his classes, whether he was pounding his elbow on the table followed by the fist to give visual emphasis to the numbing mindlessness of the totalitarian state, or simply bouncing his legs on the balls of his feet under the table in nervous tension. In our senior year, I worked as an assistant to Ted, up in his lofty tower office in Old Main. I hadn’t found him to be particularly approachable but by the end of the year he played a key role in finding a job for me at the Minnesota Legislative Research Committee. But for that, I probably would not have decided upon a career in law.
Thomas E. Johnson
Joining the Army's Civil Affairs / Military Government unit
Like several others, I joined the Army Reserves for a six-year stint while at Mac, as graduation approached and the draft seemed nearer and nearer. There were several attractions. Our group joined the Civil Affairs/Military Government (CA/MG) unit in which Ted Mitau was a high officer, making this seem to be the very best way to pass our time in the military. More importantly, if we were drafted, we could volunteer for active duty for a mere 18 months as compared to the usual two-year obligation of draftees. Yet another attraction for a cash-short person like me, the Army paid money to us on a regular basis. Of course, nothing turned out as advertised. Our rather civilized CA/MG unit was quickly disbanded and we were reassigned to a helicopter repair unit -- where we learned that helicopters are so complex that none of us were allowed to even touch one. Eventually, having passed through an artillery unit while at Harvard Law School, there was a so-called Pentomic Reorganization of the Army and we were given draft protection. So, I served out my six years of weekly meetings, bimonthly weekends and annual summer camps without need of going on active duty.
Thomas E. Johnson
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