Colonel Wright
From The Extended Group
Colonel Wright is a pseudonym for UW Professor Mary C. Wright, whose History of the Pacific Northwest class was taken by Brett, Kevin, Nathan and Rama in Spring 2006. The name is taken from an actual historical figure, Colonel George Wright, who prosecuted much of the Yakama War in 1850s Washington Territory.
The Person
The class is derided routinely by all four extended group members for Prof. Wright's disorganized, disengaged lecturing style, broad, often unfounded generalizations, and her inane, myopic understanding of history. Furthermore, class curriculum tends to focus exclusively on the experiences of ethnic minorities in the Pacific Northwest, forgoing "Euroamerican" historical events almost completely. This is a supreme disappointment to Kevin and Brett in particular, who had high hopes that the class would broaden and expand their interest in Cascadian history.
The name "Colonel Wright" is used pejoratively, invoking the image of an absent-minded and utterly unqualified authority figure (in the vein of Colonel Klink).
Several off-the-cuff remarks (mentioned as though historical fact) include her insistence that the legacy of xenophobia and racism lives on in this country in the form of the "Minute Men" border patrols, and that Japanese Internment during World War II was a step on the "road to genocide". Perhaps her most famous aphorism was the confounding assertion that, in Chinook Jargon, the British were referred to as "King George Men" (because of their monarch at the time), the Americans were called "Bostons" and the French were called "French" -- "...because they were French."
Notions of overthrowing the Colonel have been tossed around, including a half-baked attempt to convince the section leader (whom all four have) Brian Schefke, to take over lectures in a supposed "Coup de'TA."
Trivia
- On the last day of lecture said "um" or "uh" 128 times.
- Said "I dont know" or made otherwise vague statements concerning numbers and statistics 17 times.
