By Kyle Kern, Co-editor in chief
Susquehanna is losing one of its own to continued education after the end of the 2018 summer semester.
Professor Lewis “Louie” Land of the English and creative writing department is attending the University of Idaho this fall to work toward a master of fine arts degree after teaching at Susquehanna for four years.
Land grew up in an extremely rural area called Hoofland, Pennsylvania, where even a google search would not bring the location up.
Land went to Line Mountain High School in Northumberland County.
“I didn’t grow up on a farm, but it was very rural country,” Land said.
Land attended Susquehanna as an undergraduate studying English and creative writing. Before deciding to attend Susquehanna, Land says that he had always known that he wanted to be a writer and remembers visiting Susquehanna during a Writing in Action day during his sophomore year of high school.
Land said, “I met Gary Fincke and Tom Bailey, neither of them are still with the university, but both of them were great recruiters for the program and they did a good job of selling what a creative writing education was all about and why you should be excited about it.”
Some people get caught up in the dream of being a successful writer when they’re young, Land said. The dream where once you write your one masterpiece you can publish it and make millions of dollars and never have to work again, he said.
Louie Land
Getting to meet Bailey and Fincke, Land realized that he wanted to be a college professor, to be able to teach and educate students.
During his time at Susquehanna, Land was a member of the social fraternity Phi Mu Delta, where he was the vice president of membership development.
Land is the current Phi Mu Delta chapter adviser on campus. However, due to continuing his education Land is transitioning to adviser of recruitment chair.
Junior Kyle Haag, a member of Phi Mu Delta, talked highly of Land. “As an alumnus of the school and fraternity, he tries to make sure that he stays up-todate on the chapter and does a good job of being a chapter adviser,” Haag said.
Haag also participates in a weekly run gaming group that Land is a part of in his free time. “I have definitely gotten to know him more through our D&D campaigns,” he said. “The sessions are enjoyable.”
Thomas Moran, a junior and president of Phi Mu Delta, has credited recent success and growth to Land. “I met Louie when I joined the fraternity and since then he has helped us out tremendously,” Moran said.
While an undergraduate student, Land was a resident assistant with residence life for three years and also was hired to continue the position for the students there working and studying in the summer.
Land often used his multiple work and organizational events to overlap residence life hall building programs. Hall programs are used by resident assistants to promote the sense of community.
“I’ll do a jam session as a hall program, or my bulletin board will have something to do with music,” Land said. Land even helped plan and promote a benefit concert as part his membership with Phi Mu Delta, performing with Faculty Lounge and coincided with his hall programs.
Land is also involved in a local band, Faculty Lounge, a band that traces its origin back 16 years. However, Land wasn’t always the musician that the campus knows him to be.
“I learned how to play guitar while I was here, didn’t play any instruments when I came here,” Land said.
Land said that the reason he learned to play was based upon the fact that the people he hung around were all musicians, while he sang. “There was a very social aspect to it, people just hanging out and playing guitars,” he said, “And it is hard to just sing when people are trying to have a jam session.”
Land had a guitar at home that was broken, so he talked his parents into letting him buy one off a friend for a rather inexpensive price. “We picked it up and it was mostly just so I could play with other people and hang out and learn how to play new songs and visit new places,” he said.
After graduation, Land went to Arkansas to attempt a graduate’s degree in English and creative writing. However, after deciding the school wasn’t for him, Land came back to the local area to Bucknell University to work on his master’s degree. This eventually allowed him to be able to teach at Susquehanna in the fall of 2015.
Land has taught courses in the English and creative writing department and was also given the opportunity to teach GO Abroad classes from David Imhoof, the lead vocalist of Faculty Lounge, head of the history department and the GO Abroad director of curriculum at Susquehanna.
Imhoof chose Land to help with the GO classes because he is able to effectively relate and communicate with the students. “He tries to foster a genuine learning experience,” said Haag, who had a class with Land in his first year. He explained that Land often tells students in his classes to refer to him as Louie and to contact him if they need help.
Land even finds time to help other professors in their classes as well. First-year Patrick Marsh had taken Writing and Thinking with Lawrence Roth, the writer of the original songs for the band and the head of the English and creative writing department. “I learned that Louie and Dr. Roth were good friends and Louie gave lectures for his class,” Marsh said.
“He is a man of the people,” Marsh continued.“I know that the class enjoyed him as a teacher.”
Land lent his help by also taking over the professor role of two classes toward the end of the semester twice, the literature studies course in the fall of 2016 and the living writers course in the fall of 2017.
In the fall of 2014, Land eased his way into Faculty Lounge by substituting as their bass player. “It is a small music scene so every now and then I would jam, with some of them or bump into them at a mutual friend gathering,” Land said.
Land was replacing the former dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences of Susquehanna, Lucien (Terry) Winegar, who left the university to become the dean of Ursinus College.
Land had been playing in a band prior to becoming a substitute for Faculty Lounge with Pete Groff, a professor of philosophy at Bucknell University, and Roth. Groff also transitioned to Faculty Lounge after being introduced to the band.
“It is a small music scene so every now and then I would jam, with some of them or bump into them at a mutual friend gathering,” Land said.
That was something that lead to a period of adapting, Imhoof said. “We had been a 4-person band for 12 years and now had to work with having five members.”
Groff became the bassist while Louie transitioned to the guitar and the backup singer, which was something he was more accustomed to. “Louie is more into jazz music and with his role as the guitarist, it suits him better,” Imhoof said.
Imhoof says that Land is the humorist of the group, as roughly “80 percent to 90 percent” of his jokes are good, while Imhoof rarely has to tell him to “dial it back”. Imhoof says that Land’s dry sense of humor has allowed him to be successful in both his music career and teaching career.
“As the type of band that we are, we don’t take ourselves too seriously and Louie knows that and that’s what has helped him,” Imhoof said.
Land operates as a litmus test for the band’s local popularity with the students on campus as he is the closest to their age, Imhoof said.
Land has also introduced Imhoof to the world of comics and comic book superheroes. “I have a greater appreciation of the comic book world and almost understand the D.C. and Marvel debate because of Louie and my son,” Imhoof said.
In regard to Imhoof’s son, Land has also shared his love of Jazz music. Imhoof said that Land entrusted Imhoof’s son with dozens of jazz music records and cd’s when he had told Land about taking an interest in jazz music.
“The idea that he is able to share with a 12-year-old boy, Chet Baker and Miles Davis and John Caltrane and Thelonious Monk, and I mean I think he recognizes that he is always teaching people, he has certainly taught me lots of things and he has taught the band lots of things and he has taught my son lots of things,” Imhoof said.
Patrick Long, drummer for Faculty Lounge and professor of music at Susquehanna, notes that Land will leave behind a legacy. Land has been known as the unrivaled expert on all things Susquehanna since the death of former Chaplain Raymond “Padre” Shaheen.
“He’s been a student, an alum, a professor, a Faculty Lounge band member, and much more that I can’t mention due to confidentiality. It is safe to say that he knows SU’s traditions, procedures, personnel and ‘lore’ better than anyone currently living. I predict that he will someday be featured in the Quill,” Long said.
Imhoof said that he is sad that Land is leaving but he intends to keep in contact with him so he can someday understand the divide between DC and Marvel. Moran along with the brothers of Phi Mu Delta are also among those sad that he is leaving. “He is an amazing [fraternity] brother and his presence will be missed,” Moran said.
“Louie is a talented writer, musician and teacher and we’ve been lucky to have him as part of this community for as long as we have,” Long said.