Gene Knepprath

Communication Studies

Began in 1961
Ended FERP in 1993

I came to Sacramento in the fall of 1961 as an addition to the Speech “area” in the Humanities Division of the College. It was a year or two before the different areas in the College’s Divisions became separate Departments. The speech area in 1961 was comprised of Public Speaking, Radio and Television, Theater, and Speech and Hearing Therapy areas.

My first assignment was to be Debate Coach and to teach two sections of Beginning Public Speaking and one graduate course in the History of Speech Education in the United States. Since I came as an ABD, the Speech faculty wanted me to have an easy load so I could finish the D part during my first year. It worked!

In the early Sixties, from time to time the president would call for an all college convocation to hear an off campus speaker. My first college-wide committee assignment was to the one that chose the speaker and hosted him or her on campus. I became acquainted with some faculty outside of my department that way.

Another committee assignment that I found very interesting and rewarding was the Social Sciences Graduate Committee. The committee’s major responsibility was as the candidate’s thesis overseer. I stuck with that committee for many years.

When the Speech Department became three departments: Communication Studies, Drama, Speech and Hearing Therapy, I went along with the other folks in the "speech" business. The department encouraged its faculty to become proficient in other areas of the department than they originally taught. Through sabbaticals and other research opportunities, I studied at Boston University, University of Maryland and did some teaching at UC Davis and Salem State University and ended my career teaching mostly research methods and data analysis.

When I first came to Sacramento I believed that this was one more step in moving up the career ladder and that I would finish the doctorate, stay three or four years, get some publications out and then move up to another university or two and finally to one where I would end my career. I and my family found Sacramento and the College such a rewarding place that we telescoped my earlier career belief, cut out the intervening steps and went directly to the school where I would end my career: Sac State. No regrets.

While at Sac State much of my research efforts involved using computers to analyze political speeches, especially campaign speeches. After the desktop computer came into widespread use, I attempted to teach students in most of my classes rudimentary use of the computer so that they could add “computer literate” to their skills when applying for work after graduation

In retirement I’ve done what many former professors do: some travel, some volunteering assignments, some reading, and cross word puzzles. As an undergraduate and graduate student, I had acted in many plays, and theater was my first activity in the broad field called, at that time, Speech. I did not do much acting in Sacraxmento until the mid-seventies, when I became active in community theater. I continued during my retirement until three years ago, when I hung up my make-up kit.