Through consistent, thorough and rigorous involvement with Hamline and the Midway community, Mike Reynolds has cemented himself as an influential member of Hamline University.
Reynolds has been working at Hamline for a little over 20 years where he has held a plethora of positions on both the faculty and administration sides. Currently an English professor, Reynolds is also involved in a long list of other programs and groups. At the core of his work is his teaching and dedication to Hamline students.
“Teaching is always at the heart of it for me. I get excited by critical scholarly problems,” Reynolds said. “I am just really interested in how we tell stories and how they circulate. I took four years between undergrad and grad where I taught overseas and then I worked in a law office … I just like the classroom and the things you can do in a classroom.”
One of Reynolds’ colleagues, an Anthropology professor, David Davies, admires Reynolds’ devotion to learning and sharing knowledge.
“[Mike] is a Hamline professor through and through. [He is] the excellent professor that we all want to be at Hamline. He has a strong commitment to teaching. He has a strong commitment to engaging undergraduates,” Davies said.
This commitment to the university is one of strong intentions to better the community and improve the experience that students have during their time here. This devotion is not exclusively noticed by other faculty but is also easily sensed by students.
“Mike is so visibly and tangibly dedicated to the Hamline community in so many aspects. From helping students and listening to students and supporting students in every way that he can, to helping the university functions on faculty council, leading whatever groups he can. Putting in his time with that type of institutional support,” senior Lydia Meier said.
Due to Reynolds’ extensive involvement with Hamline, Meier interacts with him both in and out of the classroom. As the Editor-in-Chief of the Fulcrum Journal, a collaborative publication of students’ art, Meier gains support from Reynolds through his position as the advisor to the organization. While she knew he excelled in that area, she had not experienced his work as a professor until this semester.
“I’ve heard people saying for years that Mike is one of the best professors at Hamline, and I believed them because he is a great advisor and I have always had really good conversations about art with him, but I had never gotten the chance to experience that,” Meier said. “Going to class with him for the first time and seeing how passionate he is, how driven he is to encourage and cultivate learning within his students, how interested he is in hearing student perspectives and sharing his passion for art, writing, is just so fun to see.”
While his biggest dedication is to sharing knowledge with students, Reynolds is also involved in the Hamline – Midway community. This is evident through the work he does with the Hamline Midway Coalition (HMC).
“Mike has been a neighbor as long as he’s been a Hamline faculty member. He’s been very active in engaging the neighborhood and thinking about the relationship between the campus and the neighborhood. Bringing opportunities to students to connect with the neighborhood,” Davies said.
Reynolds additionally works to connect the University and the surrounding area with a two-way street of support.
“It is so cool to see that he cares about the neighborhood as a whole, not just what the neighborhood can do for Hamline, but what Hamline can do for the neighborhood,” Meier said.
Reynolds emphasized that an important aspect of why he so deeply involves himself with his work is because of the meaningful relationships that come with it. Working at one university for decades provided him with a plethora of connections that he still fosters.
“I am in touch with a number of folks that I have taught here. [Teachers and students] build relationships that I think are really meaningful. We have strong relationships that go beyond taking a class with me,” Reynolds said.
Davies, having worked at Hamline for a similar length of time, has seen first-hand the effect of Reynolds evolving such relationships across many stakeholder groups.
“The real contribution that Mike makes to this institution has been that long-term human investment in the organization,” Davies said. “He’s one of those people who is present, he’s around, he’s at meetings, he’s talking to people, he’s in the classroom, but he’s also present for our colleagues on campus.”
Over his many years of working at Hamline, Reynolds has seen hundreds of students come and go. One main takeaway from this time that he emphasized circles back to the community he has recommitted himself to time and time over.
“Find the relationships that matter to you and, by god, stick with them,” Reynolds said.