Memorial service held for English professor<br>

Friends, faculty and students gathered last night to honor English and theater professor Lynda Hart, who passed away in December after a struggle with breast cancer. The English Department held the memorial service in the Rosenwald Gallery of Van Pelt Library. After a warm welcome from English Department Chairman John Richetti, Hart's colleagues and students shared personal thoughts and anecdotes from their memories of Hart, both as teacher and as a person. Nine of Hart's students and colleagues spoke at the memorial, and every seat in the room was filled. Everyone who spoke said that Hart's unique personality and teaching style distinguished her from other professors and enabled her to connect with faculty, students and people in general on a more profound level. "Lynda was not an average person or professor," said Penn Women's Center Director Elena Di Lapi, a longtime friend and colleague of Hart's. "As an out feminist and an out lesbian, Lynda was a unique role model on this campus." Di Lapi added, "As a professional and intellectual, Lynda created a safe space for many to grow and excel." Students who spoke about their respective experiences working with Hart attributed much of their creative identities to what she taught them. Jim Downs, a former student of Hart's who is now at Columbia University, referred to Hart as his "academic mother." And College senior Greg Steirer said he appreciated Hart's unusual approach to teaching. "I believe that Lynda taught not teaching in any normal sense of the word, but by touching," Steirer said. Theatre Arts Department Chair Cary Mazer, a colleague and friend of Hart's, described in detail how her guidance and support gave a student the strength to move past a painful experience and embrace his own identity. "When I think of this young man and the many other students whose lives and minds opened up under Lynda's patient guidance and inspiration, I mourn the loss of her presence as our colleague," Mazer said. "Though I will also remember with a smile the many theater students whose lives she touched." Mazer's comment reflected the overall mood of the ceremony. Sadness and tears were broken by laughter at moments when the audience remembered something humorous or endearing about Lynda. Each person who spoke expressed their sense of loss but also emphasized that Hart's wonderful qualities will continue to make an impact on the Penn community and all those who knew her.

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