Dutton's admirers tout his legacy

Kenton Card was never even a student of Tom Dutton's. He admired Dutton's work from afar and only met the esteemed architecture professor and founder/director of the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) a handful of times. They spoke over the phone and Dutton even wrote Card a letter of recommendation for his PhD program through the Department of Urban Planning at UCLA.

"The [recommendation] letter is another testament to how good of a person Tom was," Card said.

Last November, Card and over 60 other scholars, architects, planners, and activists in a variety of fields through the country and across the world wrote and signed a Letter to the Editor published by The Student.

The letter called on President Greg Crawford and Miami University to honor Tom's legacy as both a professor in Miami's architecture department and the director of the CCE.

The letter highlighted Dutton's commitment to teaching in the classroom and creating an inclusive environment outside the Miami community through the Over-the-Rhine residency program.

"Tom's work politicized architecture," Card said. "He got others to ask: How can architecture students create change through the profession by supporting local communities?"

Card believes that most architects, especially the noteworthy or "star architects" as they are referred to in the field, are mostly concerned with aesthetics or designing the biggest, sexiest buildings.

Dutton was one of few architects, Card said, who raised questions in the classroom that addressed systemic inequality, particularly in urban environments. Dutton practiced critical pedagogy -- a teaching method that aims to confront oppressive societal norms.

"Most architects don't think about if their projects are complicit with urban concentration and modern capitalism," Card said. "Tom took students into Over-The-Rhine and created an immersion process that emphasized building new cultures rather than erasing old cultures."

Crawford responded to Card's letter on Dec. 18, expressing his own desire to maintain Dutton's legacy at Miami.

"He taught us to live, work and lead with higher purpose," Crawford wrote of Dutton in the letter. "Tom's imprint on the CCE, Over-the-Rhine and our entire Miami family will be lasting."

The university will conduct a search to fill Dutton's faculty position this year, Crawford wrote. The individual who fills his faculty position, however, will not, as Dutton did, serve as the director of the CCE.

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Crawford appointed John Blake as director of the CCE, a decision that was also supported by Provost Phyllis Callahan and Dean of the College of Creative Arts Elizabeth Reitz Mullenix, Crawford wrote.

Blake worked with Tom for nearly a decade and was previously the community projects coordinator for the CCE.

"John [Blake] is a phenomenal person to take over Tom's shoes," Card said. "But there is an ongoing concern for myself and everyone who signed the letter: Will the Center for Community Engagement only become a service arm of the university if it's detached from critical pedagogy that Tom developed?"

Card and his colleagues agree that Dutton was able to fuse scholarship and social change in a radical way by being able to teach at Miami and act as the director of the CCE, Card said.

"We understand that institutions are complex," Card said. "But what will be lacking if [Miami] hires someone for the faculty position who will not be able to to enrich the dialogue of the Center like Tom?"

doyleca3@miamioh.edu

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