The well-fitted suits and snappy dress shoes of faculty members past and present mingled with friends and family in Western Washington University’s Performing Arts Center on the morning of May 25 to partake in the third annual Celebration of Excellence.

A celebration it was. Western President Sabah Randhawa called it a celebration of those who serve Western’s students, improve upon its systems and further its mission.

Lyle E. Harris, a journalism professor emeritus, was the only person to receive a Celebration of Excellence honor despite no longer teaching courses at Western. Harris received the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award to recognize the lasting impact he made on those he taught.

The joyous mood never faltered thanks to host Sislena Ledbetter, associate vice president for counseling, health and wellness at Western. At one point, she sang the audience through two verses of Tina Turner’s “You’re the Best” to honor the more than 20 individuals and groups that received accolades. 

Brad Johnson, provost and executive vice president, read the names and honors of each awardee from the podium, offering moments of dry humor as he called them up to the stage one by one.

Randhawa shook hands, gave thanks and posed for photos while Ledbetter placed recognition medals around the necks of those who were in person to accept. 

Harris retired from teaching in 2005, after 29 years. He made enough of a lasting impact on his students to fill five pages with nominations in his name almost two decades after leaving the classroom. Almost all former students praised his seriousness and dedication to teaching the next generation of free-press advocates and community watchdogs. Many students remember Harris’ emphasis on journalism law.

“He scared the hell out of us and we adored him for it,” wrote one former student in an anonymous nomination message. 

Alum who wrote in shared a common sentiment: It wasn’t Harris’s persona that demanded respect but his professionalism and apparent breadth of knowledge.

“Back in my day, the goal of any journalism student was to impress Lyle Harris,” another former student wrote. “If you received accolades on a reporting assignment, opinion piece or any other writing task, you left on Cloud Nine.”

Harris’s background as a journalist began in Kalispell, Montana, where he fell in love with photography as a high school student. 

He graduated from the University of Montana in 1957 and found post-graduate work with United Press International. His work took him to Helena, Mt., then to Salt Lake City. That’s where he met a young reporter with the Deseret News; Betty Cargile and Harris will celebrate their 59th anniversary together this year.

He eventually landed in Washington D.C. as a reporter with the Evening Star. While in the nation’s capital, he had the opportunity to staunchly defend the First Amendment as an expert witness and public speaker.

Harris went on to earn his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri before making his way to Western in 1976 — the same fall quarter future journalism professor Peggy Watt enrolled as a transfer student.

“He was the first Ph.D. in the new Department of Journalism, which was graduating from being a program in the English Department,” she wrote in her nomination. “He was enthusiastic, an experienced journalist and a wonderful advisor to The Western Front.”

When Harris retired, Watt stepped into his tenure line after turning the skills she learned at Western into a successful reporting career in Silicon Valley. 

Watt attended the celebration of her former professor, mentor and now friend. She handed Harris a cup of coffee during the post-event breakfast after he and one of his three sons, Lyle Harris Jr., reentered the lobby. A small circle of relatives and friends joined in another quick round of applause and hugs.

“I hope my work as an educator and journalist have made him proud,” noted another nomination for Harris.

After 18 years away from a regular teaching schedule, Harris said he was shocked to find out his influence was lasting enough to earn him an award.

Harris is still happy to stop and chat with student journalists at events like the journalism department picnic, where he and Betty are annual attendees. He might ask about their future journalism plans, listen and give some of his famed advice. 

A recorded video of the live Zoom broadcast will be available online.

More Alum-written nominations for Harris:

• “He knew that working for a tiny local newspaper was every bit as important – perhaps more so – than working for a large regional or national media outlet. Because of him, journalism graduates knew that what they did was important, no matter where they worked.”

• “Lyle blended a perfect (and rare) mixture of high expectations, patience, inspiration, and instruction. No other teacher in my life as a student made a larger and more lasting impression. The high standards he set, and a strong inspiration to establish a meaningful ethos to live by well, have been part of my life since being graduated.”

• “Throughout my career in newspapers, with every lede I wrote, Lyle Harris was sitting on my shoulder, whispering “good” or “try again.” “What would Lyle do?” was my motto. Though I wasn’t in constant contact with him, Lyle continued to be a mentor, right down to my last day as a reporter at the Everett Daily Herald. Not only that, but the Lyleisms I memorized were passed to my children, and now those ideas are being passed to my grandchildren. I enjoyed all my professors at Western, but none more than Lyle Harris.”

• “More than 40 years later, I still remember libel case law word-for-word, thanks to his passion for the power
  of the press and his inspirational mentorship.”