The Daily O’Collegian

Jules Emig, English adviser, inspires students

Every weekday, an energetic gray-haired man with years of smiles etched on his face walks up the steps of Morrill Hall, heads to his office, and props the door open.

That open door symbolizes his philosophy about teaching and advising, and, his friends and students say, his heart.

Jules Emig is the adviser for the Oklahoma State University English department. Emig is also a teacher, father, grandfather, gardener and sports fan.

Emig’s typical work day starts in his spacious, light-filled office at a desk covered in paper, rubber bands and various tchotchkes, such as an entire farm in miniature, cows and picket fence included. He answers e-mail, returns phone calls and looks over student files.

Many days he spends a large chunk of time writing recommendation letters for his students. No matter what he’s doing, if he’s there in 209 Morrill Hall, the door is open. Students and teachers come in and chat, or just gather there between classes.

Professor Ravi Sheorey said Emig’s open door shows he cares.

“This is one of the few places on campus where the door is always open,” Sheorey said. “That means a lot. Students feel they can come to his office any time.

“Not a day goes by where I don’t come by and say, ‘Hey, Jules’ and we have a chat. If that door is closed, I feel something is missing.”

Sheorey said Emig works well with faculty, not just students.

“He never questions grades, he never interferes with faculty,” he said. “He works only to enhance it, never to make an obstruction of any kind.

“He’s our best weapon for retaining students.”

Emig said he enjoys academic counseling. His job unofficially includes counseling students who are having problems with a particular class or having a personal problems.

He didn’t plan to become an adviser, but once he got the job, he stayed for 20 years.

Emig came to OSU to study counseling. While he worked on his master’s degree in counseling psychology, he worked as an adjunct English professor, then became the English adviser.

Emig said he found through his years of advising at OSU that he wouldn’t have chosen to be a full-time counselor.

“I wouldn’t have wanted to do just that for a living,” Emig said. “It’s very hard to do that every day, one-on-one counseling sessions. It’s draining.

“If the student’s problem is heavy duty, I walk them over to the Student Union and say, ‘Here you go, sign up for counseling, it’s free.’”

Emig’s son, Guerin, said Emig has always spent time working with students outside of work, but never made him feel he got less time with Emig than he needed or deserved.

“It’s pretty typical for him because he was everyone’s dad when I was growing up,” Guerin said. “He has a unique ability to relate to kids who didn’t have a father figure. When kids visited, they were there to see Dad as much as they were there to see my sister and me.”

Emig said his family is an important part of his life. He spends time with them whenever he can. He even makes dinner a family event.

“I like to do spaghetti and meatballs because my little grandson helps me make the meatballs,” Emig said. “Holden’s 8. He’s named after Holden Caulfield from ‘Catcher In The Rye,’ but he doesn’t know that yet.”

Emig’s love for Holden shows through his words.

“Holden’s figured out that we’re all extensions of each other,” Emig said. “I was with him and his mother, at Goldie’s, Guerin wasn’t there, and I laughed at something. Holden says to me, ‘You’re silly. I’m silly, but that’s because my father’s silly.’ He’s very observant for his age.”

When he has a little free time, Emig said he reads and listens to music. Emig’s recreational music and reading material is denser than what many college students tackle for a class.

No Agatha Christie. No pop music.

“I could live in Bach,” Emig said. “The essence of all poetry is in Bach, the abstract architecture of ol’ Johann Sebastian. I love the whole Baroque period.”

Emig said like music, news is a large part of his life. He watches news shows and reads news online.

Emig’s daughter is an English professor, and Emig’s son, Guerin, is a Tulsa World sportswriter. Emig’s voice fills with pride when he talks about both.

Emig has won two awards for advising excellence and three for resident advising in Parker Hall. He said the plaques don’t matter to him, but letters from former students do.

“I think students assume we know we made an impact,” Emig said.

Whitney Ray, a creative writing junior, said Emig is “one of the most helpful people I’ve ever met.”

Emig changed the course of her life the first day she met him. When Ray mentioned she was interested in the University of Oklahoma as well as OSU, Emig recommended her for an $8,000 scholarship.

“He was trying to lure me away from OU, and he talked to (department head) Carol Moder about it,” Ray said. “That sealed the deal for me going to OSU.”

Ray said she spends time between classes in Emig’s office, with what seems like half the student body.

“It’s beyond compare, he fosters so much community among the students and faculty,” Ray said. “Morrill Hall would not be the same place without him and that’s not an overstatement.”

Lori Lindsey, an English junior, switched majors in summer. She said she left her first choice, journalism, because it wouldn’t allow her to be creative.

When Lindsey changed her major, she got first-hand experience of Emig’s thoughtful work style.

“I made an appointment with him and he spent about 2 1⁄2 hours talking with me and getting to know me,” she said. “He fixed my schedule. I had signed up for a lot of random classes because I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and Jules fixed my schedule.

“I don’t know many people who would spend that much time talking with and helping a new student.”

When Lindsey decided to enroll in an advanced fiction class, but heard it was difficult, she went to Emig for advice, trusting him to know her abilities better than she did.

Lindsey said Emig works with students who aren’t English majors just as he does with his own.

Emig said he felt connected with students from his first day.

“I used to be their surrogate father,” he said, laughing. “Now I’m their surrogate grandfather.”

Guerin said his father is his hero.

“Everybody grows up wanting his father to be a hero, and I discovered the heroic role he played in my life,” Guerin said. “Hopefully, it’ll rub off on my son.”

Emig said he loves teaching and advising for several reasons, but one is most important.

“It’s a chance to be connected with people in a way that really makes a difference, and there aren’t a lot of jobs like that,” Emig said. “I had a girl in my office this morning in tears over a breakup. The moments I value are intimate.”