By Abi Smith
Dr. Paul Weber, professor of Political Science at the University of Louisville, died of cancer last week. Dr. Weber was without a doubt an institution at this university, but he always carried himself with a humble grace. For all of his accomplishments, he remained unfailingly accessible and never without an encouraging word. To him, we U of L students could match any Ivy Leaguer out there. And unlike some professors, Dr. Weber made sure he told us so.
Always upbeat, optimistic and happy, he was a joy to be around, and I, like so many, am grateful to have been one of his students. Personal memories will be my most treasured – the chats we had at his office, his response to one of my Cardinal columns, the article he located for me last summer just prior to a leave of absence for the illness that would ultimately take his life.
Irrespective of his professional savvy, most will remember Dr. Weber for his charm and good humor. I teased him once about drinking Diet Sunkist; I just didn’t understand the attraction. He responded by flexing his muscles in hilarious He-Man fashion, as though the soda had given him special powers. He was also eager to tease back – you couldn’t help but love a soul like that. Whenever something completely outrageous or factually incorrect was said, he’d often calmly lament, in an accent one former student can mimic to a T, “Yooou’ve goootta be oooutta your craaazy mind.”
What I’ll remember and admire most about Dr. Weber, though, was his moral compass. He had a real sense of right and wrong. Particularly fond of a quote on karma, Dr. Weber placed it at the bottom of his e-mail messages and even asked our class to comment on its meaning for an exam. The quote reads: “Karma: the choices that we make come back to us in our character, magnified and in what we draw out of others by what we have become.”
Dr. Weber was first and foremost a good man, and the impact he’s made on the campus community has been immeasurable. And though enormous is the sum of love, kindness and respect expressed for him over the past few days, what else does he deserve for the choice to be a good, genuine person? For him, what better karma could there be?
At the end of the day, we all have parts to play in this life. In his role, Dr. Weber was thoughtful, gracious and helpful, with a spot-on sense of humor added for good measure. And because of his nature, my last memory of him will be of the man with a smile on his face. A really big smile.
Thanks for the cheer, Dr. Weber. May you be forever and eternally at peace.
Abi Smith is pursuing a Ph.D. in the school of Urban and Public Affairs, and is a columnist for The Louisville Cardinal. Contact her at:opinion@louisvillecardinal.com
