The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 8, Ed. 1, Wednesday, September 16, 1992 Page: 3 of 8
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Accent
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This father knows best
In
By KanmnKtfty
TjHKhcr O'Donncll they call him.
in With n mock Irish accent 1ms
X floats into the room joking
4vith a colleague. His perfectionism
Is reflected in the impeccably
pressed double-breasted gray suit
andf conservative burgundy tic. He
spots the clean tapered unmarrcd
hanils of an educator
The room is lined with tables
Hacked with numerous mounds of
maroon and silver folders. It is the
Southwest Center for Fathering:
spartan control center for a program
thal'ln its first nine months of exis-
tence received more than 150000
requests for training.
) O'Donncll who is the founder
and director of the center selects a
foWcr and says with a smile "We
call.thcse the power colors." The
twinkle in his powder blue eyes
gives his boyish excitement away.
Vfltl nmnctntl Atari avIltan!
Mw'Donnell explains the concept of
up r atncring &emmw.
.Pointing out every detail of the
computer-generated material
O'Donnell's voice quickens with
excitement. "This is the Fathering
Pfofile" he says with pride. "It's
f the result of a questionnaire that the
fathers fill out"
'While turning through the ques-
tionnaire results that arc enhanced
by charts and graphs the teacher
explains that the first section repre-
sents how each father compares to
"Yl.OOO religiously oriented fathers in
iijc unucu amies ana uanaaa.
Tpesc scores arc broken down into
areas such as involvement consis-
tency awareness and nurturing.
"The plan of attack is getting
.fathers involved in education and
enrichment in small groups that arc
meant to be approachable and allow
them to be vulnerable" O'Donncll
explains.
In groups of no more than eight
or 10 fathers meet once a week
Wllh a group facilitator and work
run at West
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Aftairbrush artist admires her work.
n 1 -
'
$''
Express
through a study guide "We want to
avoid terms like support group and
therapy" O'Donncll ays. "Tlds is
education not therapy."
O'Donncll received his doctorate
from Kansas State University in
Manhattan Kan. where the fatlter-
Ing program was developed. But
O'Donnell's interest in fathering
and helping people began long
before he obtained his doctorate.
"My father was absent for most
part of my childhood" recalls
O'Donncll. "So I like many great
practitioners have been on a contin-
uing search for 'father' and have
found him in Abba Father."
Born into a Roman Catholic fam-
ily in Pennsylvania O'Donncll
found the Church of Christ after he
had broken away from the Catholic
Church and while he was seeking
the priesthood in an Anglican
Church.
O'Donncll says that because he
spent most of hi time in the scrip-
tures instead of dealing with the
pomp and ceremony of the Angli-
can Church he began to see a grow-
ing gulf between what the scripture
was saying and the tradition of that
church.
"When I accidentally came upon
the Chwch of Christ" sys O'Don-
ncll "It really immediately
answered a lot of questions for me.
Ws
tien O'Donncll became a
member of the Church of
Christ some members of
his family were not supportive of
his move away from traditional
churches.
"So ycr leeving lha chunrch now
are ya?" O'Donncll spots his mock
Irish accent as he impersonates his
Irish Roman Catholic grandmother.
"Gonna jcrn those pro-TEST-ants
now are ya?"
His first experiences with the
Church of Christ involved some
humorous lessons. O'Donncll tells
with a smile how people stared In
awe when he walked into the
rtioogrpti by AttBayi bdraUmhsng
Artie a high-
I ride makes
BliitLTJHBaaaaiiBBaHBiaTaMBiBMat Kl VlA
speed
church building crossed himself
and knelt
"Then I teamed that this church
was about simplicity" O'Donncll
said his voice full of emotion
"Those things could be done inter-
nally and we didn't have to do
those external things to cam salva-
tion." O'Donncll sought out role models
in the Christian community who
helped him and became his men-
tors. "Because of Christianity" says
O'Donncll "I don't suffer the same
effects as my identical twin. My
Christian mentors broke the cycle
for me" he says.
Michael's twin Richard O'Don-
ncll is one of the youngest play-
wrights in Broadway history. He
has won numerous ASCAP awards
and has been on TV commercials
and appeared in soap operas.
"This fathering material has my
brother so excited that he is coming
down to learn more about k" says
O'Donnell.
"He's getting ready to rededicate
his life to the Lord" he says his.
face beaming into a smile. "I am so
exeked this is really an answer
to prayer!"
O'Donnell brings whh his unusu-
al family and religion is background
a unique history of involvement
with the Civil Rights Movement.
After his parents divorced O'Don-
nell's mother became a devout Uni-
tarian. She was involved in black
civil rights women's rights and
other social action movements.
Because he lived with his mother
during that time O'Donnell was
involved with these movements.
"I'm a curious combination"
muses O'Donnell "because I've
brought in all of that social action
orientation into my Church of
Christ profession of faith."
His academic preparation
includes an interdisciplinary under-
graduate degree in Bible and psy-
chology from Pepperdine and Man-
hattan Christian College and a sem
lexas
Barnadett Lo
llMlflflt Paa FaJltAa
Two small bkge monkeys in fuchsia tuxedos with black polka dots
and top hats entertained and amused a small crowd with their antics.
Some children were fascinated enough to ask their parents for a
quarter to throw the monkeys as a reward.
The soft wind blew the sweet odor of funnel cakes toward the crowd
and the hypnotic smell lured two teen-age girls away from the monkeys to
buy themselves a funnel cake from a nearby stand. They devoured the coke
greedily and lavished praises on how delicious It was. A sudden breeze
took them by surprise as it blew the sugared powder onto their shirts and
pants. The girls looked at each other and started laughing.
Children's excited voices rang in the ain a girl called out to her sister to
wait as she ran to the House of Laughing Glass.
A few steps ahead two Hispanic boys noticed a sign that read "Stick
one you win." The walls of the stand were completely covered by posters
of all sons. After paying $2 for two darts to try their luck they became the
proud owners of two beautiful posters.
Many couples chose the West Texas Fair and Rodeo - a huge carnival of
amusement park-type rides food stalls and novelty stalls - as the place to
go their dates. A young girl in a purple jumpsuit stood anxiously by her
boyfriend while he tried to win her a white bear. Another couple walked
slowly whh their fingers laced together as if they were in tlteir own world.
Whether it was a family or a group of teen-agers on a night out the fair
brought smiles to peoples' faces and transported them into a magical world
of fun food and games.
patron screm.
inary degree from Eastern Baptist
Seminary in Pennsylvania and
Princeton Theological Seminary.
O'Donncll spent the next years
working with churches and training
to be a chaplain in the U.S. Army.
But he became frustrated with his
inability to help individuals. "I saw
that in working with young men and
women I could not lielp them inde-
pendently of their families" he
remembers.
To gain what he calls a systemat-
ic perspective O'Donnell Went to
Kansas State to get his doctoral
degree in the area of family life
education. In 1935 while home for
Thanksgiving break he met his
wife Rachel. She was attracted to
his upfront and open attitude. "I
thought he was a pretty intense per-
son" remembers Rachel.
O;
ne of the couple's first con-
versations concerned reli-
gion and O'Donnell made
his feelings about evangelism work
known" said Rachel. "He wanted
to know how I felt about evange-
lism work" said Rachel. "He didn't
want to marry someone who
wouldn't support evangelism."
The couple dated for two years
and were married in 1987. In their
four years of marriage. they have
lived in Alabama Kansas and Penn-
sylvania. They came to Abilene in August
1990. In January 1991 the South-
west Center of Fathering opened its
doors to the public. Along with his
position as director and founder of
the center O'Donncll teaches a full
load of classes in the Home Eco-
nomics and Family Studies Depart-
ment As on instructor he is a favorite
among his students "He is a good
role model and he brings the Bible
into parenting more than any other
class I've had here" Tami Roberts
commented on O'Donnell's parent-
ing skills class.
Most of O'Donnell's students
rair And Kodeo
rhOtogrtcJ) by Alttv Indraktmhime
also like him as a friend. "He's
great" says senior Mark Cypcrt.
"He is so easy to talk to and he
knows so much."
From the moment he enters the
classroom O'Donnell exudes ener-
gy as he studies each and every stu-
dent. While strolling through the
class he displays a friendly smile
and interacts with every cluster of
students reflecting his desire to be
individually involved.
This particular class marks the
end of the semester which is
"winding down here folks" he
says. "I'm gonna miss you. " The
sincerity in his eyes makes this
statement completely believable.
In the middle of the two-hour
class O'Donnell announces a 15-
minute break and everyone includ-
ing the teacher heads for the snack
'bar. The gang of students strolls
across campus joking and talking
with their teacher.
After the break O'Donncll shows
a James Dobson's Focus on the
Family videotape. During Dobson's
speech the camera pans the audi-
ence. While watching the video a
student spots a familiar face in the
crowd and says "Hey isn't that
Paul Faulkncrt"
O'Donnell jumps up and rewinds
the tape. "Hey" he exclaims "it
isl" A student volunteers a pertinent
question "Where's Carl?" Laughter
fills the classroom at the reference
to Faulkner and Brechecn ACU
professors who conduct marriage
enrichment seminars.
The spontaneous and relaxed
class interactions are examples of
O'Donnell's friendly rapport with
the students. "I'm impressed with
the way he treats the students as
equals and with respect" says Jana
Caldwell interior design alumnus.
"He has a student-oriented
approach" remarks Deon Melton
senior youth ministry major. "There
is mentoring between the teacher
and student"
Marriage and family therapist
r. 5
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iiirlli 4
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ll mmFmmmmmmSFMmmam& MBBKSImwUi '
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4.VI .
Major Boglin dcscrlbcsO'Don-
ncll's concern for o1bers.."Hc )ias a
sensitivity towards the oppressed"
says Boglin "He also has the
advantage of having dope u lot of
research in that area."
All of O'Donnell's students agree
he is very excited about parenting.
During class he talks about the
activities he hopes to do with his
children and the time he enjoys
devoting to his four-year-old son
Patrick. But O'Donnell's rote as
father took on a new and painful
dimension with the birth of their
second child in 1991.
'-
SI
t
i
hortly after the delivery iof
Cara doctors discovered she .
suffered from a rare condition i
called holoproscncephaty a defi- I
ciency in development in the frontal I
lobes of the brain. Although the I
O'Donnell's were able to take Cata'
home she died less than a year after
her birth. '
O'Donncll says he and Racial;
have been comforted and impressed
by the outpouring of love and com-
passion they have received from the
campus community. "ACU has
responded far beyond our expecta-
tions" O'Donncll says and his face
lightens. "They have enhanced our
respect for the community of the
faithful."
Although saddened by his daugh-
ter's death O'Donncll continues to
keep an enthusiastic outlook on fife
and offers a kind smile to everyone
he sees. Through all his trials he has
maintained a busy and ambitious
schedule. .
Awareness of the Fathering Semi;
nor has spread through the nation
O'Donnell said he hopes to develop
the same type of curriculum for
both mothers and grandparents. '
O'Donnell's main focus howcv;
er is the Fathering Seminar whicTi
he says is "on opportunity for fami-
lies to be brought back together
again so that they will become tbe
salt light and IcaVen to the world!"!;
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 8, Ed. 1, Wednesday, September 16, 1992, newspaper, September 16, 1992; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth96310/m1/3/: accessed July 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.