Walking into the Acoustic Coffeehouse on Saturday, students from ETSU were met with an interesting sight as several of their very own professors from the Department of Literature and Language took to the stage to play some groovy tunes.
Two bands performed Saturday evening, Leather Guinevere and Karen Cajka’s Army. The latter of these two groups was formed to honor the memory of former Director of Women’s Studies, Dr. Karen Cajka, who passed away in November 2011.
According to Dr. Daniel Westover, Associate Professor of English at ETSU and member of the band, the set list was based off of Cajka’s own CD collection.
“We hope to honor her by playing some of her favorite songs, particularly new wave stuff, which she was a big fan of,” Westover said.
Aside from Westover, the band’s members consisted of several more Literature and Language faculty, including Dr. Thomas Holmes, Dr. Thomas Crofts and Dr. Michael Cody.
But the purpose of the performance wasn’t just to play some new wave tunes. While admission to the event was free, the audience, which largely consisted of ETSU faculty and students, was encouraged to donate money to go toward two scholarship funds.
The proceeds from this benefit performance went directly toward two Literature and Language Department scholarships set up in the names of Cajka as well as Dr. Steven Gross, former Associate Professor of Linguistics, who passed away in 2008. The Dr. Karen Cajka Scholarship is available to meritorious juniors and seniors who are either part of the English department or the department of Women’s Studies.
According to Holmes, they felt that a benefit concert was the best way to honor the memory of their music loving friends.
“All we can do is find our skinny ties and have a good time for a good cause,” Holmes said.
