Instructor demonstrates eclectic style

By Lynde Smith
Staff Writer

His colleagues at the School for International Training in Vermont have described him as "A multicultural, multinational, multiracial, multi-religious, multi-ethnic, multi-pursuits person with the multi-purple wardrobe."

A group of refugees from Indonesia said he is "The original wandering Jew, traveling around the world on a British passport working for the U.S. government with Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees on an Indonesian island."

Dressed entirely in purple, including purple framed glasses, B. Frédérique Samuel can often be seen walking his dog, Chance, around campus.

Samuel came to Purdue in 1991, though he started wearing purple about three years before that while teaching at Smith College in Massachusetts.

He used to always wear blue but when he began teaching at Smith he felt that he should wear a softer color because he was also teaching females. He mixed blue for men and pink for women and decided to start wearing purple. He felt that purple was a gender-neutral color.

Samuel said that when he came to Purdue, people were shocked by seeing a man in purple attire; it seemed odd. People would often call him a sissy or talk behind his back. Women seem more receptive to him than men do, he said.

In fact, Samuel often buys women's clothing because he cannot find a lot of men's clothing in purple.

Chance, a Border Collie, is also recognizable, not only because he is wearing a purple harness jacket but also because he only walks with three of his four legs. In 1996 his rear left leg was broken in five places during a car accident and as a result he lost the nerves and muscles in his front left leg.

"Chance knows the color purple. He will even pick out a purple ball," said Samuel. "He is very intelligent and he loves the sound of a woman's voice."

Samuel is a COM 114, "Human Communication," instructor at Purdue. On the first day of classes students are shocked by the purple, but they are even more surprised by the fact that he does not speak for the first 20 minutes of the class. He does this so he can see what kinds of ideas his students come up with about him.

"I thought him wearing purple was kind of weird. I didn't really understand it," said Kelly Gramenz, a junior in the School of Liberal Arts. "I thought his class was intimidating because he would put you on the spot, but it helped me learn to communicate better."

Samuel said, "In the COM 114 final exam my students don't get lost. They come straight to where I am standing."

Samuel also has an extensive educational background. His first undergraduate degree was in aeronautical engineering from the Royal Air Force College. He then went on to Loughborough University where he double majored in movement education and outdoor education.

At the University of North London he received a graduate degree in management studies.

He then received a double master's degree at the School of International training in Vermont in international human service and intercultural advising and training.

At Smith College he got a master's degree in American studies, and while at Purdue he has obtained a master's degree in interpersonal communication and a Ph.D. in leisure behavior and has enough credits to get another Ph.D.

"The reason that I haven't completed my second Ph.D. is because I don't want to write the dissertation," he said. "I take classes because I want to and I enjoy them."

Samuel also hosts a few events around Lafayette. These include the International Film Festival, a global forum and an international social and discussion group.

The main reason that Samuel is interested in intercultural relations is the way he was raised. His mother is Portuguese, Dutch and Jewish. His father is half Scottish and half Sri-Lankan, and he was raised as a Hindu and a Presbyterian. He has lived on every continent except South America.

Samuel also volunteers every week at the Lafayette women's shelter. "I am the only male that works there," he said.

He is also involved in the local group Vision 2020, which aims to improve the Greater Lafayette area.

Samuel said that there are four people at Purdue that really impress him - Myrdene Anderson of anthropology, Ralph Webb of communication, Bill Harper of health, kinesiology and leisure studies, and Joe O'Leary of forestry and natural resources. He has taken every one of Anderson and Webb's courses and sometimes repeated them.

"They are the most well-read people that I have ever met," he said. "All of them are always challenging me.

"If I were to get a lot of money, I would pay them all to just sit and talk to me."

Samuel's dream is to one day work for Jimmy Carter because he admires his work in international conflict resolution.

"Work for a living. Play for a life." That is his motto.

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Campus editor: Laura Pelner

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