To develop “Root for the Home Team,” Rachel Epp Buller ’96, associate professor of visual art and design, relied on Kauffman Museum’s collection and also put out a call in the Newton community and through as many Bethel alumni avenues as she could for both artifacts and stories.

Kauffman Museum
Sept. 1, 2015–June 5, 2016

To develop “Root for the Home Team,” Rachel Epp Buller ’96, associate professor of visual art and design, relied on Kauffman Museum’s collection and also put out a call in the Newton community and through as many Bethel alumni avenues as she could for both artifacts and stories.

Her hope was to use sports to tell stories of overcoming adversity, fostering international friendships and generally building community.

“We wanted this exhibit to be not [about] just the stars, and not only the athletes, but the community around them as well,” she says.

Sometimes the stories were unexpected, as with Brian Stucky’s broken hurdle, a symbol for him that tells a family story.

Stucky ’75, now retired from a long teaching career at Goessel High School, ran track at Bethel in the 1970s and broke the hurdle during practice. It represents a family legacy of broken records in hurdles—Stucky’s father, Ransom Stucky ’50, set records in hurdles at Bethel in 1948 and Brian Stucky set new ones in 1972 and 1973.

“The broken hurdle ends up being a vehicle to tell a meaningful story of how a sport was passed on through generations,” Epp Buller says.

“The stories aren’t all sunshine and roses, though,” she continues. “In many cases, it became clear that sports communities arose in an atmosphere of segregation and separation.”

That was the case for the Mexican-American fast-pitch softball leagues that began more than 70 years ago. Newton now has the longest-running tournament in the country, though the leagues still exist in a region that covers Kansas City to Houston.

“Many of the photos and artifacts testify to how, even though the Mexican-American teams in Newton began playing separately out of necessity, softball soon became not only a local community builder but also a way to connect with other communities around the state,” Epp Buller says.

“There was a whole circuit of Mexican-American softball leagues—in McPherson, Emporia, Topeka, Kansas City, and in other states—Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma. When they traveled to play other teams, it wasn’t just a game … It was a time to socialize and build community with people … who knew your experience … of being an immigrant, or an outsider in a mostly white community.”

In putting together “Root for the Home Team,” Epp Buller discovered that “nearly everyone has a sports story to tell about themselves or a family member or a favorite team.” And of course, she couldn’t use them all.

However, part of the exhibit is a “sportswriter’s desk,” complete with an old manual typewriter, pens and yellow pads, where people are invited to write down their stories to leave as part of the exhibit.

“What I’ve told my students,” Epp Buller says, “is that I was offered so many stories, and in many cases, my job was mainly to be a good listener.

“Even if I thought we might not include their stories in the eventual exhibit, it’s so important for people to feel heard­, which is a good reminder for all of the students and faculty … to really listen to each other.”