Students walking around the second floor of the Palumbo Academic Center likely have noticed some new pictures hanging up on the walls.
The photos, which include famous images such as Soviet leader Joseph Stalin holding up a small child, and President Ronald Reagan meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the Oval Office, have been placed there by faculty from the College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences.
Anjali Sahay, Ph.D., director of the political science department, said she worked with Jeff Bloodworth, Ph.D., co-director of Gannon’s School of Public Service & Global Affairs, to bring “range and representation” to the pictures being hung.
“This is what college should be, right?” Sahay asked. “Powerful images of people, movements, etc. that define our times.”
Bloodworth said he agreed with Sahay’s take that these pictures were chosen to speak to the moment.
“We opted for a diverse range of women and people of color,” Bloodworth said. “But we also included conservatives, Thatcher, Reagan and George Romney.”
Romney, a former Republican governor of Michigan who ran for president in 1968, was the father of current Utah Sen. Mitt Romney.
Bloodworth said that these pictures are there to illustrate the varying topics and issues students and faculty study within the School of Public Service & Global Affairs.

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“Plain walls and uninspiring imagery don’t do justice to what we study,” Bloodworth said. “Hopefully, the new images and further changes will signify the dynamism inside our classrooms and attract students to our majors.”
Bloodworth said some students had mentioned the changes to the wall, and he hopes more students pick up on the new artwork.
“It was a ton of work,” Bloodworth said. “I had to order them, frame and lug all the framed prints to campus up two floors — all while masked.”
Overall, the second floor of Palumbo is looking more in tune with the department, with more photos to come.

MICHAEL GUIDO
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