Evans, Mike

Bakersfield native Michael Arne Evans was one of three new English faculty hired in 1969 by Charline Lamons during her final year as Department Chair. Ten years later, in June of 1979, he married Vietnamese-born Siu-Fong, who had been hired as the Languages Department’s very first instructor of Chinese. The Evans couple famously settled on Highwood Drive, about a hundred yards from the Grossmont College campus, so that he would never be more than a two-minute walking distance from school.  In fact, many still recall Evans taking his daily walks to and from the college, or visiting the campus swimming pool for his fitness regimen.

Mike Evans’s teaching emphasis for the next thirty-five years would be Reading skills and grammar remediation—namely English Essentials and Essential Fundamentals. He was known for his sometimes acerbic wit, which he deployed occasionally in his letters to The Summit editors whenever he perceived the Administration to be guilty of injustices. He had a love, however, for Elizabethan literature, and in the mid 1990's he organized Grossmont College’s first Shakespearean teleconference, held in the old Griffin Gate—to which Evans proudly wore his starched crinoline collar to honor the Bard. 

In the mid 1990's, when Grossmont began transitioning into the Internet age, Evans was instrumental in assisting colleagues with their first instructional web pages and even set up a webcam in the Library’s faculty lab, to take and upload instructor portraits. Not surprisingly, Mike served for many years as the English Department’s official portrait photographer and was responsible for the portraits of full- and part-time instructors that hung in the gallery outside what is now called "Building 52."

Around 2000, however, Mike’s failing health and memory lapses proved to be symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease, which forced him, to his great regret, to retire in 2003. Nevertheless, he continued to take regular walking trips to the campus to visit with his colleagues. However, just as the Spring 2006 semester was starting, he fell ill and succumbed to pneumonia. In accordance with his final wishes, Mike's body was donated to UCSD Medical Center.

• Thank you to former English Department Chair, Homer Lusk, Professor Emeritus, for providing, not only his institution memory, but for opening his personal repository of photos, archival documents, and recollections, making possible this profile of Mike Evans. 
• On a personal note, Mike Evans was one of the very first full-time instructors I had the pleasure to know when I first began working for Grossmont College in fall of 1990. Because adjunct instructors did not as yet have their own designated office space, Mike welcomed me to share his office, 558, when he wasn’t using it. We hit it off immediately. Mike had a way of getting me to open up about myself and on many occasions mentored me about my teaching. In large measure, I owe my love for the Grossmont College campus, and for the English Department specifically, because of the spirit of place that Mike daily brought to it. I eventually moved out of Mike's office and, like many other adjunct instructors, took whatever available office space the college assigned to me to use temporarily. However, when I was hired full-time in 2006, I was assigned by sheer coincidence to office 558, which continues to be my officially assigned faculty office. Needless to say, I continue to feel Mike Evans’s presence in my office, where that renowned gap-toothed grin of his is always called to mind and where he is always missed.

• Evans, Mike. “Letter to the Editor." The Summit (Grossmont College, El Cajon, CA) 9 March 1994: p3.

• "Evans, Michael C. [sic]" Obituary. GCCCD Grapevine 16.1 (March 2006): p7.
• "Evans, Mike."The Gallery, 1970: A Photographic Directory of the Grossmont College Staff. El Cajon, CA: Grossmont Junior College District, 1970. p26.
• _____. The Gallery, 1974: A Photographic Directory of the Grossmont College Staff. El Cajon, CA: Grossmont Junior College District, 1974. p35.
• _____. The Gallery: A 25th Anniversary Photographic Directory of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community Faculty, Administration, and Staff. El Cajon, CA: Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District, 1987. p37.
• _____. The Gallery: A 35th Anniversary Photographic Directory of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community Faculty, Administration, and Staff. El Cajon, CA: Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District, 1996. p47.
• Grossmont College Community Relations. "Awards Recognize Excellence, Leadership and Innovation by Grossmont College Faculty and Staff." News Release (Grossmont College, El Cajon, CA) 26 May 2004.
• Oracle Yearbook. Bakersfield, CA: Bakersfield High School, 1957-1960.
• “San Diegan Siu-Fong Evans Wins Big in International Taiji Competition.” Hungashungas (Dallas, TX) 27 June 1999. On-line.

• Elizabeth Juul 1964-1968
• Leone Finalle 1964-1972
• Jack Lynch 1964-1983
• Marie W. Sweadner 1964-1985
• Z. Dean Parks 1964-1991 (Governing Board Member, Trustee #4 1992-1993)
• Lloyd Norwood 1965-1977
• Doris Alexander 1965-1981
• Sylvia K. Musik  1965-1981
• Glenda K. Richter 1965-1984 (Chair 1983-1984)
• Dr. Len Pelletieri 1965-1986
• Carol (Duffy) Baker 1968-1991
• Homer Lusk 1969-1996 (Chair 1974-1977, 1978-1983, and 1984-1994)
• Michael A. Evans 1969-2003