“LIFE… a vibrating new possibility for Process to express itself.” –Bob Macoskey, Process, 2000

Biography

Forming the Vision | Action | Character

Biography

Robert M. Macoskey was born on April 23, 1930 and died May 7, 1990. His education included the Berkeley Divinity School (1951-1954) and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland (1954-1956). He served as a minister from 1956-1958 and taught at Anderson-Broaddus College in Phillipi, West Virginia from 1958-1960. He was then a professor at Dennison University (1960-1964), a professor of church history at Crozier Theological Seminary (1964-1969), a professor of human relations at the Cabot Corporation Stellite Division (1970), and then came to Slippery Rock University in 1971 -1990. (Valentin Kafeli, 2003). His unpublished manuscript  Process was written in 1976 and compiled by Vivas Macoskey in 2000 when it was published for release.

Forming the Vision

"After years of thinking and talking about the dawning of a new story, I decided that it would be a better idea to attempt to live out its implications. The basic question was:“What course could I take to demonstrate that only when the rhythms of nature become our center, will we be centered?" - Robert Macoskey (Claire Anderson, 1999).

    Robert A. Macoskey (1930-1990) personified the Creative. He decided that rather than read about the need to do something positive for the environment, rather than go to conferences, preach to his students, and worry about the general state of affairs, he would try to brighten his own little corner of the world. He did that by creating at Slippery Rock the Alternative Living Technologies and Energy Research (ALTER) Project and demonstration center called Harmony Homestead (Robert A. Macoskey Center).

    Jump back in time to the early 1960’s. At the time, Robert A. Macoskey was a 30ish seminary professor chaperoning his students from Crozier Theological Seminary near Philadelphia to the New Mob March in Washington, D.C., against the Vietnam War. It was an experience that would profoundly change his world view. For the first time, he saw that people could cooperate for a common good on a massive scale. (Kris Macoskey, 1992)

    After a brief departure from academia, Robert A. Macoskey, doctor of philosophy, joined the ranks of instructors at a small state college in rural western Pennsylvania known as Slippery Rock University (SRU). Inspired by Harold K. Schilling, a professor at Penn State University and a proponent of a holistic view of nature that included humans as a part of, not distinct from, their natural environment, Macoskey developed and taught a course in “Environmental Ethics.” By the mid-70s, his course in ethics with its new name, “Philosophies and Alternative Futures, ” had become a campus favorite, filling the 100-seat lecture hall semester after semester. That course also led Macoskey down a new path: “After years thinking and talking about the dawning of a new story, I decided that it would be a better idea to attempt to live out its implications. The basic question was: “What course could I take to demonstrate that only when the rhythms of nature become our center, will we be centered?’ ’’ (Claire Anderson, 1999)

Action

    Robert A. Macoskey answered that question by presenting a proposal for “Residential Center for Alternative Energy Research and Low Environmental Impact Usage” to former SRU president Herb Reinhard on Jan. 26, 1981. He proposed spending a sabbatical year, “… working out the practical details of the idea with the prospect of becoming its resident director if it comes into being.”

    As it turned out, he would spend not only the sabbatical year, but the entire decade working out the “practical details” of a project, the scope of which was, as he put it, “… so broad, would require so substantial an amount of money and the cooperative activity of so many people…” that he would of necessity have to inspire many people to participate. (Kris Macoskey, 1992)

Character

    Robert A. Macoskey was always enthusiastic. He inspired others with his confidence in what they were doing. He developed a plan for an enterprise that would be engaging for himself and of benefit to anyone interested in participating. Where there were obstacles, he flowed around them or gently eroded them until the barrier became an ally or went away. Even against repeated defeats, he remained true to his beliefs and persevered. He understood people, could communicate with them, and make them all feel like they had something important to contribute. That acceptance encouraged many more to participate. His general perspective on the enterprise can be summed up like this, “I had no idea where the ALTER Project would lead to when we started the walk, but I was sure we’d have a jolly good time along the way.” (Kris Macoskey, 1992)