Blinn profs use elected office as teaching tool

Mary Barnes-Tilley encourages each of her government students to participate in the political process by volunteering for a local campaign.

This year, she outdid them all and ran for office herself.

Barnes-Tilley is one of two chairs of Blinn's social science department who occupies elected office. She oversees government, history and economic classes at the Brenham campus and serves on the Brenham City Council. Blanche Brick presides over social sciences at the Bryan campus and sits on the College Station City Council.

The two professors say their dual roles help them as educators and lawmakers.

Brick is traditionally a history teacher, though she isn't teaching a class this semester. She regularly sits in on other social science instructors' classes and finds that the lessons often apply to her role as a council member.

For instance, Brick recently observed a government class that discussed how governments must balance private property rights with the rights of the community at large. That brought to mind a debate at a council meeting a few nights earlier concerning whether College Station residents should be allowed to park their recreational vehicles in their driveways.

Some residents had complained that the vehicles were an eyesore and lowered neighboring property values. But many RV owners argued they had a right to park their vehicles in their own driveways.

Brick believed that the city should investigate the issue further, but the majority of the council overruled her and voted to continue to allow the vehicles in driveways. The ordeal gave her a practical example to share with students about the complexities of property right debates, she said.

"When I am teaching history, I bring up the conflicts that exist between different points of view and how each one has a piece of the truth," Brick said. "The job of the politician is to try to find a rational place for making some compromise."

And she commonly thinks about the lessons she teaches while working as a councilwoman.

"When you come from this background, you can't get away from asking yourself how this was done in the '40s," Brick said. "Was it better or worse? Why did we go to this form of city government and what are the advantages of this way?"

Barnes-Tilley was sworn into office in Brenham on Feb. 2, not long enough to fully understand how her two jobs will intersect. But she said the process of campaigning was eye-opening enough.

She said she has previously taught theories and strategies for running for office, but never fully comprehended how much work it was.

"The whole time you are thinking, 'Could I be doing more?'" she said. "Even something that is simple like the look of your sign is difficult."

Barnes-Tilley said students in Brenham and Bryan benefit from having a sitting council member among the faculty. The instructors can share practical experience with their classes and bring a unique perspective on government. Prior to her election, she would bring elected officials into her class to do that job.

"I guess now I can be my own guest speaker," she said.