40th Annual Jack & Ruth Gribben English Lecture Series
- Guest Speaker: Dr. Jason Snart
- Friday, October 3, 2025
- Cardinal Event Center
- 9:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
- A continental breakfast and full lunch will be provided at no charge
We'd Love Your Input!
Before finalizing plans for this year’s Gribben English Lecture Series, Dr. Snart wants to hear from you. What topics, strategies, or challenges in teaching writing are most relevant to you right now?
👉 Please share your thoughts here: https://forms.gle/hS9dULnTQsQkSCSR7
Thank you for helping make this year’s series as impactful and inspiring as possible!
- Register Online
Featured Speaker
Jason Snart is Professor of English and Chair of Literature, Creative Writing, and Film at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. He teaches composition, creative writing, and literature courses in a variety of modes, including online, hybrid, and face-to-face.
His research and publishing focuses on the intersection of writing and generative AI, along with hybrid teaching, learning, and development. His book, Making Hybrids Work: An Institutional Framework for Blending Online and Face-to-Face Instruction in Higher Education, was published in 2016 by NCTE.
In 2020/21 Snart was awarded a League for Innovation Excellence award and also won the Outstanding Full-time Faculty award at College of DuPage. Snart is co-founder of the Global Society of Online Literacy Educators (GSOLE) and editor of Effective Practices, one of GSOLE’s peer-edited publications.
About the Series
An unforgettable day of learning, connection, and inspiration awaits! The Gribben English Lecture Series at Labette Community College brings together educators from high schools through universities for an engaging, small-group experience designed to strengthen writing instruction at every level.
Thanks to a generous legacy endowment from longtime Parsons residents Jack and Ruth Gribben, this annual series continues to enrich educators across the region—enhancing writing education for teachers and students alike.
Open to educators, students, and anyone passionate about writing and research skills.
Why Attend?
- Walk away with ready-to-use strategies to elevate your teaching
- Learn from nationally recognized speakers with proven, evidence-based approaches
- Network with fellow educators in a collaborative, small-group setting
- Enjoy a complimentary lunch while exchanging ideas with peers
Jack and Ruth Gribben
The Gribben English Lecture Series provides a forum for middle school and high school teachers, community college instructors, and university professors who want to improve the quality of their instruction in composition.
The series is funded by an endowment gift from the late Jack and Ruth Gribben who were active in community affairs and the arts.
Jack and Ruth lived in Parsons for many years. Ruth graduated from Parsons Junior College in 1932 and was a magna cum laude graduate of Pittsburg State Teachers College. She and Jack were married in 1938.
After three years of college, Jack went to work as a printer’s devil in 1933. He became a photographer and hotoengraver for the Parsons Sun in 1938. He and Ruth started Sun Engraving Company in 1946, with $280 in used equipment. With the advent of lithography, they changed the name to Sun Graphics.
Jack and Ruth built a national reputation for the company by providing quality color printing and outstanding customer service. They sold the company to four employees in 1974, and Jack remained a member of the board of directors.
The Gribbens moved to Wichita in 1984 and continued their interests in, and support of, community events in Parsons. They received many state and local honors, including the Labette Community College Cardinal Citation Award in 1989 and the Governor’s Arts Award in 1998.
Jack and Ruth’s legacy lives on in their two sons, John and Alan, and their two grandchildren.
Guest Lecturers
| 2024 | Jon Ostenson | Brigham Young University |
| 2023 | Patty McGee | Author-Educator |
| 2022 | Jamie McDaniel | Radford University |
| 2019 | Cynthia Haynes | Clemson University |
| 2018 | Peter Adams | Baltimore County Community College |
| 2017 | Alice Horning | Oakland University |
| 2016 | Eva Payne | Chemeketa Community College |
| 2015 | Marilyn Valentino | Lorrain County Community College |
| 2014 | Brian Ballentine | West Virginia University |
| 2013 | Chris Thaiss | University of California, Davis |
| 2012Â Â Â Â | Susan McLeod | University of California, Santa Barbara |
| 2011Â Â Â Â | Mike Palmquist | Colorado State University |
| 2010 | Dewayne Dickens | Tulsa Community College |
| 2009 | Howard Tinburg | Bristol Community College |
| 2008 | Joseph Harris | Duke University |
| 2007 | Tom Fox | California State University |
| 2006 | Rebecca Moore Howard | Syracuse University |
| 2005 | Doug Hesse | Illinois State University |
| 2004 | Christopher M. Anson | North Carolina State University |
| 2003 | David Jolliffe | DePaul University |
| 2002 | Hephzibah Roskelly | University of North Carolina at Greensboro |
| 2001 | Cheryl Glenn | Pennsylvania State University |
| 2000 | Lisa Ede | University of Oregon |
| 1999 | Stephen Tchudi | University of Nevada at Reno |
| 1998 | Alan Gribben | Auburn University at Montgomery |
| 1997 | Kathleen Blake Yancey | University of North Carolina at Charlotte |
| 1996 | Ann Ruggles Gere | University of Michigan at Ann Arbor |
| 1995 | Lynn Quitman Troyka | City University of New York |
| 1994 | John Ruszkiewicz | University of Texas at Austin |
| 1993 | Maxine Hairston | University of Texas at Austin |
| 1992 | Joseph Trimmer | Ball State University |
| 1991 | Andrea Lunsford | Ohio State University |
| 1990 | Cynthia Selfe | Michigan Technological University |
| 1989 | Tori Haring-Smith | Brown University |
| 1988 | Toby Fulwiler | Brown University |
| 1987 | David Bartholomae | University of Pittsburgh |
| 1986 | Donald McQuade | University of California at Berkeley |
| 1985 | Harvey S. Weiner | LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York |
| 1984 | Maxine Hairston | University of Texas at Austin |