Many students who attend William Cotton’s English classes or receive his advice as members of the Honors Program are surprised to learn that Cotton is the co-founder of the New Orleans Fencing Academy.”Dr. Cotton founded a what?” asked history junior Nicole Rabalais, who is in the Honors Certificate Program.Cotton, an associate professor of English, specializes in Renaissance and medieval literature, but his interest in older literature is not, he said, affiliated with his interest in fencing.”Fencing is a modern sport,” said Cotton, insisting that the kind of fencing he coaches does not resemble the swordplay practiced by 17th-century Frenchmen famous for traveling in inseparable trios. The swords used are not real swords. Cotton said fencing foils and epees are electrified, so that all scoring is done electronically. “It’s a terrible spectator sport,” he said. “The hits aren’t only minute but very fast. You can’t even be sure if someone’s been hit – which of course would not be the case with pointed weapons. The tip depresses and sets off a buzzer.”Cotton said electrical scoring has been used in fencing since the 1930s. “I’ve passed tests on this,” he said. “You’ve got to know everything to be a director. Some who direct don’t fence, but that boggles my mind.”Cotton began fencing as an adolescent in the Phillippines, where he received fencing lessons for his 12th birthday. “The instructor was a wonderful man who had been in the country during the war (World War II) and saw an opportunity to be an entrepreneur. So for a few years I took lessons at his salle – that’s French for room. The international language of fencing is French.” At age 15, Cotton moved back to the United States and finished high school in his father’s hometown of Ithaca, New York. There was no fencing there, he said. But while attending Cornell University, he met the school’s fencing coach at the club where he played badminton – another favorite sport of Cotton’s. When Cotton began attending Cornell, he resumed his fencing interest. “For a reason which I’ m sure my father has explained to me but I have forgotten, I was started off as right-handed in fencing, even though I am very left-handed. When I stepped into [the Cornell coach’s] salle and picked it up right-handed, he said ‘What are you doing?'” Cotton explained that being left-handed in fencing is a big advantage. “In the boycotted 1980 Olympics, all six foil finalists were left-handed,” he said.Cotton was the Cornell team’s co-captain by his senior year. During his sophomore year, the team won the Eastern Intercollegiate Fencing Championship.Cotton came to Loyola in 1968 to teach English. In 1972, he , along with Tulane Medical School instructor Dr. Eugene Hamori, founded the New Orleans Fencing Academy. Hamori was a member of the gold-medal-winning 1956 Hungarian Olympic saber fencing team, which defected after winning the gold medal, Cotton said. Cotton added that fencing is being removed from the Olympics, for being both “no fun to watch” and too Euro-centric.Cotton said he participated in two international competitions, one in 1975 and one in 1978, and was eliminated in the first round both times.”Most of my time is spent coaching. We meet at Franklin High School from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays. We use the gym. It’s crowded on a good night.” Cotton said that he teaches the foil, which uses only the torso as the target, and epee, which targets the whole body. “Foil by preference and epee because Dr. Hamori doesn’t want to.”Cotton also furthers his study of saber fencing under instructor Chris Trammel. Since this is the area of fencing in which he is least adept, Cotton said, fencing with sabers can be quite an exertion. “I was really hurting last night,” Cotton said the day after a practice. Although fencing is less popular in Louisiana than other parts of the world, Cotton said that a tournament in New Orleans three weeks ago drew “something like 170 people.””We used to have a tournament in town called the Mardi Gras tournament, because you can get everybody to come to New Orleans if the phrase ‘Mardi Gras’ is involved,” he said.In addition to fencing, Cotton enjoys other athletic activities, such as bicycling and distance running. He has completed four marathons. He is not , however, indefatigable, he said. “At Loyola, in the summer, there’s a group that fences Sunday afternoon from 2 to 5, an off-shoot of my group. I generally do not participate in that group because I’m tired by the summer.”When he’s not exerting his athleticism, Cotton teaches Renaissance Masterworks and The Emerging Self. He is the director of Loyola’s Honors Program and the moderator of the compilation Reader’s Response. In 1991, he received the Dux Academicus award. “He’s the ultimate grandfather figure,” said Coby Nathanson, drama/communications sophomore.Chris Gabler, biology pre-med freshman, studied both Classical Epic and fencing with Cotton last semester. “It was strange to see Dr. Cotton in full fencing garb, poking at you with a sword.” Gabler said.That garb, Cotton said, is a black suede outfit that covers him from head to foot. Cotton said he sometimes gives exams back wearing shiny black leather fencing gloves. “People look at them, wondering, How much did he pay Darth Vader for those?”

Bicycling is the only exercise most Loyola students see William Cotton engage in, but the English professor coaches and participates in fencing twice a week. (Danielle Palmatier)