You have been a member of the Moravian College Board of Trustees since 1979. How did you originally become interested in Moravian? And what has kept you engaged with the institution? I became interested in Moravian at first as kind of a joke. I really wasn’t interested in it, but some very good friends of mine were Herman Collier and his wife Jerri. I’d see them socially at different things, and one day Herman said, “How’d you like to be on the board of Moravian College?” And I said, “Why?” He said, “We need people, and we need to broaden the scope,” and I thought why not give it a try? And I just became more and more interested the longer I stayed. Moravian is a very interesting little college, but nobody pays any attention to it. And I always root for the underdog. I’ve stayed interested because we have very good people on the board, who I think can be a great help to the College, and I have a strong desire to see this college fulfill its obligation to be a great college, not just a good little college. What is your personal philosophy regarding board service? If you’re going to serve on any board you should put it high on your list of priorities. I think you have to be willing to give, and know before you come on that you are going to give your time and finances. Next, you have to be interested in the product of the organization whose board you are serving on. And loyalty is a tremendous asset. You have to be loyal to the institution; you have to believe in it. President Rokke has said that when bureaucracies slow down and people need a nudge, no one is better than you at making things move. In what directions does Moravian College need to be nudged? Moving into the twenty-first century is going to be a huge step. Moravian doesn’t like to change very much. Every department needs help—and they need the Board of Trustees to say, “Hey, we’re behind you.” Everybody here should realize that the faculty and the students and the administration should feel that the board is working with them and for them and not against them. Maybe we can do big things. I’d like to see the College get a little bit bigger, but not too much, because I think smallness is part of its charm. The academic program and the facilities will have to change to stay competitive in the marketplace. But we can’t lose our liberal-arts base, because we can’t let our students be one-sided. If you’re in computer science, you can’t just know computers; if you’re in music, you can’t just know music. Music is a good analogy. If you’re playing in a group, it’s important to know the parts the other instruments play, to know the art of the whole. I would love to see more students travel, and have time in a country of their choice. I would love to see more students from abroad come here. I’d love to see us send out more Fulbright Scholars, and have a Rhodes Scholar among our graduates. And I think we have bright students here who can compete in these areas. Not enough of our students travel. I would like to see everybody have the ability to travel, to go to another country, see how other people live and work, and get to know their customs.
Travel is not only the most broadening thing I know, but it often files away the rough spots in someone’s personality. We’ll need money, money, money in order to do all the things we want to do. The trustees have to make this one of their strongest priorities. They have to give financially, a great deal, as much as they are able. My chairmanship is a change. I am the first woman to chair this board; I have given and will continue to give financially. And I believe that there will be some very embarrassed trustees if they don’t follow suit to the best of their ability. And they have to be proud of the College, and talk about it, and bring people to it. But the trustees can’t do it all. The alumni have to help. They have to give, too, and talk proudly about the College, and keep in touch, and come back and see the wonderful things that are happening here. And it’s our job to let them know about what’s going on, so they’ll be proud of the College, and want to support it. The students have to start being active alumni by being active here and now. They have to get into the habit, so that when they leave, they will say, “I know Moravian expects me to give something to my college. And I want to do it, because it’s a great college.” So it has to start before they walk across that platform. I told the students, at my birthday celebration, that I did not take on this job to do it all by myself, and I refused to take it unless I had help from everybody. I think they heard me, and I think they’re willing to do it. I was tickled pink with the kids that came down to speak to me afterwards, and the next day when I was in the Haupert Union Building. I think they know I care. You have a great interest in students and seem to truly enjoy being with them and with other young people. What do you derive from the interaction? I think they keep someone my age young. I think it’s a way of insisting that we keep an open mind. There are many things that are going on in this generation that I do not approve of, and I could close my mind to it. It’s very difficult at my age to have an open mind, just because things have changed. Now, if people can’t change with the times, they’re in trouble. But the young people—I enjoy them, I always have. I enjoyed my children, and I enjoyed my children’s friends, and I enjoy my grandchild and her friends. As Moravian College enters the new millennium, what resolution would you set for the College—and yourself? I never make resolutions for myself. As for the College, I would like to see it, above all, go for the necessary amount of money it needs to make all these things work and have it successful. In my book, it must be successful. It can’t fail. About 20,000 alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends of the College will read this issue of the magazine. Is there anything you would like to say to them? Well, we need all the help we can get. And if I’m to be a success as chair of the board, they are going to make me a success, by helping. By doing what they can for the College when they’re called upon to do it. And by showing an interest in the College, and coming back to see it. 9