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>> I love a good story almost as much as I love Colorado State University.
And good stories and good people are what make this such a special place.
So I'm particularly pleased to share this video with you which highlights four stories
of emeritus faculty from the College of Applied Human Sciences soon
to be the College of Health and Human Sciences.
Please enjoy this glimpse into the history of Colorado State through the eyes of Bruce Hall,
Jim Young, Kevin Oltjenbruns and Ellie Gilfoyle.
>> Teaching has been pivotal to who I've been at the University as much so
or more so than being an administrator.
Helping to launch the death, dying and grief class was really significant to me.
Another memory of something that I think I feel good about is how the University came together
and survived after the real challenges of the flood.
And I think my area in grief and loss probably helped at least some people at the University.
While facilities people were saying we've got to get these buildings back online,
we've got to get rid of the trash.
I kept going what about the people?
And it took both of us in that struggle I think to make a difference for the University.
So I've certainly enjoyed my teaching career both
at the undergraduate and at the graduate levels.
And I miss interacting with students.
>> And I look back and I used to scratch my head and people would say do you have a goal?
And I'd say oh sure, sure I've got a plan.
Well I didn't and I never did.
That wasn't me.
If there was any one goal, if you would want to call it a goal, I knew I wanted to be a leader.
I knew that when I was a Brownie and a Girl Scout.
I never set a goal to be a department head, to be a dean, to be a provost.
Those weren't my goals at all.
It wasn't my goal to do those things.
But I wanted to create change.
So I would look for opportunities
or opportunities would come my way and I wouldn't say no.
I loved being a facilitator.
I like facilitating another to grow.
That comes from my professions, philosophy if you look for abilities not disabilities.
So I think that has been a real key in my developing leadership.
>> An aside to what kind of drove me in the development of the program:
A father and son came up to talk to me about going into the construction program.
And his question was, 'is this program a status program?'
And I had to answer 'no' because it wasn't.
It wasn't there yet.
But that little episode was one of those things
that created my desire I guess, to get that status program.
And what exists now at CSU is way, way above that.
>> When I was a kid I, my family and I lived in Los Angeles
down on the corner of Third Street and Highland.
There was an empty lot.
And every morning on that empty lot someplace between 20 and 30 black men used to gather.
And they would stand there on that corner and wait for white folks
to come and pick them up for day labor.
I always thought that was a strange phenomenon because it was never white folks lining
up on the corner, it was always black folks.
And when I asked my mom and dad about it they sort of explained the economy of it
but did not explain the demographics of it.
And so that continued to be a curiosity in my life.
That's really how I got into social work, into civil rights issues.
I can't tell you how gratifying it was to see Barack Obama elected for the second term.
Think of what those guys standing on the corner of Third Street and Highland,
what would their experience have been?
I think people learn best from doing things.
What I tried to do was to help students become excited about working in the world
and doing the kinds of things that social workers do.
And then to harvest from those experiences everything they can.
>> I hope you enjoyed hearing from these special people about their incredible legacy
that they've left here at Colorado State University.
On the college Website you can view each of their in-depth interviews and those
of the eight faculty honorees who are highlighted in 2012.
We pay tribute to their careers and to their commitment to our great University.
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