To commemorate Brookhaven College’s 35th year, the Courier asked the faculty and staff who have been with the college since the beginning to tell us what makes Brookhaven so special and what advice they have for the next generation of the Brookhaven family. These faculty and staff members represent the founding traditions of Brookhaven and have dedicated the past 35 years to providing the community with innovative and affordable education. With their leadership and by their example, Brookhaven has grown from a handful of buildings settled on dusty farmland into an institution known for academic excellence and cutting-edge approaches to learning. This special section of The Brookhaven Courier is dedicated to everyone who strives to uphold the Brookhaven tradition, and especially to these men and women, whose hard work helped lay the very foundation of this college, literally, figuratively and academically. -Nicholas Bostick

Photos by Paul Lauder

Favorite Memory: “We used to have a cafeteria in what is now the B Building. It had excellent food. It was the center of the campus, and faculty and students would sit outside and have lunch together.”

Craziest Brookhaven story: “My library director, Beverly Cox Carpenter, and our first president, Deon Holt, [climbed] over the walls around the automotive compound [looking for] where the contractors were storing the shelving for the library … the library was not ready when the college opened August 1978. We worked out of space in the Health Center until the Library opened in October.”

Favorite Memory: “Developing and teaching field courses in Big Bend, New Mexico, Alaska and Australia. In the field, all one’s senses, sight, sound, touch, emotion, fellowship, etc., are involved in a total immersion learning experience. I [received] an email from a former student who wrote: ‘I am planning my vacation to Big Bend. Where were we when we saw the giant dagger plants in full bloom and the place where we waded across the Rio Grande River and rode burros to the village?’”

Favorite Memory: “Working in the Counseling Center during the ‘glory years.’ We literally grew up together. Even though we were as different as night and day, we just ‘clicked’ as a group. To this day, Greg Jacobs, Michael Dennehy, Stephen Link, and John Williams are still referred to as the ‘boys’ because they could not settle down and be serious during staff meetings, to the chagrin of our Director. Even when I see them in the hallway, I can’t help but smile.”

Changes to the Art Department: “Thanks to Roger Bennett, we became the School of the Arts, which led to our full accreditation through the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. We are the only school in the district with that title.”

First impressions of campus: “I had never arrived, in either high school or college teaching, on a new campus. I wanted to be a part of a new campus. That was something I hoped I would be able to achieve in my career. ”

Favorite Memory: “Brookhaven’s Child Development program used to include a fabulous day care center, which served the needs of the Brookhaven family – faculty, staff, and students. Often, the sweetest hour of my day was spent dropping in on my own three children to read a story, complete a puzzle, ride on a swing, or discover a beautiful autumn leaf.”

To new/future faculty members: “Brookhaven is one of the most unique and pleasant places to teach you’ll ever find. They place an emphasis on experimentation – if you have a good idea, try it. It is the most caring institution I’ve ever been around.”

Advice to students: “First, come to class, and come every day. Second, do your homework. It isn’t complicated. Third, ask for help when you need it. There are loads of good, kind people [here at Brookhaven] just waiting to help you.”

To new/future faculty members: “This is the best teaching environment you will ever experience. You have good people here who are participating in the process of developing the curriculum, and it is always being updated.”

Advice to new students: “I would have them realize that the professors at Brookhaven are interested in them and their success more than in anything related to their own personal careers.”

First impressions of campus: “Even though parts of the campus were still under construction when I arrived, it was evident that the campus was a first-class facility. I was very impressed with the architectural design.”

To new/future faculty members: “A college is built on relationships. To have students be successful, you need to build relationships to help the students navigate the college environment. Picture a student coming to college for the first time – it is a maze of roadblocks. Regardless of what you were hired to do, your job is to help the students to navigate.”

Craziest Brookhaven story: “The most fun early memory [of Brookhaven] was the Sunday just prior to fall opening many of us spent in the M Building office technology lab drilling holes in the desktops so we could mount the brand new state-of-the-art IBM Selectric typewriters to the desks. Some of us were drilling while others were under the desks securing the typewriters to the desks with locking bolts.”

First impressions of campus: “[I thought] That just over 100 years earlier there may have still been Comanche raiding parties coming through this area … maybe right there where we were standing on that first day. And now there was a brand new college campus where not so long ago there had been the cattle and the cotton … and the Comanche.”