It was September 1970, and our faculty was the very first one of the new NRCC. Our brand new building had arisen in the rolling green hills of Pulaski County. But when we arrived for the first faculty orientation, we got the news that it would take a few more weeks to get the building ready for us. In the meantime, English classes were to be taught in the Sunday School rooms of the Baptist Church in Dublin. O.K., I thought, this is no real hurdle for all of us so eager to teach and be taught. On our first tour of the church classrooms, though, I discovered charming tables and chairs perfectly scaled for preschool and primary children. I had no ideas at all of how we could adapt them for use by adults! Someone must have got right on top of the problem, though, because on the first day of classes we found adult size folding tables and chairs and we didn’t lose a minute of teaching time. However, teaching English with no office or library was a challenge. Within a week I had filled the back seat of my car with books, files, chalk, erasers, and other tools of the teaching trade. My husband dubbed my little Pontiac The Wisdom Wagon.

     From the beginning I was most surprised and most challenged by the widest range of students I had ever heard or ever imagined in a college classroom. I was assigned to teach university parallel freshman English to this diverse group. Some were mature and ready to learn. Some were there only to avoid the draft or only because they had not gained admission to another college. A few had already dropped out after a couple of weeks at one of the nearby colleges. Several were generally angry and confused and not at all ready to learn. But among the students who were ready to learn, I encountered some of the keenest and most creative minds a teacher could wish for. They taught me much about the culture of our Appalachian area, which I found excitingly rich in language variations, folk music, and the survival skills brought by ancestors from Europe and Britain and refined through generations of mountain living.

     Though I left community college teaching 20 years ago, I have maintained occasional contact with some of these students through the years. My 11 years at NRCC have proved indispensable in preparing me for the consulting and writing challenges of my second career.

NANCY K. BIRD
Professor of English
Employment at NRCC: 1970-1981

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     I was working as a clerk typist for Data Processing and the Office of Institutional Research. Data Processing consisted of one employee, Thelma Ratcliff, who keypunched all data entry cards, ran the card sorter machine, and printed voluminous computer printouts that came from Richmond. My small yellow metal desk and IBM MagCard Typewriter were located just inside the door of Godbey 101, which at that time, along with the copy room, was the room that housed the college’s large noisy data processing machines. This was long before the time of personal computers when all of the college’s reports were generated from a main frame computer in Richmond. Cards were keypunched locally for each student and each class and were “read” in Richmond via a telephone line.

     One rainy day the door burst open, and a man entered the room and hesitated in front of my desk. He looked like a “hippie” with a disheveled black raincoat haphazardly thrown over his arms, and he was carrying a battered briefcase in each hand. Remember, this was in the early ‘70s, the days of long unkempt hair, mini skirts, jeans, and plaid double-knit polyester.
I asked, “May I help you?” He replied, “I’m Jack Lewis. I’m your new boss.”
For an office, we put him in what is now June Aker’s paper storage closet. He had room for a desk and one chair. This was where he spent many nights writing new computer programs for the college and working on his dissertation. An EIE student, John Van Hemert, was placed in data processing and spent many nights working with Jack. It was very exciting work for both, and they animatedly shared their discoveries with the staff, who had no idea what they were talking about but agreed it was ground-breaking stuff.

     At the time Jack began working at NRCC, he was a cigarette smoker. He soon gave up smoking since Thelma would not allow him to smoke in the office, and he was too engrossed in his programs to take smoke breaks. He was always on the run because his wife Mary Ann was also working on her doctoral degree at Virginia Tech. He would wait until the last second to leave to meet her to pick up the children so she could go to class, and he drove so fast that I’m sure he sorely frightened his guardian angel many times.

     Speaking of driving fast and being scared, one day Jack was driving John, Thelma, and me to a meeting in Richmond. As he was driving up I-81, he had his arm along the back of the front sear and was turned facing the back talking about a project. The car went faster and faster and faster, and I was terrified when the speedometer indicated 80, and the accelerator was still pressed to the floor. I interrupted and said, “Please slow down, Dr. Lewis. I am so scared.” When he looked at the speedometer, he became scared also and slowed his speed. Within a mile, as we drove by a state trooper, Jack thanked me over and over for slowing him down. He was driving a state vehicle.

     Many years later when he bought an airplane, I remembered this day and was thankful he had auto pilot.

BETTIE MCMILLAN
Supervisor of Word Processing Center
Employment at NRCC: 1972-present

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     The first five years was a time of positive energy and innovative spirit that Bob Sullins infused into everyone. He had enthusiasm, energy, optimism, and the ability to inspire greatness. That was the nature of his personality and commitment.

ED BARNES
Retired President of NRCC
Employment at NRCC:
1972-1984; 1991-1999

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     One of the best things that happened to me during my years at NRCC was to be given the opportunity to teach a lot of different types of students, such as the deaf students. In fact, my fondest memory is my first class of deaf students. That was a wonderful, wonderful experience.

MARGARET L. SMITH
Retired Faculty
Employment at NRCC: 1970-1996

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     New River Community College is a special place to me because it has been the motivator and also the enabler in helping me achieve many of my lifetime goals.

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     During the early years and W. Robert Sullins’ presidency, I was fortunate to be involved in the development of a genuine comprehensive community-junior college. Dr. Sullins had the courage to give us the freedom to develop viable programs. NRCC grew from a vocational school to become an exemplary academic and occupational-technical community college staffed by qualified faculty and staff.

     Furthermore, we tried very hard to be sure that every student was someone special. I personally believed none of our students felt they were nobody.

     With Dr. Sullins’ support, Eddie Crews, Roland Biesecker, and I realized a dream-come-true when we acquired funding necessary to provide financial aid to any person in the NRCC service region who wanted to pursue an educational program. In 1971 Margaret (Peggy) Taylor brought youth, professionalism, loyalty, and vision to a mature staff. She also brought student-centered leadership to counseling and student activities, as well as professional standards to admissions and records. With the assistance of staff and faculty, she developed the “Road Show.”

JOHN C. CLEM
Dean of Student Services, Retired
Employment at NRCC: 1970 - 1983

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     In 1976 I wore long blond hair and love beads, and I enrolled in New River’s General Studies program. I took courses in history, philosophy, composition, algebra, and biology. For the most part, I failed miserably. It wasn’t because I wasn’t capable—on the contrary—I just believed that studying abstractions was futile. Real knowledge, I convinced myself, could only be gained through real life experience. I also convinced myself that New River afforded the perfect solution to my scholarly dilemma by offering real life experience in an academic setting—the student lounge.

     In those days, the student lounge was located in what is now the central corridor in Godbey Hall. Most days, all the tables were full, and rows of students leaned against the large glass windows, smoked cigarettes, and filled the lounge with small talk and laughter. We all felt so grown up there—free from the dictates and rules of instructors, yet secure within the confines that separated us from the world that loomed outside. It was our place, and even though faculty and staff often passed through long enough to buy a Coke or a cheeseburger, this was our domain.

     One winter afternoon while most of the student body was in class, I was sitting at one of the back tables. I should have been in English class, but since I hadn’t done my homework, I decided to sink into my chair and enjoy the afternoon. I lit a cigarette and stared out the window at a cold December rain. Gray clouds lowered and enveloped the blue hills for as far as I could see. It was a nice place to be, I thought, even if it was a nasty day, and even if it was school. I re-arranged my books on the table in front of me and pondered which assignment I could ignore with the least damage to my overall class average. I flipped open my notebook for composition class and decided to ignore the assignment for writing parallel sentences. “Useless,” I mumbled. The second assignment read, “Go to a public place and observe people—listen to what they say and notice how they say it. Watch what they do and notice how they do it. “ I remembered the instructor—a lanky blond who always carried a cup of coffee when she entered class. She’d always stroll in and twirl a desk around and sit there right with us. I liked that about her, and I especially liked how she freely admitted to coloring her hair. Some of her assignments, though, were off the wall, and this one was no different. I scanned the lounge and saw nothing but copies of myself—longhaired girls standing tall in their platform shoes, clad in tight bell-bottoms and bulky fisherman’s sweaters. The boys didn’t look all that different. Nearly all of them had hair to their shoulders, and they too wore faded and torn jeans. I listened, but all I heard was a mumble of muffled voices and from what I saw, nothing warranted me leaving my comfortable perch in the back of the lounge. I tossed my pen on the blank page in front of me and gazed outside. The rain was turning colder, and icy pellets were pouncing against the windows.

     “Missed you in class today.”

     I looked up and it was Dr. Graham, my composition instructor. She planted her feet firmly in front of me and peered through the shadow of a brimmed yellow rain hat. When our eyes met, she smiled and her cheeks plumped. Before I could manufacture an excuse, she said, “I handed back essays today. You might want to stop by my office and get yours.” She flashed another smile and tucked her umbrella under her arm. She looked out the window, then looked back at me.

     “Pretty, isn’t it?”

     I shrugged my shoulders and gave her a puzzled look.

     “The rain. The mountains. The clouds. Do you see how the blades of grass are leaning from the weight of the rain? Have you ever read anything that makes you feel as burdened as any one of those blades of grass is feeling right now?”

     I shook my head and put out the cigarette.

     “By the way,” she said. “You had a good essay.” She smiled and nodded while she tucked a wisp of blond hair under her hat. “Really lovely.” She turned and walked away, and I watched as she glided through the myriad of tables and chairs and disappeared into the halls of Godbey.
I reached for my pen and I wrote.

SANDRA P. MOYE
Instructor of English
Employment at NRCC: 2000-present

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     In the 70s, Godbey Hall housed a nice faculty/staff lounge that is now Katherine Martin’s office and another small storage/office space that opens from Godbey Hall. The lounge had a range/sink/refrigerator unit, several tables and chairs, and a television. The Nixon Watergate hearings were going on, and from time to time, we would take a break to learn the latest events as they unfolded. It was mesmerizing to watch our federal judicial system in action for the first time on television.

BETTIE MCMILLAN
Supervisor of Word Processing Center
Employment at NRCC: 1972-present

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     I worked in the business field for 25 years. Then, when our plant closed, I chose to return to school and obtain a degree. Even though I was so nervous about coming back to school after being out so long, I realized that the decision to come to NRCC was the right one. I found the faculty to be wonderful, caring people. Even though I was one of the older students in my classes, everyone here made it a very enjoyable experience. After graduating, I came to work here, and discovered it is a wonderful place to work as well as a good place to further your education.

SHIRLEY MANN
Office Services Specialist,
Word Processing Center
Employment at NRCC: 1993 - present

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     The most vivid memories for me of the 1970s dealt with: (1) the numerous meetings that we had and (2) our evening school programs.

     During the ‘70s, we were trying to determine what a community college was and how it should operate. One of the methods of developing our structure was through meetings. Since we were on the quarter system and contracts for faculty started on September 16th , we generally had two full weeks of faculty workshops to begin the fall term. I remember vividly the first such faculty meeting that I attended Fall 1972. President Sullins, in his address to the faculty and staff at that meeting informed us that one of our faculty members had been arrested for a particular crime that was being widely publicized in the media. I wondered, “What type of place is this and what have I gotten myself into?” Because we were young in age as a staff (in fact, we were green knowing anything about a community college) and we were young as an institution of higher education, we had many long workshops and meetings to establish our direction. At the faculty meetings, there was a lot of “show and tell” by different departments and offices to let us know what was going on and what the offices did. There were general faculty meetings that seemed to go on forever on Tuesday mornings and even on Friday afternoons; there were departmental meetings that were held every two or three weeks to develop a curricula; there were meetings that were held away from campus to plan and to learn; and there were meetings that were held to prepare for SACS accreditation. With all the meetings that we had, it’s a small wonder that we still had time to teach. But we did.

     Our students in the ‘70s were both young and old. In many cases, our students were considerably older than we, as a staff, were. Adult students, including many veterans, made our evening programs as popular as our day programs. Evening programs were printed in our college catalog outlining the courses and the time frames that would be required for a student to receive a degree, diploma or certificate by attending totally evening classes. Virtually all of the teachers taught at least one evening class. We had an evening student government association. Most of our students seemed to truly want to learn. In 1972 when I came to NRCC from Radford University, I felt that the students who were enrolled here were as capable as those at Radford.

J. DOYLE LYONS
Associate Professor, Assistant to the President
Employment at NRCC: 1972-present

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     Off-campus teaching has been a major part of working at NRCC for me. Over the years, I have taught classes of one kind or another for NRCC at Prison Road Camp #1 in Radford, RAAP, Giles High School, Inland Motor, Virginia Tech, Hoechst-Celanese in Pearisburg, and our present site at Appalachian Hall in Christiansburg. New River has done a fine job of taking instruction to people who need it where they are, and I have learned a lot and met a number of interesting people whom I otherwise might not have known because of it
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EDDIE GOODSON
Assistant Professor of English
Employment at NRCC: 1972-present

     The weeping blue atlas cedar on the “fat” sidewalk was planted with the building in 1970. It was obtained from West Virginia in a one-gallon pot! The tree’s botanical name is Cedrus atlantica glauca pendula, which in common name is called Weeping Blue Atlas Cedar. The tree is grafted and the pine cones will not yield a similar tree (not true to seed). Many people have come to visit the tree through the years, as it is one of the largest on the East Coast.

     When it was proposed several years ago that it be “cut back,” I called Virginia Tech and Laurel Creek Nursery for information about what would happen to it if it were cut or altered in a drastic way. The response that I was given was that it was “perfect as it is” and that it was “doing what it is supposed to be doing.” When I asked about the value of the tree, if for sale, I learned that it was worth about $30,000 and that cutting it back would significantly reduce its value.

     The tree was obtained from Dan Cooper’s mother’s nursery in West Virginia and was pricey at the time ($125). We also got the weeping white pine at the same time. It was installed by a tractor that broke the top out of the tree, which has regrown nicely . This specimen is in the triangle and is really getting rather huge itself. They are both the same age, 32 years old (probably closer to 35 with time spent at nursery). I really think we are lucky to have such a fine specimen here with us. The tree is really quite limber and will take the snow and ice a lot better than most trees. I hope we will enjoy it for many years to come.

     We are lucky to have the large variety of native and imported plant materials that we do have. Parts of our forest are approximately 300 years old (the old oaks out the front doors, at the flagpoles). We have quite a variety of maples, poplars, hickory, redbud, cherry, plum, crabapple, pear, ash, and dogwoods, oaks, serviceberry, beech, and many conifers from Virginia pine to Norway spruce. We have a wealth of wildflowers in our woods and many varieties of shrubs from azalea to viburnums. There are also many annuals and perennials which I am trying to add to every day. I think we have one of the prettiest campus areas in the system, but I am biased a bit.

ELIZABETH GARTER
Office Services Specialist, Facilities Services
Employment at NRCC: 1976-present

     I will always admire Dr. Ed Barnes. He made an impression on me my first year at NRCC. He gave me encouragement and self-confidence. Sometimes we need these things when we are starting out in the working world.

PEGGY H. GALLOWAY
Job Placement Services Office Manager
Employment at NRCC: 1972-present

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     The part of my NRCC experience that gave me the most satisfaction was seeing the students after 18 months’ training anchor a solid industrial job. This would make my heart glow. My fondest memory at NRCC was Day One at Godbey Hall in the fall of 1970. We arrived to start classes, and the road grader was parked across the entrance of the new red dirt driveway. The second main isle had not been poured, and many classrooms (without ceilings) had lights strung like Christmas trees overhead. “We had to persevere.”

     One of my most unforgettable persons during the 1970’s was Ollie, the maintenance man. No matter what happened, Ollie was cheerful and polite to everyone. He would smile and say “Fine, thank you.” I never saw his feathers ruffled.

     The major changes that I witnessed were the academic growth, physical plant growth, and service to region growth. I also saw a lot of computerization, which meant keeping up with the times.

      After thirty-five years, I feel that two years at NRCC still has to be one of the last bargains in America. College professors during the 1970’s preached “focus on change.” This is true and still very much in vogue today with global marketing, etc. Employment change remains rather rapid creating continuing education needs!

HARRY T. COVEY
Quality Assurance Manager,
Imperial Fabrication of Virginia
Student at NRVTS: 1962 - 1966
Employment at NRVTS/NRCC-1966-1975

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     During the winter quarter of 1969-70, one of my counseling classes at Radford College, Organization and Administration of Counseling, made a field trip to the Radford Vocational Technical School. Mrs. Sybill Ferrell and Mr. Gordon Jonas, counselors at the school, gave us a tour of the building on Third Avenue in Radford. Mrs. Ferrell explained to us that night that the school was about to become a community college and a part of the Virginia Community College System. Spring semester of 1973 brought my first class on the NRCC Campus and another tour. This was also the first class of what was to become my doctoral program. This class was a “Seminar in Articulation in Public Education” sponsored by Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia. “Articulation” was to the 1970’s what “2+2” was to the 1980’s, and “Tech Prep” was to the 1990’s. I do not remember whether this was my first tour of the NRCC campus or the second tour as the area high school guidance counselors or the counselors in the New River Personnel and Guidance Association were being given many tours of the campus by Eddie Crews, Peggy Taylor, Joe Sheffey, Ron Harriman, Rita Dixon, or Tom Owen. I do remember that one of these meetings and then a tour of the campus started in a “new” trailer in the parking lot below Godbey. Little did I know then that on March 1, 1984, I would start giving my own tours of the NRCC campus as the Career Development Counselor.

DALE CONRAD
Career Development Counselor
Employment at NRCC: 1984 - present

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     The best thing about my NRCC experience was my association with the teachers, especially the English faculty, among whom there was great camaraderie. I also enjoyed working with Al Kinzer when I taught non-credit classes. Actually, everyone was easy to work with. We worked together as a group, and that is very important. We felt we were a part of something that was bigger. I remember how helpful everyone—faculty and students—were when I broke my ankle and had to teach from a wheelchair.

     I have many fond memories of the students I had. I remember one student particularly well. He was middle-aged when he entered my class and appeared to have just “stepped out of the mountains.” As I learned more about him, I found that he had left school after the second or third grade. His life with a father who was a bootlegger was very hard, so hard that he eventually ran away from home. When his desire for an education brought him to New River, he worked very hard to make up for his missed opportunities. I was so proud when he earned an A in my class, and I recognized how much better adjusted he was after he had been at New River for a while.

VIRGINIA WILSON
Retired Faculty
Employment at NRCC: 1971-1982

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     In the first years on the Dublin campus, the library was open on Saturday mornings. One Saturday in spring, I arrived to open the library for the morning and Dr. Bob Sullins was mopping the hallway beside the main doors, between the entry doors and the library. When I asked why he was mopping the floor, he told me that he had a group of visitors coming and the floor was dirty. Because it was a Saturday, the normal cleaning people were not working and he wanted the building to look nice for his visitors.