This week’s Project 100+ memory comes from Bob Bullard.  He was born in New York City and grew up in the Bronx until he was five years old.  The family then moved to Piscataway, New Jersey.  He went to public schools until 9^th grade, when he went to St. Joseph’s of Metuchen.  After 10^th grade, he went back to public school and graduated from Piscataway High School in 2001.  His father was a stage hand on Broadway, complete with his union card just like his father.  He was one of the most highly sought after carpenters in the business and did work off-Broadway as well.  For example, he helped oversee construction for the Pope’s visit to Yankee Stadium, for the Grammys, for the Espys, and for major concerts like that of Michael Jackson.  His mother raised Bob and his two younger twin sisters.  In the Fall of 2001, he went to Gannon University, a small Catholic college in Erie, Pennsylvania, with Division II sports.  He had a scholarship to play baseball as an outfielder and catcher.  A looming coach change, however, led him to transfer to Rowan, and he began there in the Fall of 2003, graduating in the Spring of 2006.  After graduating, he ended up following his father and becoming a union-card carrying stage hand on Broadway, working on shows such as Les Misérables, Lion King, Wicked, and Boy from Oz.  He did that position full-time until 2007, when he decided to enroll in the master’s program at Rowan in Higher Education.  He continued to work on Broadway part-time and graduated with his master’s in 2009.  He then took a position as a career counselor at Richard Stockton College.  After six months, he returned to Rowan as the Assistant Director of the Career and Academic Planning Center.  After five years in this role, in 2016, he became Associate Director.  In 2017, he became the Director of Career Services.  Up until the pandemic in 2020, he had continued to work part-time on Broadway, usually on the weekends.  In 2021, he became Assistant Vice President of Professional Success. 

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I didn’t consider Rowan when I was graduating from high school, even though I had several friends who went there.  When I decided to transfer from Gannon, I applied to Rutgers and Rowan.  I got into both, but I chose Rowan.  I thought I could play baseball there.  I ended up playing for three years, as I got an extension on my eligibility due to my breaking my ankle one season.  My most important role for the team was as a left-handed batter.  Even though Rowan was Division III, it was a more serious and professional organization than at Gannon.  The team was really good.

I had always gravitated to history, geography, and civics in school.  I was a first-generation college student, and the goal was just to become the first person in my family to have a degree.  I always knew that I could work in the theater like my father, so I didn’t think very much about my major’s relationship to a career.  So, I became a history major just because I loved the subject.  My history courses at Gannon were good, and I liked the professors there.  So, I knew I wanted to keep the same major when I transferred.  

My first class at Rowan was United States, 1820-1861, with you, Dr. Carrigan.  From the second I stepped into your class, I knew I was in the right spot. Admittedly, I was not the hardest worker with my studies, but your lectures and teaching style were enthralling.  I remember leaving one of my early classes and having really enjoyed it.  I had done the reading and preparation, which I had not always done in the past, and it made the class so rewarding.  I just loved the discussions that we had.  As a baseball player, we had to travel, but I hated missing class.  Going to your class and later my other history courses was something to which I really looked forward. Your focus on biography and the stories of individuals through the complexities of history provided a unique perspective that forced me to raise my academic game. I earned a B+ in that first class, and I was never more proud of a B+ in my life.

As I advanced through my major, several other faculty members had a similar impact on me.  I loved taking courses on Russian history with James Heinzen.  He was so knowledgeable, and he was a great lecturer.  I had no interest in the subject before I stepped into the course, but his passion for the subject won me over.  To be honest, however, I would have loved hearing him lecture about how to tie shoes!

Another faculty member who made a deep impression on me was Cory Blake.  I never worked harder than I did for her two courses, both on Islamic Civilization.  I would take notes and notes.  It was another subject that I knew very little about previously, but it seemed so relevant in a post-9/11 world.  It was so great to be studying with someone who knew the history of the Middle East so well.  Like Dr. Heinzen, she was passionate about what she was teaching that it made me want to learn more.  Like so many of my history classes, I just loved attending class.

I had a great time in Dr. Morschauser’s Historical Methods.  He demystified what it meant to be a historian and what it took to do historical research.  Like others, he was dedicated to his craft.  His standards were very high, but he was willing to help you get over the bar.  I still remember the paper topic for my research paper in that class.  It used the Ali-Frazier fight to gain insight into the social history of the 1960s and 1970s, particularly the polarizing issues of civil rights and the Vietnam War.

I had Dr. Lee Kress for Seminar.  He had each of us choose a five-year period of US foreign policy.  He helped me choose my focus, which turned out to be US-Chilean relations from 1968 to 1972.  He noted that new critical documents were coming out due to the Freedom of Information Act.  Indeed, this made the research more exciting.  The course very much felt like a culminating experience for the history major.  I used all that I had learned about historical research and about complex historical processes to write that paper.  Whenever I got stuck, Dr. Kress was there to help, a great fountain of knowledge about American diplomatic history.  When I turned in my final draft, which was well over 30 pages, I felt a great sense of accomplishment.  Later, in graduate school when a similar length-paper was assigned, I realized that most all of my fellow students had never been asked to write such a paper.  As a result, I ended up having a much easier time than they did.

I ended up doing an extra year at Rowan because I was able to play baseball a fifth year as a result of my ankle injury.  During this extra year, I decided to do a second major in American Studies.  It was a perfect complement for my history major.  Emily Blanck helped continue the development of my critical thinking.  I spent a lot of that year thinking about American culture.  The courses combined several disciplines, including history, sociology, and political science, and we explored some controversial topics in a deep and thoughtful way. I certainly came out of that year having a richer understanding of the United States.

Lastly, as someone who helps prepare students for their lives after college, the lessons and skills I learned in the history major are still pertinent today. While rarely asked about particular historical topics, the ability to do research, to articulate an opinion, to write whitepapers, and to focus on the individual while understanding complex issues were all cultivated in Robinson Hall with the history department.

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This is part of the Department of History’s “Project 100+,” an ongoing collection of memories by Glassboro State College and Rowan University alumni and staff that began as part of the celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the founding of Glassboro Normal School, later Glassboro State College, and now Rowan University.  Due to interest in the project, the number of interviewees continues to grow.  Thanks to Laurie Lahey for helping proofread and edit the final versions.  Email carrigan@rowan.edu with questions or corrections.  You can find the Link to all of the Project 100 and Project 100+ entries on the Web:  https://chss.rowan.edu/departments/history/alumni_highlights/project_100/