This week’s Project 100+ memory comes from Charles Kuski.  He was born and raised in Tabernacle, New Jersey.  His father is a computer engineer who worked at Bell Labs, Delta Data, and Franklin Computers for many years.  His mother was a fashion designer in Philadelphia before becoming a stay-at-home mother in the 1990s.  He has a twin brother and sister, both younger. Neither followed Charles to Rowan. He went to public schools, attending Seneca High School and graduating in 2007. He had young teachers at Seneca, as his freshmen class was the first to attend the new school. One of his teachers, Gerry Sherlock, and a student teacher, Kirk Lavecchia, were both alums of Rowan. After graduating from Rowan in 2011 with degrees in history and secondary education, he attended Rutgers University New Brunswick for a master’s degree in higher education and college student affairs. During these two years, he was a hall director for a co-ed dormitory on the Cook-Douglas campus. After earning his master’s in 2013, he took a position as resident director at the State University of New York at Brockport. There he was in charge of a freshman dormitory as well as the learning communities of a second hall.  Later, he was promoted to oversee the college’s apartments.  In 2017, he saw that Rowan had an opening, and he applied and won the position. His initial role was coordinator for leadership programs, and he oversaw the student leadership program for the University. Working for Drew Tinnin, they focused on helping students develop the soft skills that would enhance their academic training and lead them to be future leaders. In 2021, the Dean of Students offered Charles a new position focused on improving the experience of commuting and off-campus students. This role has two main aspects. First, he works to ensure that those students are aware of activities on campus and that they feel included and welcome to attend those events.  Second, he works with the Boro of Glassboro and the Glassboro police to deal with any friction that develops between students living off campus and non-student residents of the town.  Charles just finished his coursework in the doctoral program in Educational Leadership here at Rowan. He has begun work on his dissertation, and he hopes to finish in May of 2026. However, he stresses this is a hopeful date because he has two young children who complicate, in a good way, his planning. Josephine is almost four, and Chase is just eight months at the time of the interview (January 2025).

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Both of my parents earned degrees from Drexel, and they expected me to go to college. I applied to several colleges in the area, including Temple, Drexel, Montclair, Rutgers New Brunswick, Richard Stockton, Rowan, and the College of New Jersey. I was accepted at most of these schools, but I was influenced by those two teachers that who were Rowan alums. Most importantly, I wanted to be a high school social studies teacher, and I liked the history and education program at Rowan.

During the summer after I graduated, I met a Rowan student at the back of a comedy club in Cherry Hill.  He told me about all the things that he was involved at Rowan, and he invited me to campus during the summer.  At the time, I was hoping to do stand-up comedy, and he told me of several things that I should join to further that interest.  The most important group that I joined was the Student University Programmers, the ones who decide what artists and performers to bring to campus. He was involved with that group for all four years, only taking time off when he was student teaching. 

The most important academic experience that I had was the CLIO program. Looking back now, I appreciate it even more than I did at the time.  It was fantastic to have small classes with talented faculty members and the same cohort of students for three semesters. I also didn’t truly appreciate how special was the effort made by the faculty in the program until I tried to draw on my experiences at Brockport and institute a similar learning community there. The faculty were not so enthusiastic about some of the outside-of-the-classroom elements, and I had to adjust the learning communities there as a result.

The two faculty that I had the most at Rowan were you, Dr. Carrigan, and Dr. Corinne Blake.  I can’t say that it was my favorite class, but the most important class I took was Historical Methods with Dr. Blake. This was the class that made it clear that I was no longer in anything like high school. It became clear quickly that my intelligence and charm were not going to get me through without committing seriously to work. This was the class where I really began to work on my writing, which I look back on as the most important academic skill I gained at college. The faculty took the time to walk us step-by-step through how to write a paper. All history majors are required to write numerous papers, including two research papers, a 10-page one for Historical Methods, and a 25-page one for Senior Seminar.  As a result of faculty guidance and the time that I was forced to spend on improving my writing, I got much better.  I have often been complemented on my writing since graduating, and I believe it all goes back to my time as a history major. I can remember attending graduate school at Rutgers and realizing that Rowan’s approach to teaching writing was special and not one that most of my peers had experienced.  The confidence that I gained from being ahead of these other students was important to me during my graduate studies and after graduation as well.  One interesting consequence of my perceived writing talent was that my bosses would often tap me to writing sensitive press releases and other official documents related to controversial events on campus such as hazing activities or allegations of sexual misconduct.

In addition to Methods, I also took Islamic Civilization and Ottoman History with Dr. Blake, and I enjoyed learning about this history and a part of the world that I knew very little. I also really enjoyed your History of New Jersey, which I took as a senior. This class was very different than many of the broader history courses I took. The class had a focus on primary sources, and my final paper focused on the controversy over the boundary line between New York and New Jersey in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. I also enjoyed my course on the American Revolution and the Early Republic with Janet Lindman. Dr. Lindman was great at fostering debate in class. Dr. Lindman determined who won or lost, and I loved her approach even though I was a frequent loser in those debates. I also enjoyed courses with Lee Kress and Scott Morschauser. My Senior Seminar was overseen by the Psi Iota Teaching Fellow, Gillian Frank. It was a memorable class, and my paper was on the Fair Housing Council of the Delaware Valley in the late 1960s.  As a result, I went multiple times to the Temple University Urban Archive.  I can still remember figuring out how to use microfiche.  The work that I did going through all the primary sources helped me really appreciate how the work of history is done at the base level.  It was the most fun paper that I wrote during my undergraduate years, and I enjoyed the discoveries that came through the investigation process.

I was involved in many extra-curricular events for the history department.  I became the Treasurer for the Student History Association and Phi Alpha Theta.  Participation in these groups felt like an extension of the CLIO program as we moved into these roles as the CLIO classes themselves ended. I can remember organizing the banquet every year and trips to places such as Antietam Battlefield, Washington, D.C., and more.  In any event, as a result, I was still spending time with the friends I had made in CLIO such as Mary Spanarkel, Ian Tyson, Anthony Amadeo, and Michael Ward. 

Looking back, one of the most important things that happened to me was making those friends in CLIO. It was tremendously helpful, and I feel that my academic trajectory would have been very different without their influence. I think we all pushed each other to succeed, and the study groups were undoubtedly helpful to all of us. In fact, in my professional role, I often tell students that the most important thing you can do for your academic success is to form a small network of friends who will study with you.

College was the first time that I felt part of an academic community. It was the first time that my social life and my academic life merged. It was so helpful to me, and I am focused on trying to make this more common for other students via my professional life.

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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/