This week’s Project 100+ memory comes from Joel McKenzie. He was born in Philadelphia and raised in Vineland, New Jersey. His father was a businessman who purchased eggs from local farmers and sold them in Philadelphia and New York City. His mother was a homemaker, but she worked in the business alongside Joel’s father. He has three brothers and all of them also worked in the family business from age ten onward. He attended public schools and graduated from Vineland High School in 1956. He enrolled at Glassboro State College in the Fall, graduating four years later in the Spring of 1960 with a degree in secondary education, a major in English, and a minor in social studies. While at Glassboro State College, he met and became engaged to Elsie Tatarko. They were married in the Summer of 1960. His first teaching job began that Fall, and it was in the same school where he was a student teacher, Cleary Junior High School in Minotola, New Jersey. He left to go to northern New Jersey so that he could coach as well as teach. He ended up taking a job teaching English and coaching varsity baseball at Pompton Lakes High School. He spent 38 total years at this school, teaching English and coaching for ten years, then working in the administration, first as vice principal, then principal, and, finally, as superintendent of the Pompton Lakes School District. While he was principal, the United States Department of Education selected Pompton Lakes High School as one of New Jersey’s five “Exemplary Secondary School” programs, the only one of the five whose students did not primarily go on to college upon graduation. The White House invited him to attend a ceremony to celebrate the award, but Joel decided to give his place to the vice principal who had been very important in their achieving this recognition. After retiring in 2000, Joel and Elsie have done much hiking. Joel hiked the entire Appalachian Trail (and his wife hiked much of it with him). They have hiked abroad in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Argentina, and Chile. They also hiked across England, going east from the North Sea to the Irish Sea on the western coast. In addition to hiking, they have spent much time with their four daughters and their nine grandchildren. They have condos in both Florida and Pennsylvania, each positioned close to family.

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My parents always wanted me to go to college. I wanted to become a professional baseball player, and I thought I might be able to both please my parents and pursue my dream by playing baseball while attending college. Originally, I was planning to attend Colby College, which had a legendary baseball coach named John Winkin. He was well known and praised by such individuals as Ted Williams. I was excited to play for him. However, even after I received a scholarship, it was still too difficult financially for my family. I ended up switching relatively late to Glassboro State, which had just begun a high school program for the first time. I can remember going in to take the entrance exam on a Saturday. I passed and paid the $82 bill for the semester. I commuted from Vineland, which minimized costs. Sam Porch was the baseball coach, and he knew about me due to my high school success. I played on the team for all four years as first basemen, and I was captain of the team for my sophomore, junior, and senior years. We had a very good team in my sophomore year, and I had a great junior season where I

batted .410. In fact, my dream of becoming a professional baseball player almost came true that Summer. I had a tryout with the Chicago White Sox, and they liked what they saw. They offered me a pretty good contract with a $2,000 signing bonus. However, no one in my family had ever graduated from college at that point. My father wanted me to finish, and I agreed to do so. At the time, it was a very hard decision. Looking back now, it was a very good decision. After I graduated, I did give it one more attempt, trying out with the Philadelphia Phillies, but I did not do as well in that tryout as I had done in the one the previous year.

I liked mathematics, but Glassboro State College did not yet have secondary certification in the subject. At the time, those seeking to become high school teachers could choose between only English or social studies. You made this choice during the first semester. That first semester I had no history classes, but I had two English professors, Professors James McKenzie and George Reinfeld. George Reinfeld taught Composition, and he gave us very interesting writing assignments. He was very challenging, and I never got a grade higher than a B, but I got so much out of the class. The comments that he made on our papers were not only numerous but very helpful. It was obvious that his suggestions and corrections made the papers clearer and better.

Professor McKenzie taught Shakespeare, and I really enjoyed reading and discussing Shakespeare in his class. While he would have us read some of the passages aloud, he often dramatized them himself. He had a way of showing us how this text written so long ago was very relevant to our own lives. He revealed to us how the themes in Shakespeare’s works were universal. He would kid me about my last name. Although it was spelled exactly the same, he was Irish Catholic, and my ancestors were Scottish. It was all in good fun. After graduating, my wife, Elsie and I visited Dr. McKenzie in his summer home in Buffalo, New York.

My first semester I also had Coach Richard Wackar for physical education. It was his first year at Glassboro State College. He was a good person, a very decent man. He was always warm and acknowledged you when he saw you. He made you feel seen. I never heard him swear, which was very unusual for coaches at the time. He shared an office with my baseball coach, and I saw him often as a result. We had many memorable chats there, and I always looked forward to speaking to him in this way. After graduating, I saw him on two occasions, including during my induction into the College’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Elsie and I started dating at the end of my freshmen year. They had dances on the weekends, which meant that I came back to Glassboro more often than I would have otherwise. There were many clubs and extracurricular activities at the College. I didn’t participate as many as others because of commuting and playing baseball. I was part of the Literary Club. Robert Frost came to the campus during my senior year. I remember reading his poetry in Dr. Nathan Carb’s class, and then getting to meet him in person. There were only 25 or so people who attended Frost’s reading to the Literary Club. We got to ask him questions afterward, and I remember we asked him about what he meant by “miles to go before we sleep.” He might have spoken to a larger audience at some other point during his visit, but it was a small group that attended his talk to the Literary Club.

I had Harold Wilson for at least two classes. The first was, I think, during my sophomore year, and the second class was in my junior or senior year. He always had a smile, and it was clear that he really enjoyed his job. I had him for United States history, and I never checked my watch while he was teaching. He got great participation from students. He lectured, but he also liked to have discussions. He wanted to hear from us why we thought things went wrong with this or why things turned out this way instead of that. Unlike with some other instructors, I was never shy about sharing what I thought with him because he was not judgmental. He had his own positions on these matters, but he was accepting of many different views. No matter whether what you said agreed with him or not, he pushed you to defend and explain your position. He would urge you to think and find the reasons why you believed as you did.  He also did something that no other professor did at the time.  He posted his final exam grades outside of his office.  Dr, Wilson used your name. That exposure made you work harder. You didn’t want your name on the bottom of the list!!!

Dr. Wilson was famous for his sense of humor, which was always somehow history related. I can’t remember any of his great lines at this stage, but he had many of them. He also enjoyed it when students deployed humor and double meaning in their responses. I do remember him referencing his background being from Vermont and the exploits of the Green Mountain Boys. He had a way of correcting people's errors with humor such that they did not feel bad, while also making sure that the class knew that they had mixed up the order of their facts or otherwise gotten the answer wrong. He would stop them, make them stand up, and then have them promise that they would never teach history. Sometimes, he asked them to promise not to ever mention that they had a class with him. This happened two or three times in a single class sometimes, though not at all other times.

Baseball coach Sam Porch was a very important person in my life. In addition to his being my baseball coach, I took a class with him on First Aid. It was in that class that I met my wife, Elsie. Coach Porch was very nice to both Elsie and myself. I remember he would always let Elsie travel on the bus back after away games if she could get a ride to the game. He came to our wedding after we graduated. He was good to me, allowed me to be a leader on the team. While I was a good player, I had older teammates, many of them veterans, who could have filled the role he gave to me. I remember that he had a quirky sense of humor. I can still see him in my mind trying to catch foul balls down the third base line with his cap.

I took a class on the history and geography of New Jersey with Helen Wright. The course really opened my mind as to how New Jersey’s geography and topology shaped the region’s history and economic development. I remember feeling like the course really expanded my knowledge of the state, even though I had grown up there.

With Elsie, I took Marv Creamer’s course on world geography. I only cut one class in my entire four years of college, but that one class was in Professor Creamer’s class. I had to go to work, and I wasn’t going to be able to spend time with Elsie after class. It was a beautiful day, so I asked Elsie if she wanted to cut and spend the hour with me. She agreed, and we walked around the building to the Bunce Green. Who did we see had taken his class outside for the day? Professor Creamer. He waved at us, and we waved at him. We had been caught. In any event, my cutting had nothing to do with how much I enjoyed the class. I really enjoyed learning from him and listening to his lectures. In fact, I can remember how much I enjoyed studying for his examinations. They were quite interesting and different. I can’t remember if there was an essay component at the end or not, but I do remember that there were a tremendous number of true/false questions. There were at least 300, and there might have been 500. They covered everything, and you really had to know your stuff, even though every question was just true/false.

During my second or third week, Dean Robert Bole sought me out, perhaps because of my baseball playing. From that point forward, he would always chat with me when he saw me. In a very genuine way, he clearly cared about how I was doing. In fact, he always spoke positively of everyone as far as I could tell. He never put anyone down. He was someone you admired for the way he comported and carried himself. It was also clear that he was really proud of Glassboro State College. I got to know President Thomas Robinson only in my senior year. I was president of Kappa Delta Pi, the education honors society. As a result of this, we sat next to each other at several functions. In these events, we had some very nice conversations. He made it clear that he cared about me, about my family, and about my plans for the future. I remember that he cared about knowing the names of all the students being inducted. He knew most of them, but he would ask me about anyone that he had missed so that when they came forward, he could greet them by their first name and share a small comment that made them feel appreciated by the College’s President. I think that the love that Dean Bole and President Robinson had for the College was one of the key reasons why the place was special and so successful in this period. After I graduated, President Robinson sent me a very nice note and a photograph from Commencement. This note shows his thoughtfulness and generosity. It even mentioned Elsie. I have kept it all these long years, even after discarding countless trophies, plaques, and awards that I received during my many years teaching, coaching, and administrating.

Even as I entered my senior year, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be a teacher. I briefly considered joining the military, but a very successful experience student teaching during my senior year convinced me about education. I had a great supporting teacher, and I ended up going back to the same school for my first year of teaching after graduating. I taught both history and English, and I had 18 students in my homeroom. I just clicked with those students, who were considered the worst class in the school the year before. It was the very best year of my entire teaching career. I felt like I made a real difference with many of them. I can remember these students getting a standing ovation after the assembly program they had presented.

As I look back all these years later, I give much credit to Glassboro State College for my successful career in education. The College not only gave me the foundation for all that I did in the classroom and as an administrator, but I would never have even become a teacher without going to Glassboro. Of course, it was at Glassboro State that I met my wife, and we are now approaching our 64th wedding anniversary.

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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 100th 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_all/