Today’s Project 100 memory comes from Bob Cordero.  He was born in Irvington, New Jersey.  He lived there until he finished fifth grade.  He then moved to Nutley, where he graduated from Nutley High School in 1974.  His father was a longshoreman, and his mother worked for a payroll company.  He had one sister who became a nurse.  He graduated from Glassboro State College (GSC) in 1978.  His first job was teaching American history at Queen of Peace in North Arlington, New Jersey.  He also coached basketball and baseball there.  After three years, he moved to Hanover Park High School, where he worked for five years and taught history.  He also coached varsity basketball and junior varsity baseball.  After that, Multi-Care, a medical ancillary services company, recruited him, and he joined that company.  Fortunately, he could still coach.  He coached basketball at Bloomfield College for nine years.  At Multi-Care, he worked his way up the ranks and became President in 1994, a position that he still holds. 

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I applied to several state colleges because I wanted to become a teacher.  Glassboro State College intrigued me because my varsity basketball coach had worked at Cinnaminson.  He told me that I would like southern New Jersey.  I also wanted to be at a place that was not too close to home but not too far away.  Glassboro was about two hours from Nutley, which was just right.  Right from the beginning, I declared history as a major. I had always loved history, and I had some great teachers in high school.  One that stood out to me in particular was Tom Parciak.  In my junior year at GSC, I had to observe a teacher.  I went back to Nutley and observed his class, and he became even more of a mentor to me at that point.

At GSC, I really enjoyed Gary Hunter’s classes.  It was very clear that he really cared about his students.  I liked his style and approach so much that I took three classes with him.  I also took two classes with Robert Harper, who taught courses on the history of New Jersey.  He knew everything about New Jersey, especially southern New Jersey.  I loved learning from him.  Aaron Bender and Mary Taney were two other professors who I remember fondly for their knowledge and teaching.

I was involved in the Student History Association and became an officer.  It was easy for me to participate because I had several friends who were also involved.  Mike Onorato and I were close, and he was one my roommates.  Sharon Grossman was another friend who was an officer.  Sue Thomson was yet another officer, and we dated while we were at Glassboro.  We stopped dating, but we have remained close friends all the way to the present.  Rick Burke and Liz Becker were also fantastic people who were part of SHA.  We had a number of great meetings, but the most important thing that we did was to work on the chartering of the history honors society at Glassboro State, Phi Alpha Theta.  My friend, Mike, took the leading in getting the organization past the finish line, but we all helped as we could.

To this day, I tell my friends and acquaintances that the best four years of my life were at Glassboro State College.  There were about a dozen of us from northern New Jersey who moved into Mimosa Hall.  We formed friendships that have endured for four decades.  I wear my GSC ring every day, as corny as that might sound, and I can’t say enough good things about my alma mater.

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This is part of the Department of History’s “Project 100,” the collection and sharing of one hundred memories by Glassboro State College and Rowan University alumni and staff in celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the founding of Glassboro Normal School, later Glassboro State College, and now Rowan University. 

Register for the Reunion on October 20^th:  alumni.rowan.edu/historyreunion2023.

Link to Project 100 on the Web:  https://chss.rowan.edu/departments/history/alumni_highlights/project_100/

Link to Facebook group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/251485937221524. 

Thanks to Laurie Lahey for helping proofread and edit the final versions.  Email carrigan@rowan.edu with questions or corrections.