Attendees of the university's annual "Retiree Reception" to honor 43 retirees pose for a picture. Annie Goodman/The Lion's Roar
As with all businesses, people come and go. To honor those leaving after years of service to the university, the university holds an annual “Retiree Reception.”
“We are very happy to be celebrating the retirement of some of our Southeastern family members,” said University President Dr. John L. Crain. “We are sad to see them leave the institution. They are not there on a daily basis anymore, but of course, we hope that they will continue to stay involved and be engaged with the university. As I said, we are very, very excited and happy for them to have reached that point in life where they can transition to instead of doing what they have to do, doing what they want to do.”
This year’s reception was held on Tuesday, March 20 in the Alumni Center at 2 p.m. and recognized 43 people who have retired in the 2017-2018 academic year.
“Each individual of these 43 individuals are very special,” said Crain. “Collectively, they represent over 980 years of service, which is pretty remarkable.”
Of those retiring, some individuals have worked at the university for a lifetime.
“We have five of these individuals who have 30 or more years of service, 16 who have more than 20 years of service,” said Crain.
However, two individuals were specifically noticed for an extended period of service at the university. Mary Linton has been employed in the department of chemistry and physics since 1971. Charles “Al” Dranguet is retiring after 50 years at the university.
“If you’ve been around Southeastern much at all, you know Mary Linton, synonymous with the institution and what it represents,” said Crain.
Crain discussed how the people employed at the university make the “Southeastern family” that he believes makes the university like no other.
“Whenever I introduce groups for orientation or for scholarship programs or what have you, I always talk about that Southeastern is such a special place,” said Crain. “It is a very special institution because of the people. It’s not the building names or the grounds. All those things are nice and great, but it’s really the people that make this such a special institution.”
