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Alumni Profile: Virginia Campbell ’60
ALUMNI PROFILE
ABOVE LEFT:
Campbell (fifth from right) participating in a fashion show on campus in 1958.
ABOVE RIGHT:
Campbell (kneeling, bottom right) as a member of the Hi-Fi’s, Holy Family College’s
Holy Family Loyalty first athletics team. for More Than Six Decades
Many members of the Holy Family University community can refer to themselves as lifelong Tigers because of their commitment and connection to the University. In the case of Virginia “Gini” (Fluehr) Campbell ’60, her long association with Holy Family even predates the institution’s Tiger mascot—and even most of the buildings on campus today!
Campbell decided to attend Holy Family College only a few years after it opened because it was close to home—quite literally in her case. “I went to Holy Family because I lived across the street,” she explains, though she does list other reasons for attending. "Financially, Holy Family was something that I could readily afford. Holy Family was smaller than the grade school and high school that I went to." Campbell, the oldest of 12 siblings, jokes, "In some cases, it was smaller than the family I lived with! So, I got to meet people.”
But the small size of Holy Family College was an aspect that was incredibly advantageous for Campbell. “Holy Family was the best thing that ever happened to Gini Campbell,” she reflects happily. “It brought me out of my shell, which my parents tried to do for years. Maybe it made me too outgoing, but that depends on who you talk to!”
Campbell grew close with her classmates and developed lasting friendships. “We had a camaraderie because we got to know each of our classmates,” she says. “If something was good, we shared in the laughter. If something wasn’t good, we shared in the tears.” She credits the many oncampus activities and events for helping her to become less shy around others. Though some of those Holy Family traditions continue today, such as the annual Christmas Rose, others are no longer part of the University’s culture.
One example? The College’s dress code.
“If you look at the rules back then, they are totally different than they are today,” Campbell remembers. “Every Friday you could dress casual,
but absolutely no pants or jeans. If you wore Bermuda shorts on campus, you had to wear a long coat on to cover them! You could wear knee socks, but usually we had to wear stockings. On formal occasions, like Charter Day and Honors Convocation, we wore black graduation gowns with white gloves.” With a laugh, she adds, “You’d never get the students today to do that!”
Nevertheless, Campbell is proud of the growth of Holy Family in the six decades since she attended. “I think Holy Family has moved forward under the direction of Sister Francesca Onley and Sister Maureen McGarrity,” Campbell says. “When you say the name Holy Family to people, it has a good reputation.”
After attending Holy Family College, Campbell attended Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania to become a medical lab technician, a program that Holy Family College did not have at the time. But long after she attended Holy Family, Campbell has remained involved in alumni activities, including helping coordinate the fiftieth anniversary of the Class of 1960 in 2010. She encourages alumni to get involved with the Alumni Association, which encompasses all 20,000+ graduates. “It helps you to expand your own network,” Campbell points out.
Campbell and her classmates also recognized the importance of paying it forward to future Holy Family University students and established the first class scholarship fund. They continue to support it every year, and even inspired later classes to start their own scholarships.
For students entering Holy Family University in the fall, Campbell encourages students to participate in on-campus activities to develop meaningful relationships with their classmates. “I think by nature people are shy. So you can’t just wait for the next person to take that first step,” Campbell advises. “By associating closely with your classmates, you can learn different experiences that they went through.”
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