L O O K B A C K // Since 1982, Joyce Kinkead has tracked women’s progress at USU. Photo by Shanda Call.
The Unofficial
List Keeper By Joyce Kinkead, Distinguished Professor of English
In 1982, when Utah State University reached out to me to apply for a faculty position directing the writing center in the English department, my answer was, “I’m not interested,” but Bill Smith, the director of the composition program, was convincing. 68
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“Just send us your CV,” he said. Later, when he called to invite me to campus, I continued to drag my feet, “I don’t want to waste your money.” Nearly 40 years later, I’m glad I was wrong. What happened? I landed in Cache Valley at a time when commercial flights still made the hop over the mountains from Salt Lake City. The stunningly beautiful environment, coupled with a warm welcome, won me over almost immediately. When the job was offered before I returned to the Midwest, I said yes. Although I’ve had stretches away on sabbatical research, my commitment to USU, which started all those years ago, continues.
A benchmark moment in my initial interview occurred when the department head said, “We need strong role models for our women students.” Admittedly, I was taken aback. That aspect of a faculty role had not occurred to me. Throughout the decades, though, I have felt the responsibility of carrying the banner of being a professional woman, and I’ve been aided along the way by various groups of women on campus and in the larger community. Others could tell similar stories; this is mine. In the decade prior to my arrival, USU was exploring how to improve opportunities for women students, staff, and faculty. In 1972, the year I graduated high school in Missouri, a committee to advance the status of women was formed. They helped write an Affirmative Action Plan and hired the first woman in the Counseling Center, Marilynne Glatfelter. A special leave policy enabled women to complete Ph.Ds. The Women’s Center for Lifelong Learning was dedicated in 1974 by First Lady Betty Ford, on campus for her son’s graduation. Did she know that the space was formerly the women’s restroom on the third floor of the Taggart Student Center? Cecelia Foxley, who became Commissioner of Higher Education for the state in 1980, was appointed assistant vice president of student services, a rare woman in central administration. She was also one of five women with the rank of professor. The last woman in my own department to hold the rank was Veneta Nielsen, a poet and advocate for women, who retired against her will in 1974,
