Spring/Summer 2013 Newsletter Extended: Wooden Desk
Live It, Protect It, Explore It!
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FROM MY LITTLE WOODEN DESK…
By: Dr. Bill Hendricks, Department Head
As I reflect on the 2012-13 academic year, I feel like I have just finished reading a good book filled with aspirations, surprises, challenges, mountains, valleys, inspiration, colorful characters, and even a little suspense. For me, the first chapter began in fall 1994, Cynthia Moyer’s second year at Cal Poly. At the time, there were approximately 175 REC students, two full-time faculty (Carolyn Shank and me), and a few part-time faculty including two key players, Cynthia Moyer and her husband John Bullaro. It truly was the “good ol’ days” for the underdog REC program that had survived the drastic CSU budget and program cuts of the early 1990s as the new kid on the block in the College of Agriculture. 
The four of us put our heads down and took on every challenge as a team on a mission to serve our students, survive and prosper.
Flip forward a few pages to the end of the book in spring 2013, when after 20 years of service to Cal Poly and RPTA, Cynthia begins the next chapter of her life (the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow known as retirement), knowing that she has been an integral player in developing one of the top recreation, parks, and tourism programs in the country. She is the glue that has kept the book binding together and I can’t thank her enough for being the individual that made sure the RPTA book got better and better with each turn of a page.
About halfway through the book, Kendi Root returned to her alma mater with boundless energy and a passion for the event industry that she has shared with every student who has crossed her path. As Kendi retires and returns to the hospitality industry she will undoubtedly continue to mentor students and alumni with words of wisdom and unbridled enthusiasm and will leave a legacy of creating an event management concentration that has reached unparalleled heights.
Class of 2013, as a new chapter of your lives unfolds; you can savor the guidance, advice, life experiences, and dedication that Cynthia, Kendi, and Jeff Jacobs have shared with you during the critical years of your career and professional development. Thank you Cynthia, Kendi and Jeff and congratulations class of 2013!
Class of 2014 and beyond, you are the envy of RPTA majors across the country. We honestly landed two of the best faculty in the land with Keri Schwab and Susan Houge Mackenzie joining the RPTA family this fall.
While it has been one heck of a good book, in closing, I am reminded of a Thomas Jefferson saying, “I like the dreams of the future, better than the history of the past.”
I can’t wait to pick up the next book…
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