The Return of Carol Moore

Former Lyndon State College President Carol Moore will return to campus May 13 to speak at commencement.

Moore will be joined by former LSC President Janet Murphy, who was president from 1977-83. LSC invited all former presidents to attend.

"I miss not seeing the students all the time," Moore said. "I miss bringing new ideas to the campus that will make things better for students."

Moore has spent the last year consulting, mentoring and writing. Moore has written about women's perspectives on various issues and wrote a piece on the importance of civic learning in college. She is currently doing a research project on female college student perspectives.

She said that Steve Gold has done a great job as interim president. Moore understands that it is difficult to come into a position of power for only a year.

"It is a real challenge to say, 'what could I do to make things better at Lyndon?' as opposed to just standing in place," she said. "And yet, you don't want to go so far as to send the college in a direction that might be contrary to a permanent president coming in."

Moore has only communicated with incoming president Joe Bertolino by email, but she said she can relate to where he is coming from.

"People raised eyebrows when I came to Lyndon because I came from a school outside New York City," Moore said. "He is going to be like New Yorkers are: face paced and wanting to get things done and done quickly. People should expect that is how most people from New York are."

While they both Moore and Bertolino came to LSC from New York, how they got here is quite different.

"I came from the academic side of the house coming from a faculty position. He comes from the student side of the house and that is going to be good," she said about Bertolino's background in student affairs.

Moore says that Bertolino, at 48, is not too young to be president.

"He's not so young that you would call him a young whippersnapper," she said. "He is experienced and those experiences will serve him well."

She sees some problems with retention and recruitment at LSC, but thinks in general the school is heading in the right direction with things such as the Leahy Center for Rural Students.

"There is a good foundation here for a new president. It is a real opportunity for (Bertolino) because the folks at Lyndon are just terrific people," she said.