Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Monday, June 30, 2008
Perseverance pays for lifelong learner in new role at Viterbo
When an opportunity presented itself, Barbara Gayle took it.
The woman who started taking community college classes in her 30s — while raising two children — is now the new academic vice president at Viterbo University.
Gayle got married and had kids in her late teens. She didn’t get around to college until she was 30.
She started off at a community college in Vancouver, Wash.
“I thought, ‘I taught Sunday school, surely I can teach kindergarten,’” she said.
Her dreams grew as she completed community college, transferred to the University of Portland to earn a bachelor’s degree in communication studies, and then earned her master’s for a small fee in exchange for supervising the school newspaper.
Toward the end of her master’s studies, Gayle got the opportunity to teach a class when a faculty member became ill. She went on to finish her Ph.D.
At one point, she was lecturing three days a week and taking classes the other two. All while raising children.
“I waited until the weekend to sleep,” she said.
Gayle took parenting seriously, too. She was part of PTA, led Girl Scouts, coached the speech team and watched her kids play sports.
“I never went to a place without a book, pencil and pad of paper,” she said.
“I did my homework at the roller rink with the music blaring.”
Hard work paid off. While teaching at the University of Portland, Gayle was selected as a Carnegie Scholar. She worked with faculty from around the country on research projects and learned about developing curriculum, designing courses and the application of teaching on a large scale.
Gayle became associate dean of the University of Portland, then vice president for Academic Affairs at St. Martin’s University in Lacey, Wash., before taking the position at Viterbo, which she assumed June 1.
Gayle said one of the attractions of Viterbo was the large number of first-generation students. She was the first in her family to attend college.
“You change more than the person’s life who is going to university,” she said of teaching first-generation students. “You change future generations’ lives, too.”
That’s true in Gayle’s family. Her children went to college and pursued advanced degrees.
Gayle looks forward to seeing other young people go on to do great things at Viterbo and share in that experience.
“I get paid to think and learn. What is not to like about that?” she said. “The best part for me is working with students. That is an incredible privilege that not many people have.”
KJ Lang can be reached at (608) 791-8226 or klang@lacrossetribune.com.
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