SCC's Maureen Gobel Receives NCCA Distinguished Alumni Award
Maureen Gobel never considered attending college. In fact, she had a secretarial job lined up as she graduated from Fairbury High School.
But someone at Fairbury Junior College "messed things up by offering her a scholarship," Southeast Community College President Dr. Jack Huck stated, tongue-in-cheek, during his introduction of Gobel as the recipient of the 2009 Nebraska Community College Association Distinguished Alumni Award during a ceremony Nov. 3 in Lincoln.
Gobel retired from SCC on May 6, 2004, after a 42-year career in education.
"I'm very grateful for this award," Gobel told the audience. "I guess I thought that once I had retired, people would forget about me."
The scholarship to FJC, which later became part of SCC, was all it took.
"My education at Fairbury Junior College was a tremendous stepping stone to achieving a college education, an achievement for me that would not have occurred otherwise," said Gobel, a 1959 graduate of FJC. "I didn't think I could throw it (the scholarship) away, so I accepted."
Having just turned 70 and celebrating 50 years of marriage to husband Richard, Gobel said the community college in her home town was a good fit for her.
"Even though I was a good student in high school, I needed the small-college atmosphere to convince me that I could go further and that I wanted to," she said.
Richard joined Maureen and her twin brother, Maurice, at FJC. They graduated and went on to earn bachelor's and master's degrees. Maureen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in technical journalism and social science from Kansas State University (1961), and a Master of Arts in political science from Arizona State University (1966). But it was the education she received at FJC that had a major impact on her life.
"I came to realize that I had as good of instructors at Fairbury Junior College as I did at my four-year colleges," Gobel said.
She began her professional life as a newspaper reporter, working for the Fairbury Daily News from 1956-1960 and the Manhattan (Kan.) Mercury from 1960-1961. Ironically, she retired as instructor of journalism and photography at SCC's Beatrice Campus.
Gobel described her teaching career at SCC-Beatrice, Fairbury Junior College and Fairbury High School as "a terrific roller-coaster ride of chills, fears, excitement, personal satisfaction, and just plain gratitude for survival, giving me tremendous memories of students and colleagues that I expect to savor for the rest of my life."
Besides journalism and photography, Gobel taught political science and served as Humanities Department chair. "I said I'd take it (the chair position) for a year, and it turned into 16 or 17 years."
She also served on numerous college committees.
Upon her retirement, Gobel received the Distinguished Alumnus Award during the Beatrice Campus graduation ceremony. In 2001, she received the Phi Theta Kappa Teacher of the Year Award, the same honor she received five years earlier. And in 1997, Gobel received the NCCA Faculty Member of the Year Award.
Her sights may have been on that secretarial job, but Gobel and her family became advocates for higher education. Her brother earned a Ph.D. in hydrogeology at Stanford, and her husband taught for 10 years and then attended Cleveland College of Chiropractic in Kansas City to earn his degree in chiropractic medicine.
"Our family has always been grateful for those opportunities, which have been and still are available to area residents," Gobel said. "And it is still one of the most under-appreciated areas of higher education, in my view."
Through the decades, Gobel has touched the lives of hundreds of students, many of whom she still keeps in contact.
"Community colleges are true grassroots education," she said. "We are accessible, affordable and flexible."
In retirement, Gobel continues to learn.
"I enrolled for three quarters of academic pottery courses at SCC-Beatrice immediately after retiring because I had always wanted to learn how to make pots," she said. "Since then, I have devoted hours each week to intensive research of our family genealogy and have helped several people learn more about their own family histories. I expect genealogy to be an ongoing pursuit for as long as I am capable of doing the research."
For more information, contact:
Stu Osterthun
Administrative Director of Public Information and Marketing
(402) 323-3401
sosterthun@southeast.edu
 Dr. Jack Huck, president of Southeast Community College, presents Maureen Gobel with the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Nebraska Community College Association. |
 Dr. Jack Huck, president of Southeast Community College, and Maureen Gobel, a 1959 graduate of Fairbury Junior College and the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient from the Nebraska Community College Association. |
But someone at Fairbury Junior College "messed things up by offering her a scholarship," Southeast Community College President Dr. Jack Huck stated, tongue-in-cheek, during his introduction of Gobel as the recipient of the 2009 Nebraska Community College Association Distinguished Alumni Award during a ceremony Nov. 3 in Lincoln.
Gobel retired from SCC on May 6, 2004, after a 42-year career in education.
"I'm very grateful for this award," Gobel told the audience. "I guess I thought that once I had retired, people would forget about me."
The scholarship to FJC, which later became part of SCC, was all it took.
"My education at Fairbury Junior College was a tremendous stepping stone to achieving a college education, an achievement for me that would not have occurred otherwise," said Gobel, a 1959 graduate of FJC. "I didn't think I could throw it (the scholarship) away, so I accepted."
Having just turned 70 and celebrating 50 years of marriage to husband Richard, Gobel said the community college in her home town was a good fit for her.
"Even though I was a good student in high school, I needed the small-college atmosphere to convince me that I could go further and that I wanted to," she said.
Richard joined Maureen and her twin brother, Maurice, at FJC. They graduated and went on to earn bachelor's and master's degrees. Maureen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in technical journalism and social science from Kansas State University (1961), and a Master of Arts in political science from Arizona State University (1966). But it was the education she received at FJC that had a major impact on her life.
"I came to realize that I had as good of instructors at Fairbury Junior College as I did at my four-year colleges," Gobel said.
She began her professional life as a newspaper reporter, working for the Fairbury Daily News from 1956-1960 and the Manhattan (Kan.) Mercury from 1960-1961. Ironically, she retired as instructor of journalism and photography at SCC's Beatrice Campus.
Gobel described her teaching career at SCC-Beatrice, Fairbury Junior College and Fairbury High School as "a terrific roller-coaster ride of chills, fears, excitement, personal satisfaction, and just plain gratitude for survival, giving me tremendous memories of students and colleagues that I expect to savor for the rest of my life."
Besides journalism and photography, Gobel taught political science and served as Humanities Department chair. "I said I'd take it (the chair position) for a year, and it turned into 16 or 17 years."
She also served on numerous college committees.
Upon her retirement, Gobel received the Distinguished Alumnus Award during the Beatrice Campus graduation ceremony. In 2001, she received the Phi Theta Kappa Teacher of the Year Award, the same honor she received five years earlier. And in 1997, Gobel received the NCCA Faculty Member of the Year Award.
Her sights may have been on that secretarial job, but Gobel and her family became advocates for higher education. Her brother earned a Ph.D. in hydrogeology at Stanford, and her husband taught for 10 years and then attended Cleveland College of Chiropractic in Kansas City to earn his degree in chiropractic medicine.
"Our family has always been grateful for those opportunities, which have been and still are available to area residents," Gobel said. "And it is still one of the most under-appreciated areas of higher education, in my view."
Through the decades, Gobel has touched the lives of hundreds of students, many of whom she still keeps in contact.
"Community colleges are true grassroots education," she said. "We are accessible, affordable and flexible."
In retirement, Gobel continues to learn.
"I enrolled for three quarters of academic pottery courses at SCC-Beatrice immediately after retiring because I had always wanted to learn how to make pots," she said. "Since then, I have devoted hours each week to intensive research of our family genealogy and have helped several people learn more about their own family histories. I expect genealogy to be an ongoing pursuit for as long as I am capable of doing the research."
For more information, contact:
Stu Osterthun
Administrative Director of Public Information and Marketing
(402) 323-3401
sosterthun@southeast.edu
