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Year Two brings my first apartment
The
school now had almost two hundred students and as Dean of Men I could
handle the almost nonexistent social problems, more dormitory
supervision was needed. An apartment had been added to the NEAI
dormitory and the new college President, retired Air Force General
Harrison Thyng, hired a cook and his wife to run the kitchen, live in
the apartment, and supervises the dormitory. The general decided to pay
only free room to proctor the dorm so I rented a small one room
apartment in down town Nashua. “How small was it! It was so small…” the
shower was located in the living room/bedroom closet.
I
decided to celebrate the day one of my first apartment by going out to
dinner. Walking home I automatically started into a small store to buy
beer. Just as I reached for the door handle, it came to me that buying a
six pack would mean a six pack a day for the rest of my life. I
refrained and it would be over twenty-years before I would drink when
the next day required getting up for work. Within a few weeks I joined
three guys living in a trailer.
NEAI’s first Academic Dean was Dr. SanSoucie (picture 2), an elderly man with a
French accent. His supposed PhD was from the Suborn, in Paris, France
and in spite of his age, he spent much of his time flirting with our
female students. His success rate was unknown.
Dr.
SanSoucie was a great story teller and students loved his classes.
Psychology was their favorite because he hypnotized students during
class and tried to teach students how to hypnotize people. A student
named John was having some success so as Dean of Men; I put a stop to
the entire process.
An
unusually serious dorm problem called for a heart to heart talk with the
dorm population and the 5”5” General was in charge. You could hear a pin
drop as the General walked into the crowded classroom to address forty
five scared young men. Peter and I were scared too. Small in stature, he
had complete command of everyone in the room. The talk was brief he
reached a loud crescendo by shouting “I’ve killed better men than you.”
Weekends usually meant a trip to the Kingston for time with the gang of
four; I often stopped in Chelmsford to visit Susan and arrived at my
parents about midnight. One night was different because about fifteen
minutes after arriving, the neighbor’s dog was making enough nosy for me
to go outside to see what was causing the disturbance. “I saw nothing,
nothing.”
Year
two of my MBA was coming to an end and with a light load requiring only
two nights per week coming in the fall; I suggested to General Thyng
that NEAI offering evening classes. He wasn’t really interested, but
said I could use a classroom and use my own money to advertise the
courses. Two adults from town and two day students looking for something
to do signed up for two classes. It was the start of NEAI’s successful
evening division.
A
more formal evening program was planned and I turned down part-time
management of the program because there was more extra money from
teaching and I really enjoyed the classroom experience. NEAI was on a
trimester plan and I was allowed to teach two classes per term. The
amount I earned equaled about one-third my annual salary. Pay per course
went from $500 to $600 and back to $500 where it stayed for a few years.
And Now, the Rest of the Story.
NEAI
was growing rapidly, a more professional atmosphere was being developed,
and Dr. SanSoucie didn’t return. A few years later a WBZ radio promo
caught my attention. A Dr. SanSoucie from somewhere in West Virginia
would be the guest and his 2 AM talk would be on Parapsychology. I set
the alarm and sure enough the Doctor was spinning the same yarn he had
spun at NEAI.
At a
twenty year reunion organized by the first two or three graduating
classes, Harvey, an alumnus that loved N.Y Knicks basketball and enjoyed
an outstanding career playing for Coach Antoniott’s NEAI basketball
team, revealed the reason for the year two dog barking disturbance. It
seems a number of students had followed me to Kingston with hopes of
stealing a copy of next week’s finals stored in my briefcase. Apparently
they had tried unsuccessfully at school and were continuing their
efforts. He talked about waiting hours in Chelmsford, the dog barking,
it was a true story. Harvey graduated, went into sales where his
Interpersonal Intelligence led him to a successful career. He was most
proud of a son who had do was attending Fairly Dickenson University.
Not
managing NEAI’s evening division may have been a life changing decision,
especially with their connection to the military. Eight years later I
would take control of an evening division for another school and have
some success. But having an eight year head start building a program for
a school with an educational philosophy I really believed in might have
led to a much different life line.
Years Three to Four brought more female students, faculty and buildings.
The
school moved into Daniel Webster Hall, a two story brick faced wooden
structure containing classrooms, a much larger library, administrative
and faculty offices, and a cafeteria. It was only about one hundred
yards from the men’s dormitory and plans were under way for a women’s
dormitory.
NEAI
was one of seven schools across the United States participating in an
FAA training air traffic controller program. Recruiting for twenty slots
with guaranteed jobs was selective and some really outstanding young men
and women enrolled.
This
very successful program is a perfect example of the success which
results when education is combined with career application.
Year
three also brought more students and better teachers. Jane Solomon would
be the second full time business teacher. She had graduated third in her
class from the University of Minnesota where she had also earned an MBA.
Jane would teach non-quantitative courses.
Dr.
Lowman, the new academic dean, was young and seemed a little too
friendly with the female population, which was now large enough to have
their own dorm. Me, I was so afraid of having problems with female
students that I was still meeting advisees in the library. My small
office excuse was a cover because there was no way I was advising female
students a few years younger than me in a private location. Female
students shine up to their male teachers and at their age, I felt it
could be trouble.
I had
finished my MBA program without making the Dean’s list which I had defined
as not earning a C grade during the program. Marketing I did me in. It
was an unusual course as the professor would open the class with a few
remarks, then a student would manage the class discussion exploring that
night’s case, and then the professor would make a few closing remarks.
In effect, the students taught his class. I really liked the class,
worked hard, and was surprised at receiving a C grade. I had earned
quite a few A’s so my first low grade was not a problem. Finally, I
thought, a professor that counted spelling. When asked before the first
Marketing II class, the professor said the C grade was awarded because I
had flunked class participation. Preparing and lecturing five day
classes and two overload evening classes for NEAI plus preparation for
two MBA classes left me in no mood to participate, especially while he
sits on his pooper. Given my personality, I’m surprised I didn’t blow
up. Should my Marketing II A grade makes me feel good about the value of
my cumulative MBA grade point average? Marketing III was my last class.
The marketing department, being the dedicated hard working group that
they were, decided to have a regular class the night allotted for the
final exam and give the final the following Saturday morning. I am
pleased to report that Northeastern University is now less than half the
size it was when I graduated in 1969 and as a result, a few marketing
teachers lost their ten year positions.
About
this time the General called me into his office and asked if I was
teaching somewhere else. In a panic I answer “no.” He said OK and I
left. Needless to say I was one nervous twenty-five year old. He left
school shortly thereafter and my confession had to wait until the next
morning. He arrived about 7:45 and was nervous! His
response to my confession was “Well, you’ve voided your contract,” the
pause seemed to go on forever and then he said, “have them make up a new
one allowing you to teach for other institutions.” Actually he was
setting me up for next year’s small year.
The
other institution was Suffolk University, the course was Economics, and
the place was the North Andover Western Electric Plant. My class was the
first of a pilot program as colleges were not yet teaching at industrial
plants. A few weeks later I found out General Thyng’s source. My aunt
Helen, who worked in Oklahoma for Western Electric, had sent my mom a
copy of her company magazine and there I was the center piece of a four
page article.
And Now the Rest of the Story
Dr.
Lowman didn’t last long as Academic Dean. No one was really sure whether
it was the young girls or the young boys that most interested him. His
replacement, Dr. M, was retired Colonel with a PHD in physics from Ohio
State. He would be a more traditional and successful and the last
affective dean I would see during my travels.
One
lesson I learned from years of watching Northeastern University was how
economically important it is for a college to limit ten-year positions.
It took x years to earn ten-year at Northeastern and few new faculty
would make it. Instead, new low paid replacements were found.
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General Thyng came to NEAI as our new President after an unsuccessful N.H. governor’s
campaign. The most decorated war hero in the State’s history, he had
been a fighter pilot in WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. See
top picture.
