by Maggie Ganley–Morningside College will be losing a beloved staff person, Sherry Swan, at the end of this semester.
Swan has been the administrative assistant in Charles City for the last ten years. She will be officially leaving the department this December.
Morningside was a part of her upbringing, and because of the students, the humanities department, and her personal ties to Morningside, working here became her calling.
Her roots here run deep. When she was little, her friends lived on campus and she visited frequently (this was when custodians lived in the buildings they cleaned). She only lived six blocks way, which made it easy for her to come to campus and “rule the school” with her friends.
She decided to continue her relationship with Morningside into college. Sherry, her mom, and her husband graduated in 1983; her sister, children, and nephews have also graduated from here.
However, with the restructuring of the roles of administrative assistants and her current family situation, she found that leaving Morningside was her best option.
“Leaving was the best for me, for my family situation now. Now I’m in a position where both my mother and my mother-in-law are getting older, so they could possibly need our help more. I was looking for a little bit more flexibility,” Sherry said.
She will be taking on a part time role as VP of Siouxland Bank once her time at Morningside draws to a close.
Because of her dedication to the department, she will still be working part time at Morningside until December so she can tie up some loose ends and see some of her projects through.
“It was a very difficult decision, because I really loved working here,” Sherry said.
Others can attest that her decision was not only hard on her, but on the people within the humanities department as well.
The students will miss her welcoming energy and her snacks.
“I loved working under Sherry Swan, because I could see she was the life blood of the history department and the religious and philosophy departments. She always had a welcoming vibe when we walked into the offices,” said senior Jessica Higgins.
“I’m going to miss her cookies during finals and her mom-ness for the whole department,” senior Madison Pierson said.
The faculty will miss a coworker that felt like a part of the family.
“She was a mother to all of the students and best friend to all of the faculty,” Professor Greg Guelcher stated.
She was knowledgeable on many things and was the technical guru for the Charles City building. Now that there is no longer an administrative assistant housed in Charles City at all times, her presence will be missed all the more.
“Not only was she physically present when something went wrong, but she was also extremely capable. I used to joke she was a miracle worker,” Guelcher said.
The humanities department will now have to grow acclimated to an administrative assistant that is only in Charles City on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and will also be mourning the loss of their beloved “family member.”
Professor Guelcher said the day Sherry Swan leaves will be a sad day. A very sad day indeed.
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