Farewell to Christine

Yesterday at work, we said farewell to Christine Richardson, who had been Director of Career Services for the past 6 years. She was headed off to Massachusetts to join her husband, who had gotten a job out there with a local symphony (he had at one time headed the South Bend Symphony).

Christine had a phenomenal tenure here at IU South Bend. She built the Career Services office into a little corner office with virtually no student traffic to a little corner office with non-stop student traffic (hey, this is higher education, job may change, but space doesn't, even if you are doing more). Her efforts and those of her staff resulted in a huge benefit for students and alumni alike. It was truly impressive to see just how much she built up the office. I had the privilege of having her as my supervisor during my brief tenure as Director of Graduate Programs, which was brief because the office was closed.

Christine was a blast to work with, to put it simply. In our weekly Director's meetings, Christine could always be counted on to liven things up. She weathered a lot of good times, and not so good times in the Career office, and we were with her every step of the way. She was never less than 100% professional and the Career Office was a hidden gem withing IUSB, never more so than each March when they hosted a huge career fair which brought in hundreds of employers and job seekers.

For her going away present, I gave her a set of bumper stickers which I felt would make her feel right at home in Massachusetts, which I described as a "freakin' liberal paradise." You see, Christine is a hard core Democrat and I'm, well, not. Needless to say, I had a little fun over the past few years with the election results. But, I told her that I wanted her to feel comfortable where she was going and to remember that us right wing wackos have a sense of humor. The bumper stickers I gave her said:

* Save Our Jobs, Outsource Bush!
* Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry.
* Bush, YOU'RE FIRED!
* Is it 2008 Yet?
* George W. Bush: No Millionaire Left Behind.
* I'm Tired of all the BUSHIT.

Needless to say, it wasn't hard finding these bumper stickers and there were lots and lots to choose from.