If you add up the many years that Dr. J. Kenneth \u201961 and Carroll L. \u201960 Kreider P\u201981 P\u201985 have been connected with Elizabethtown College, they equal more than half of the College\u2019s 125-year history. It\u2019s a wonderfully fitting equation for a couple who first met as young Blue Jays in an Etown math class in 1957.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just happened to see a cute redhead across the room,\u201d Ken said. \u201cThe next class, I happened to be sitting beside that redhead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that he needed help with math,\u201d Carroll added with a chuckle.<\/p>\n
Ken and Carroll, who are Professor of History Emeritus and Professor of Business Emerita, respectively, were connected to the College as students and faculty members for a combined 73 years. They continue to be strong and steady servants of the College and have dedicated their lives to Etown as alumni, faculty, donors, volunteers, and tireless advocates.<\/p>\n
It was the location that initially attracted Ken to the College. After three years of working for Heifer International distributing cattle to refugees in eastern Europe in the aftermath of World War II, Ken was looking to attend a Church of the Brethren-affiliated college close to home.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter living in Europe and seeing the evidence, I wanted to know what in the world caused Adolph Hitler to come to power in a civilized, educated, and cultural nation,\u201d Ken said. \u201cI wrote home to my mother and said, \u2018I\u2019ve decided to go to college for a year. I want to find out what caused World War II.\u2019 She wrote back and said, \u2018We\u2019d be proud to have a college graduate in the family.\u2019 I thought, \u2018Who said anything about graduating?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Ken earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in History from Etown and went on to earn master\u2019s and doctoral degrees in History, with minors in Political Science, from The Pennsylvania State University.<\/p>\n
A star high school basketball player, Carroll wanted to attend college to become either a music or business teacher. A timely visit to her high school by Etown Admissions Director Eby Espenshade sealed the deal, along with the fact that the College had a women\u2019s basketball team and a business program. She enrolled at Etown sight unseen.<\/p>\n
Carroll was a four-year varsity women\u2019s basketball player and was named Outstanding Female Athlete as a senior. In 1996, she was inducted into the College\u2019s Ira R. Herr Athletic Hall of Fame. She earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in Business Education from Etown and later a master\u2019s degree in Education from Penn State University. Carroll said she was the first female faculty member at Etown to rise through the ranks from instructor to full professor based on the established criteria meriting Ph.D. equivalency.<\/p>\n
As Etown faculty members, the Kreiders were not only inspirational in the classroom but were also powerful mentors and role models for their students. \u201cWe thought that it was important for them to know that their instructor was not only concerned about them inside the classroom, but outside as well,\u201d Ken said.<\/p>\n
In 2013, a former student established The Kreider Prize for Teaching Excellence to honor their service to countless Etown students. The prize is awarded annually to a current full-time Etown faculty member.<\/p>\n
Married 65 years, the couple fondly recalled how they were able to build a home and raise a family within the College community, amongst people with like-minded values.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur two daughters (Brenda Barlet \u201981, Denise Voloshin \u201985) grew up here,\u201d Carroll said. \u201cThe faculty lived as a family. We always had picnics together. We were backdoor neighbors. We babysat each other\u2019s children.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n