Today’s Project 100 memory comes from Alvin Herron who was born and raised in Aliceville, Alabama.  His mother was a textile worker, and his father was a truck driver.  He has three brothers and one sister.  He went to public schools and graduated from Aliceville High School in 1983.  Directly upon graduating, he joined the United States Navy.  He was stationed in San Diego and attended the Naval School of Dental Assisting and Technology and became a dental technician.  He spent six years on active duty and then another twenty years in the Reserves.  When he left active duty, he became a counselor for troubled teenagers, aged 16 to 18.  He did that for a decade before becoming a teaching assistant and deciding that he wanted to get his college degree.  In 1999, he began attending Camden County College, transferring to Rowan in 2003.  In 2008, he graduated from Rowan with a major in history and concentrations in Military Science and International Studies.  One year later, he retired from the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman First Class.  While attending college, he took a position as a full-time state substitute teacher (Teacher 1).  After graduating, he received a teaching certificate in Military Science and began teaching with the Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC).  He taught with them until 2012, and then transferred to the New Jersey Department of Corrections.  In 2016, he returned to Rowan and enrolled in the College of Education Masters in School Administration and Leadership program, earning that degree 18 months later.  Today, he is unofficial Head Teacher (Teacher 3) at the South Woods State Prison, the largest penitentiary in the state.  Branch President of Communication Workers of America (CWA Local 1040) and President of New Jersey Corrections Education Association (NJEA) Region 1.

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I chose to attend Rowan University because of my wife.  After she left Navy active duty, she attended Camden County and then transferred to Rowan, studying computer science/Management Information Systems (MIS).  She had a great experience, and I became familiar with both schools through supporting her.  I already knew faculty and individuals at both schools before I decided to attend myself.  I chose to study history because I felt that that my historical learning was very lacking.  I didn’t feel that I had learned very much about my background and heritage when I was younger. 

Several faculty members made a very positive impression on me.  One was you, Dr. Carrigan.  You taught me in two classes, Historical Methods and Civil War and Reconstruction.  We connected over our shared southern roots.  In addition, I very much enjoyed your pedagogical methodology (teaching style).  I was impressed with your knowledge of African American history and how, as a white man, you made clear that it was an important subject for all students to study.  I still remember a brief lecture that you gave on the history of affirmative action, which made a great impression on me.  You noted how many different groups benefitted from flexible admissions standards.  For example, music and art students often were admitted with lower scores.  Even white men, you noted, benefitted from Rowan’s desire to have a roughly equal balance of men and women.  Such comments not only helped educate me, but they made me more comfortable, since I was often the only African American student in my classes.  In addition, I learned many valuable skills in research and writing, such as the ability to abstract and summarize complicated scholarship and to empower one’s thinking with critical analysis.

Another faculty member that I remember well is Dr. Morschauser.  I remember him telling me a story about his visiting the Penn Museum with his grandfather and how that visit led to his lifelong desire to become an Egyptologist.  His dedication to his studies was very evident.  Not only was he extremely knowledgeable, he was so passionate about what he was teaching that he would be sweating when he was finished.  I recall a fantastic class trip to visit the King Tut exhibit at the Philadelphia Art Museum where the guide just turned over our tour to him due to his obvious knowledge.  It was such a wonderful tour due to his knowledge.

I took Seminar with Dr. Lee Kress, one of the most important and impactful classes that I took.  I wrote a thirty-page paper about W. E. B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells, and Booker T. Washington.  All three were important historical African American scholars that I wanted to study, but I really wanted to learn and concentrate on Washington.  He was someone who made a great impact on my home state of Alabama, but I had never studied him when I was younger.  I still have yet to visit Tuskegee, which is sad to me.  In any event, I had long wanted to study him in depth, as his ideas did not resonate with modern audiences.  Through my studies, focusing on the context of his time, I came to understand him better.  Dr. Kress helped me broaden my paper and to find a way to explain Washington’s importance to modern readers.

My experience at Rowan would not have been nearly as successful without Denise Williams, the Department of History’s administrative assistant.  She was so helpful to me, giving me great advice about classes to take and how to succeed at the University in general. 

My experience at Rowan greatly impacted my life. The University was very friendly to students in my opinion.   Ms. Williams and the professors were accessible and easy to talk to, helpful, and resourceful.  They helped allay my anxiety and build up my confidence.  Because of them, I was able to make my dream of graduating from college a reality.  I had such a good experience at Rowan that I encouraged my daughter to attend as well, and she graduated in 2023 with a degree in Radio, Television, and Film.  In addition, I regularly come back for Homecoming weekends.  In 2009, Dean of Students Richard Jones invited me to become a mentor in the College of Education IMPACT Program, whereby I help mentor current Rowan students from disadvantaged backgrounds who aspire to become teachers.  I am today the Lead Facilitator for that program.

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This is part of the Department of History’s “Project 100,” the collection and sharing of one hundred memories by Glassboro State College and Rowan University alumni and staff in celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the founding of Glassboro Normal School, later Glassboro State College, and now Rowan University.  Thanks to Laurie Lahey for helping proofread and edit the final versions.  Email carrigan@rowan.edu with questions or corrections.  You can find the Link to all of the Project 100 entries on the Web:  https://chss.rowan.edu/departments/history/alumni_highlights/project_100/