A newsmaker you should know: Honor goes to La Roche dean for doing job she loves
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Colleen Ruefle
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For the past 22 years, Colleen Ruefle has been a part of students' lives at La Roche College -- in good times and bad.
As vice president for student life and dean of students, she oversees all student support services that are "outside the classroom," including athletics, health services and residence life.
That includes helping students cope when tragedy strikes, such as La Roche has seen in the past two years.
Two years ago, three students at the college in McCandless died in unrelated incidents.
In the past year, three staff members have died suddenly.
Scott Lang, the well-loved basketball coach, suffered a heart attack and died during practice at the school in December.
The school also lost Ruth Shoff, a longtime telephone operator, and Lance Shaeffer, assistant dean of academic affairs.
"[Mr. Lang] was one of the best human beings that I had ever known and it was truly so hard for us," Ms. Ruefle, of Hampton, said.
One colleague described how Ms. Ruefle helped students shortly after Mr. Lang's death:
"Colleen personally spent the night with students in the fitness center, holding students in her arms, dealing with the media and assisting the entire community come to grips with the tragic event. Just as she has always done, Colleen gave of her time, her wisdom and her heart that night and helped this community to heal and stay together."
For those actions and her other work with students, Ms. Ruefle has received the Ronald Lunardini Distinguished Alumni Award for 2011, given by Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
"It is a job that I truly love," Ms. Ruefle said. "So when I learned I received the award, it was icing on the cake."
The award is given by the IUP Department of Student Affairs in Higher Education, the department in which Ms. Ruefle earned her master's degree in 1989.
The honor is named for Ronald Lunardini, who worked at the university for more than 35 years, and is presented to an alumnus of the student affairs department whose achievements and experience best exemplify the standards and values of the department.
Ms. Ruefle didn't know she had been nominated until a friend from her undergraduate days at Saint Vincent College called her.
First Published August 4, 2011 5:46 am
