Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania has — sadly — been in the news all day today. 1 It’s a strange coincidence, because for my whole life I thought mom had attended Seton Hall University. 2 It was only a few days ago that I found a few ancient copies of her student newspaper, The Setonian, and realized my misunderstanding. (She’d saved them because they contained articles she had written!) 3
I know that mom didn’t ever graduate from Seton Hill; she told us she dropped out of college because she was homesick. 4 But I thought it might be worth contacting the alumni office to see if they could tell me anything about her time there. I went to the school’s website today and sent this email to the address listed for alumni relations:
To Whom It May Concern,
My mother Kathleen Gagne passed away in August of 2012.
She was a student at Seton Hill at some point in the 1960s, when her name was still Kathleen Albanese. (She preferred Kathie but people frequently spelled her name as Kathy.)
She was born on September 22, 1948 and her social security number was [redacted].
I know that she wrote for the student newspaper; I found at least two issues of The Setonian featuring articles she had written, although I do not have the dates.
I am looking for any information you can provide: transcripts, enrollment dates, classes taken, photographs, etc.
Anything at all you could find would be tremendously appreciated, and I am happy to pay for any postage.
Sincerely,
David Vincent Gagne
1 A bus carrying the women’s lacrosse team crashed, killing two people, including the head coach.
2 Seton Hall is in New Jersey.
3 I never knew she wrote for her college student newspaper!
4 She returned to college and got her degree from the University of Central Florida at the age of fifty.
March 18th, 2013 @ 6:33 am
brenda.rappoport
Hi David,
I, too, thought of your mom this week when Seton Hill made the news. I rememember when she went off to college I cried and cried, as we had lived next door to each other all our lives and as cousins we were very close. I think I was 8 years younger than she, so I had to be about 10 or 12 at the time. I also remember all of us gathering in your grandmother’s kitchen (Auntie Anna) to talk on the phone with Kathie whenever she could get to use the one phone to make a call, which was located down the hall from her dorm room! No cell phones, no e-mail, no texts, we had to wait and hope to talk with her once a week if we were lucky. We couldn’t talk too long because the long distance phone charges would add up quickly.
She missed all of us terribly and we missed her, we wrote letters back and forth all the time. I wish I had saved them….We all knew she was extremely intelligent and had what it would take to be a great scholar, but she chose to follow her heart and put her family first instead. So when she came back home from so far away, we were thrilled, and it was the right choice for her. She then went on to meet your dad, and you and Jenny came into the world, which gave her more happiness and joy than any degree ever could have. And her family always came first, no matter what. She did a great job from what I can see…..Those days are very much missed.
Love,
Brenda