STATE OF WISCONSIN, CIRCUIT COURT, ADAMS COUNTY

IN RE: THE MARRIAGE OF PEGGY HARGETT (PETITIONER) AND CHARLES SCOTT HARGETT (RESPONDENT)

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Hargett Legal Notice

INA, IL– Prolific doctors, prominent business owners, a pair of NASA employees, a famous stage actress, judges, state legislators and even a true-blue American hero, the list of Rend Lake College Foundation Alumnus of the Year award winners is impressive company.

So, in the midst of the RLC’s 50^th anniversary, what stellar former Warrior did the Foundation select to represent all the best that Rend Lake College represents?

“I’m typical. I’m average. I’m common … I just had a very fulfilling career and Rend Lake helped me find that career and facilitate a life I have totally enjoyed. Obviously, I could not be more honored,” said the ever humble former RLC Communications Director and 2017 Alumnus of the Year Bob Kelley.

Kelley might not view himself as remarkable, but his legacy and impact are still being felt on campus more than a decade after his retirement, a true testimony to the dedication and devotion that he poured into a community he loved for almost his entire professional life.

His connections go much deeper than employee, however. Kelley’s story is also perfect for this 50^th anniversary because of his time with the institution. He was a member of the first-ever RLC freshman class, growing up alongside the fledging institution.

“My ties to Rend Lake are pretty deep. My mother was the executive secretary to Dr. [Howard] Rawlinson [RLC’s first dean] for the first 10 years of the college. So, I had 10 years of connection through her. Then, I had the two years as a student, and then 27 years as an employee. Plus, in the 11 years since my retirement I’ve stayed connected to Rend Lake in various ways, whether it’s the RLC History Book or the Hall of Fame. The college has been around for 50 years, and I feel like I’ve got pretty close ties to most of those years,” Kelley expressed.

“Because of all that connection, there’s nothing outside of family that means more to me than the college. To think that I’m being recognized by Rend Lake, to my amazement, just humbles me. I am very appreciative,” said an emotional Kelley.

While the bulk of Kelley’s life has been involved with the college, it wasn’t his only stop. A fresh-faced RLC graduate, Kelley transferred to Southern Illinois University Carbondale for two years where he majored in journalism. He was even the recipient of a transfer scholarship because of his time at RLC.

For the first two-and-a-half years of his professional life, Kelley worked for the Illinois State Journal Register (SJR) in Springfield as a sports writer, his childhood aspiration. That particular paper offered Kelley a unique look at the industry as the SJR, at the time, printed both a morning and afternoon paper.

“Those two editions were totally separate staffs except for sports and the society sections. It was just a great experience for a young journalist. If I went out and covered a ball game, I’d hurry back to the office to meet the deadline with my game story that night and then immediately turn around to write a feature story with quotes and all that that would appear in the afternoon paper.”

Following his time at the SJR, Kelley spent six years at the Sunday Courier and Press in Evansville, Ind., as a sports writer on their staff.

He made one last brief stop at the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer as the sports editor. But, shortly after he took the position, an opportunity arose at RLC that Kelley couldn’t pass up.

“We had a three-year-old. It was just a chance to come back and be near grandparents and be in a similar environment and situation I grew up in. I grew up in Mt. Vernon with both sets of grandparents. That was just so meaningful. So, when an opportunity like that came up for us, we knew it was something we should pursue,” Kelley expressed.

Perhaps to get a better judge of his character, it still bothers Kelley today that he went into the Messenger-Inquirer office to put in his notice so soon after taking the position. His sense of loyalty and duty cause him to still feel like it was his “sleaziest moment.”

Yet, Kelley said, ultimately it was a good move. After years in the newspaper business, it was time for him to move on, and while the details surrounding the move aren’t to his liking, the transition itself was.

“I came back home for the interview and stayed at my parents’ house. I wanted to watch a ballgame. That was the night Larry Bird and Magic Johnson played for the National Championship, that famous game. That was the day I interviewed,” he recalled.

Kelley came on board as an employee during the summer of 1979 as communications director. Just a few months later, discussion began about getting the Foundation up and running. Dr. Curtis Parker had the initial realization that RLC needed to have a Foundation created when the college was established. But, the institution didn’t start to fully form the organization until 1979. So, prominent community members decided to have an informational meeting to officially start the Foundation.

It fell on the newly hired Kelley to get the word out about the meeting. In addition to issuing the standard press release, the new communications director also recommended placing a notice in the schedules the college sent out each fall and spring. He called this one of his biggest professional flubs.

The rub? These mailing schedules went out to every household in the district, all 40,000 of them.

“Here’s how smart I was, it was too late to get it printed in the schedule. They were already being printed. So, I said I could do up a flier announcing the meeting and we could just insert it in every schedule. Don’t ever volunteer to do something that involves stuffing 40,000 papers. That’s a number you have a hard time visualizing until you had them all in front of you. I was bringing these things home to have my four-year-old help me stuff. We finally got it done, but that’s how the announcement of the first foundation meeting went out,” Kelley said with a chuckle.

“So, that’s how it all got started. I’ve seen the Foundation grow from less than 100 at that first meeting to so much more. It’s remarkable what they’ve done over the years. I don’t have anything to prove it, but I feel like it has to be one of the top five Foundations at a community college nation-wide. What they have done over the years, and what the college has now because of the Foundation’s work is truly remarkable.”

He said that while other institutions suffered during the lengthy, and still ongoing, state budget issues, RLC is able to find itself on firmer footing thanks, in part, to the Foundation and the generous people who support it.

The thought of Kelley stuffing 40,000 papers by hand to get the word out isn’t a concept that would surprise anyone who knows him. His passion for keeping others informed and promoting the institution are legendary.

Kelley was well known for saving everything that had to do with the news and history of RLC. Even today, it’s likely that the former communications director can hunt down a specific press release, baseball score, obscure fact or vital detail though this extensive documentation and cataloging.

“A lot of people probably remember my office looking like a big junk pile from the outside. But, there were many times that people would come to me and ask about this or that because they knew I would have the information they needed,” he joked.

The internet and electronic files have helped cut down most of the clutter. So now, Kelley is just up to his digital eyeballs in historical information about the institution.

In fact, even in retirement, Kelley has continued working away, creating a tome of the complete history of Rend Lake College. He has produced more than a thousand pages of content, documenting everything from the roster of every given athletic team to ever take the field for the Warriors to even the most tumultuous details of the college’s history.

His work has been vital in the institution’s celebration of its 50^th anniversary.

“I don’t know what anyone does when they just retire. I think productive senior citizens stay active and interested in things. So, in addition to a half-dozen other things that keep me busy and feeling productive, the book gave me something to work on every night after I got off grandson duty. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed putting it together.”

Kelley also maintains his ties with his other professional passion, athletics, by being an active participant in the Rend Lake College Hall of Fame Committee. To this day, he still produces all the publication and promotion for the annual induction ceremony and still maintains meticulous records of Warrior Athletics.

“I first got to know and respect Bob Kelley when I was a student at Rend Lake College from 1982-84. Bob was an assistant basketball coach and statistician for our team in those days. He showed every day that he truly cared about each and every one of the players on the team. When I returned to work at RLC in 1992, Bob immediately became one of my closest friends,” said RLC Athletic Director Tim Wills.

“He was always willing to help out with anything that we needed in the Athletic Department or anything that I need help with personally. He has continued to that type of person in his retirement. Bob Kelley is one of the most caring, dedicated and reliable people I have ever had the pleasure to know. I hope he knows how much he has meant to me over the time that we have known each other. There has never been a more deserving recipient of the RLC Alumnus of the Year than Bob Kelley. I am extremely happy that he is finally getting recognized for his contributions to this great institution.”

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2012 for his years of work as the school’s de facto sports information director and even in-a-pinch assistant coach.

“There’s no question there, I have to be the least athletic person on that wall,” Kelley joked in his usual manner.

Ever humble, always self-deprecating, Kelley filled a much larger role than “the guy who wrote press releases.” He is the intuition’s historian, and the unsung hero of information preservation that will ensure the story of RLC, and everything that surrounds it, is retained far into the future. From a student in RLC’s first freshman class to now Alumnus of the Year, Kelley has seen the institution through thick and thin.

“The college has grown by leaps and bounds, but it’s never changed its true mission of helping students of all types and abilities to make something of themselves. There was that stigma for many years that community college students couldn’t make anything of themselves. But, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Just look at all the alumna of the year, all the people who have gone on to do such great things. That’s why I say I’m ‘Mr. Ordinary.’ You look at that list and what those people have accomplished, and you can’t help but be impressed. I’m probably the least accomplished person on there,” he said.

“I had a job I enjoyed doing, and that’s what Rend Lake is all about, preparing people for careers and the future. They do that very well. It’s amazing when you really stop and look. I think if people didn’t already know, they would be shocked at some of the people to come out of this community college.”

“Rend Lake has helped feed my family when I was growing up because of my mother. It helped feed my family when I worked there. There was never a day I wasn’t happy I was going to work. That, to me, is what success is. Rend Lake let me do that. Rend Lake means everything to me from the standpoint of what it has done for me in various capacities, and continues to, including this honor. I’m very touched,” said an emotional Kelley.

“Bob is how I measure dedication to this day,” said Chad Copple, RLC’s Dean of Communications and Marketing. He worked alongside Kelley in the Marketing and Public Information Department from 2003 until Kelley retired in 2006. “There was never anything he wasn’t willing to do for the betterment of this college or to help out a colleague, and he’s still doing it even in retirement. I hope that even just some of his dedication has rubbed off on me.

“Those same stacks on his desk he used to laugh about … now my desk looks just like that,” Copple joked. “The Marketing and Public Information Department has grown exponentially from the foundation he put down, and I hope we have done him proud.”

For his numerous contributions, and overall positive impact, Kelley will be honored at this year’s Rend Lake College Foundation Annual Dinner, set for Thursday, Dec. 7, at the Mt. Vernon Hotel & Event Center (formerly Holiday Inn) on Potomac Boulevard in Mt. Vernon.

In addition to honoring the 2017 Alumnus of the Year, the dinner will also highlight several generous members of the community and celebrate RLC’s 50^th Anniversary. It’s an excellent opportunity for people in our communities to come together and support the work of the RLC Foundation.

The Dinner is open to the public. Tickets are $40 per person or $400 for a table of 10. Cocktails will begin at 6 p.m. with the dinner starting at 6:30 p.m. Tickets to the dinner must be purchased in advance. Interested individuals are asked to RSVP by Nov. 27 by contacting the Foundation at 618-437-5321, Ext. 1324, or by sending an e-mail to foundation@rlc.edu.

By Reece Rutland 

INA, IL  – The world is Dr. Susan Santoro Tomlin’s classroom, and luckily for 26 years (1984-2010) she brought a number of Rend Lake College students along for the ride. Thanks to her efforts, RLC students were treated to a number of cultural and historical experiences that allowed them to not only learn, but become more rounded individuals.

With a Ph.D. in Sociology, a M.S. in Guidance Counseling (both from SIUC, 1992 and 1981 respectively) and an undergraduate degree in Special Education (Illinois State 1977), Tomlin was focused not only on helping and educating but also understanding the cause-and-effect nature of the world around her. That focus, along with no small measure of dedication, led to her receiving the Rend Lake College Faculty Excellence Award in 1995. An educator only needs three signatures to be nominated. A whopping 25 signatures of recommendation were on the letter nominating Tomlin for the honor.

Tomlin “brings diversity in terms of academic training and instructional experience together …” noted her nominating letter. “She demonstrates her impact on students outside the classroom by arranging field trips to local prisons; she also has several projects for her students involving service to the community, which can be very powerful and educational experiences for many of them.”

“While [her] merits will hopefully stand on their own, they cannot fully describe the valuable contributions Sue makes to her students, the Business / Social Science Dept., Rend Lake College and the community,” the letter concluded.

Just the year before her Excellence Award nod, Tomlin was nominated by one of her students for Who’s Who Among Community College Teachers and was a participant the year before that in the Fulbright-Hays Seminar Abroad program to Brazil. She also was recipient of the college’s Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick Endowed Chair for Global Education in 1991. She also served as Faculty Advisor for the RLC Human Services Club and Program Review committees, as well as the statewide Illinois Community College Advisory Committee.

Tomlin’s time in Brazil was just a small sample of the globetrotting that she has done in her life. Luckily, RLC students also benefited from her love of travel and culture. She is widely remembered for heading up the International Studies Programs, taking students to educational destinations like Jamaica for marine biology or to France, Mexico, England, Costa Rica, Italy, Spain, Morocco and Ireland to study history and culture.

It wasn’t just students who gained a more worldly experience, she also helped bring international experiences to her fellow educators.

Tomlin applied for and directed a $145,000 Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language (UISFL) Grant, which enabled eight RLC faculty members to spend 10 weeks in Japan and to internationalize courses at Rend Lake College. She also participated in an Illinois Consortium of International Studies and Programs (ICISP) Exchange to the Netherlands.

Closer to home, Tomlin provided a new cultural and development program, helping bring the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program to RLC with fellow instructor Dave Junkins. This innovative program takes RLC students and Jefferson County Justice Center inmates and asks them to look at issues outside the cell block. The two groups meet face-to-face, six hours each week in a semester, and discuss the criminal justice system – as well as relevant current events in politics, economics and society.

Tomlin carries a passion for lifelong learning and promoting educational opportunities for the retired residents of the district. She was recognized as the statewide recipient of the Lifelong Learning Instructor Award in 2006. Tomlin taught for the Institute for Learning in Retirement since its 1999 inception.

“Dr. Tomlin is an asset to both Rend Lake College and its Institute for Learning in Retirement. She is a true educator, both in and outside the classroom. Sue has touched and inspired numerous individuals to continue learning through her very own passion for education,” said Lori Ragland, then Vice President of Career Technical Instruction, in Tomlin’s letter of recommendation for the honor.

“Dr. Tomlin typically teaches 18 hours a semester (12 is the norm), with 180 to 200 students. While this alone would be daunting for many teachers, it only sets the groundwork for Dr. Tomlin’s contributions to the community and the college,” expressed former RLC Liberal Arts Division Chair Chris Kuberski.

“She offers transportation to Rend Lake College cultural events to several senior citizens from her community. Dr. Tomlin does not just offer lifelong learning opportunities to others, but she demonstrates a personal commitment to learning by taking classes, traveling and volunteering. Furthermore, she does not wait for others to offer the opportunities; she seeks them out and often creates them herself. She is highly respected by her students, colleagues and community. She is very deserving of recognition for her dedication to lifelong learning.”

Students, fellow faculty members, inmates and retirees – Tomlin brought important educational opportunities to all of them during her remarkable career at RLC, and her passion for education, learning and the future of the community remain strong even after retirement. She continues to support the college and its students through the Rend Lake College Foundation, and was even the featured guest speaker at the recent 2017 Annual Foundation Scholarship Dinner.

Tomlin’s passion and dedication to education and those around her has not just influenced, but personally touched thousands of lives for the better.

By Reece Rutland 

INA, IL – Influencers don’t always need to be front and center. Sometimes those with the biggest impact show up every day without fanfare and do something incredibly vital to the operation of the college. Doug Carlson was one of those people.

For 32 years, Carlson manned the helm of Rend Lake College’s Financial Aid Department. He and his team kept track of thousands of students and millions of dollars every semester, ensuring that those who needed help had access to the assistance to succeed.

He was born Tuesday, March 10, 1953, in St. Joseph, Mich., the son of Clyde and Eva Carlson. He married Beverley Slavens on Sept. 22, 1979, in Frankfort, Ind.

The next year, he made the journey to Ina, to become Director of Financial Aid. The family relocated to Mt. Vernon, leaving his position as the Assistant Director of Housing at South Georgia State College in Douglas, Ga.

During his tenure with RLC, Carlson sat on the Academic/Faculty Council, and represented the college for a number of years at the River-to-River Relay with various other members of the RLC faculty, staff and student body, including his son, Scott Carlson, during the 2000 race.

The annual 80-mile road run through the Shawnee National Forest had each runner compete three different sections, ranging in distance from 2.5 to 3.8 miles. The course started at Pine Hills Bluff, overlooking the Mississippi River, and finished along the Ohio River in Golconda.

He twice served as Vice President for the Illinois Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and was awarded the ILASFA Sustained Service Award in 2007. He was also a longtime member of the Illinois MAP Formula Committee. He has served on countless on-campus committees over the years, including the interview committee for his successor.

In 1990, he was already noticing the vast, upward tick of students needing financial aid. According to the records he kept, the number of financial aid recipients had more than tripled from the decade before. That year, the office dealt with 2,431 students receiving a total of $3,147,318 in financial aid.

He was known for getting the job done, and getting it done correctly.

Senior Partner Bill Crompton of Clifton, Gunderson and Associates praised audit findings to the RLC Board of Trustees in 2001. He reported Rend Lake College “is the only college he works with where there are no federal violations.” He commended the Financial Aid Office (Director Doug Carlson and Advisor Cheri Rushing) for their tremendous work.

Carlson participates in an in-service skit, much to the delight of RLC VP of Finance and Administration Angie Kistner.

Carlson retired in July of 2012. Tragically, he died shortly after, April 27, 2014, at his home in Mt. Vernon due to brain cancer.

Rushing was hired as Director of Financial Aid following Carlson’s retirement.

“I am at Rend Lake College today because of Doug. He took a chance and gave a country girl from central Missouri an opportunity. I am forever grateful for the opportunities that he so graciously offered, the patience and understanding he showed, the leadership qualities he possessed, the integrity that he had professionally and personally and his love of family, faith and friends. He was a good boss, a good mentor and above all a good friend,” Rushing expressed.

Carlson was an award winning wine-maker who enjoyed growing fruit and providing friends and family with his Miller Lake Wines.

He was also an avid fisherman. In fact, Carlson had a well-established tradition of hitting the lake the morning of graduation. He would spend a few hours on the water before returning to campus to take part in the ceremony.

To honor his memory and dedication to the college, there is an Endowed Douglas S. Carlson Memorial Scholarship established by the Carlson family. Even after his passing, Carlson is still using financial aid to help RLC students attend college.