Marsha Herron '07
Eve Blachman, long time professor of English, has retired from teaching at Virginia Wesleyan College after 33 years of service.
Eve Blachman (left) with fellow retirees Stan Pearson and Dr. Barry
Lipscomb at the Employee Appreciation Dinner in April.
When asked why she is retiring, she simply replied, "I want to do the next thing in life."
Known for her outgoing personality and love for literature, Blachman began teaching at the College in 1974. She only worked part-time in the beginning and took a semester off in the 1980s to have a child. She was the first staff member to get pregnant on the job and returned almost immediately to begin teaching full-time.
Reminiscing on her three decades of work, Blachman said the close-knit community is what kept her coming back all those years.
"I have always enjoyed the sense of community the school has," she said. "The strength of this College has been the connection between faculty, staff and students. It's been both a privilege and my pleasure to teach here."
Coming from a large family, Blachman understands how friendships and love keep people connected. She is one of seven siblings in her family which combine have a total of 28 children.
A native of Chicago, Ill., Blachman made her way to Virginia after attending graduate school at the University of Arkansas. She first taught at Norfolk State University before beginning her career at Virginia Wesleyan.
With a passion for literature, Blachman has taught an array of English subjects - but her favorite has always been adolescent literature. "I only hope that high schools will allow students to read more adolescent novels to help them understand the changes youth endure," she said.
Over the years Blachman herself has grown through personal changes, mainly from a religious standpoint. First baptized as a Lutheran, she converted to Presbyterian and then to Roman Catholic at the age of 20. Throughout her adult life, she practiced Buddhist meditations before becoming Jewish at 35. However, her adaptation to various religions was only just beginning. When her youngest daughter was attending Quaker School, she learned of Quaker traditions and wove them into her own beliefs and teachings at Virginia Wesleyan.
In her Statement of Identity as a Teacher, Blachman wrote "I cannot separate my professional persona from my personal and intellectual life. The human story informs the identity I bring to Birdsong 202 on Monday at 8:30 a.m."
Although a beloved professor says farewell to Virginia Wesleyan, she plans to stay in touch with the community through e-mail. Blachman and her husband have no immediate retirement plans but they are considering moving out of the country, perhaps to New Zealand.
"I have no retirement plans to report at this time," she said. "Our oldest daughter lives in Boston and we will be spending time with her and visiting our grandchildren this summer."
The Virginia Wesleyan Community thanks Eve Blachman for her years of service and wishes her a very happy retirement.