Spotlights
Remembering English faculty Catherine Frerichs
The English Department mourns the passing of former faculty member, Catherine Frerichs, on January 28, 2022. Professor Frerichs was a highly influential part of the GVSU community, teaching in both the English and Writing departments, and was a founding member of the Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center.
Professor Fred Antczak shared the following remembrance:
"I had the pleasure of working with Catherine Frerichs on many projects when she was Director of the FTLC. One memory that stands out was when the University was trying to make a pivot in its understandings of a liberal education. Catherine was a leading voice in the effort, “Claiming a Liberal Education.” She was always honest—constructively honest—and helped us call out some of the stances that, more or less unconsciously, were self-serving. But she was smart, sympathetic and an astonishingly good listener, modeling the intellectual flexibility we needed to succeed in our task.
In this, and in in so many other contributions to our enterprise, she was a fabulous colleague, and a really good friend. I regard her as one of the Founding Mothers of Grand Valley State University."
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