NCMPR BLOG

by Jaclyn Y. Garver
Communication and DEI Manager
Fort Wayne, IN

I wanted to spotlight NCMPR’s first woman president during this National Women’s Month, but after looking up information about Dr. Carol Ann Breyer, who was NCMPR’s 1978-79 president, I felt at a loss for how to spotlight her. A small post on Facebook or LinkedIn didn’t seem enough, given her dedication to advancing the community college mission.

Dr. Breyer (Feb. 26, 1934, to Sept. 12, 2014) died in her sleep, in a motel room in Savannah, Georgia, on her way to a retreat in West Virginia. In college, she joined the Sisters of Mercy in Baltimore, a religious group whose ministries included education, social justice advocacy and healthcare. Her various obituaries list her community college affiliation – she worked at Prince George’s Community College in Maryland and helped it establish the college’s continuing education program for adults – but share little about her time there.

She earned her doctorate in educational administration from Walden University in Minnesota. I feel the need to point back to her birthyear: a woman born in the 1930s with a doctorate. I wasn’t able to find the year she earned that degree, but for a little bit of context: In 1950, 9.7% of all doctorate degrees were given to women, and 10.5% in 1960.

NCMPR’s first woman president also worked at the Florida Department of Education, helping establish the state’s community college system. An article she wrote for Community and Junior College Journal, “Need for Advertising No Longer Debatable,” in May 1979 was cited in a 1980 doctoral dissertation, The Development of a Handbook for Marketing the Community College. According to the dissertation, Dr. Breyer found, through a 10-state survey, that colleges’ promotional budgets were no more than 1% of their annual operating expenses. (Which … um … wasn’t enough … Though I suppose I could borrow the dissertation’s verbiage: “This is, by commercial standards, quite low.”

The dissertation also cited Dr. Breyer to make the case that community colleges must learn to promote themselves if they’re to compete with other colleges.

That’s Dr. Carol Ann Breyer on the left. This 2014 photo is from a memorial post to her on the Pax Christi USA website. Dr. Bryer was a former Pax Christi Florida state coordinator. Pax Christi USA “is a membership organization that rejects war, preparation for war, every form of violence and domination, and personal and systemic racism. As a section of Pax Christi International, we are members of the international Catholic peace and justice movement that seeks to model the peace of Christ in our witness to the mandate of the nonviolence of the Cross.”

Most of what’s written about Dr. Breyer underline all the ways she helped people and her commitment to peace, justice and nonviolence. According to her Legacy.com obituary, “In 1969, Carol Ann and Lee (her husband) settled in the Washington, DC area. There she was very active in the civil rights movement, working in the national office of the US Catholic Bishops in its Peace and Justice office, learning much from the then newly established Public Broadcasting Service.

“Among her proudest achievements was her role on The President’s Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities and the subsequent federal legislation extending justice to a previously neglected population. In all her activities, her signature quality was her advocacy for social justice for those living on the edges of church and society … with no exceptions.”

Her obituary also points out that, while she lived in Florida and worked for its Department of Education, “she became very familiar with the problems of people ‘living on the streets’ (through the local homeless coalition) and with those behind bars (at the local state prison).”

Sounds to me like NCMPR’s fourth ever president was a supporter of diversity, equity and inclusion, even if those terms weren’t used.

I often feel proud to work for NCMPR. I value our values, and I value our mission. I value, too, your missions, members. I value the work you do to help make students’ lives better, especially the students who need that extra hand the most. It’s no surprise that our earliest leadership shared those values, too.

Jaclyn Y. Garver is the communication and DEI manager at NCMPR and resides in Fort Wayne, Indiana.