MCHENRY — Lonnie Brewster literally started out as a 100-to-1 longshot.
“I was looking for a teaching position and a friend recommended I apply at Garrett College,” said Brewster. “I heard 100 people applied — I never thought I’d get it.”
MCHENRY — Lonnie Brewster literally started out as a 100-to-1 longshot.
“I was looking for a teaching position and a friend recommended I apply at Garrett College,” said Brewster. “I heard 100 people applied — I never thought I’d get it.”
Yet that’s exactly what happened. And now Brewster, hired in 1991 as an English faculty member, will become the fourth GC professor to be awarded professor emeritus status as part of Garrett College’s 2023 commencement exercises on May 20.
“I’m pleased the faculty and our Board of Trustees chose to recognize Professor Brewster for his two decades of outstanding service to both our students and our faculty,” said Dr. Richard Midcap, Garrett College’s president. “Professor Brewster was a leader in faculty professional development learning communities, as well as being actively engaged in a wide variety of student organizations. He’s an outstanding choice for emeritus status.”
Brewster said he took his role preparing students for higher-level English very seriously. He recalled a group of five friends who all originally thought he was too demanding as an instructor.
“They thought I was too hard on them,” he recounted. “Then all five transferred to Frostburg. They came back and said, ‘We all did so well in English at Frostburg.’ I said, ‘That’s great.’ And they said, ‘No, you don’t understand – we all got A’s.’ I think then they all realized why I had been so demanding.”
Brewster said American Literature “has always been my favorite course,” but noted he also enjoyed teaching English 101.
“I enjoyed watching English 101 students improve their writing,” said Brewster. “It got to the point where I’d point to a mistake and they knew what it was and how to fix it. That was rewarding to see.”
While Brewster officially retired in 2011, he came back to GC for a year to oversee the theatre department after Theatre Professor Ben Sincell retired. Brewster currently keeps a hand in teaching as an adjunct instructor at Blue Ridge Community & Technical College.
Brewster, spouse Lee Wright, and adopted son Hunter Brewster-Wright currently live in Randolph County, West Virginia, on a hobby farm raising cows, chicken, and geese — “but nothing in large numbers,” he said.
Brewster will be joining Franklin David Slagle, Oscar Randall Harman, and Joan B. Crawford as GC emeritus professors. Former Dean Jim Allen is being recognized this year as a dean emeritus, joining President Emeritus Dr. Stephen J. Herman and Dean Emerita Lillian R. Mitchell as the three GC administrators to earn emeritus status.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Daily News, Sports and Events for Garrett County and surrounding areas.
Morgantown News Delivered to Your Inbox Each Week!
Please disable your ad blocker, whitelist our site, or purchase a subscription
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
Rate: | |
Begins: | |
Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
Post a comment as Anonymous Commenter
Report
Watch this discussion.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.