By Emma Laughlin
The Western New England University community would all like to congratulate Kathy Reid on her retirement. Many of her colleagues have enjoyed working with her during her time here, due to her sense of humor and her passion for accessible healthcare. She was not only a valuable asset to the community, but a memorable presence in Health Services.
Alyssa Caliguri, Assistant Director of First Year Student Success and an alumni of the University said, “Western New England is losing a big piece of our community when Kathy leaves, but she so very much deserves the time to relax after all she has done for us.”
Her hard work and diligence have greatly benefited the campus, especially as she and her team led students, faculty, and staff through the COVID-19 pandemic. Kathy Reid’s department has also made strides in other aspects of student health and wellness, including the provision of accessible sex contraceptives, free female hygiene products, and candid presentations at Freshmen Focuses, SOAR, and other transitions programs.
“Kathy always looked to enhance her department’s offerings, it definitely was not a ‘Tylenol and bandaid’ operation. She would do open heart surgery in Health Services if she could,” said Senior Associate Director of Residence Life, Beth Hill. “Seriously, she always wanted each student to graduate with a WNE degree and to become a great healthcare consumer.”
Kathy has collaborated with many campus departments to assist with the overall success of students in a way that only Kathy could. As a board certified family nurse practitioner and the Director of Health Services, she provided direct care, health education, risk management, quality assurance and budget management to her department. She did this by blending humor with sensitive subjects. In her very own way, she made health concerns not seem so scary.
Alyssa agreed with her colleague’s sentiments, “Kathy can be described in so many words but a few that come to mind are: hysterical, realistic, kind, and genuine. I know I’m not alone when I say I will sincerely miss her. I will especially miss those random phone calls where she could make me laugh until tears came rolling down my face.”
While Kathy will be missed by everyone at Western New England, after countless anecdotes and success stories, we can certainly agree that she deserves her retirement.
