Dr. Violet Skorina (interview); Creator: Skorina, Dr. Violet ; Interviewer(s): Alice Hancock and Fran Zaccagnini; Interview location: Skorina's home in Newtown, CT; Running time: 90 min., Apr 22, 1991

Coverage: 1960s-1991
Topics discussed : (tape 1;side A): Came when it was known as Danbury State College; Liberal Arts; college had been a teacher's education college; she waited until the liberal arts program started; "Nature of Man"; required course that spread across four semesters; it was experimental at time; Teacher's training program; "Mature students"; influx of older students; many were women coming back to college; she was one herself in the teaching program; Transition from student to professor; early experiences at WestConn; curriculum and methods of teaching; Conflicts; between "mature students" and other students; teachers initially didn't view "mature students" well; eventually saw benefits of having them in their classes; English department; she graduated in 1965 and was asked by department if she would come and teach for them; she wasn't sure if she wanted to teach, but ultimately decided to; she had applied to graduate program at UConn; Teaching in summer; taught 6 weeks; taught American Lit I; Language requirement; teachers at Osborne St. wanted to get rid of it; they did abolish it at one point, but brought it back eventually; Influx of men; came after WW II (mostly returning GIs); Dr. Greenwald; behind "Nature of Man"; Student/teacher relationships; felt it was always good; saw it from both sides; she was accepted and wanted when she made transition from a student to faculty member; English department size; there were 6; 7 members; class sizes were smaller in beginning; core classes were bigger, but not by much; Conatus (tape 1;side B): Theater department; once apart of the English department; drama club was extra; curricular at time; Echo; the student newspaper; no journalism course; existed before she came; it was irregular because of size of staff; Graduate studies; expanded the faculty and curriculum; came around 1968; 69; Name changes; from Danbury State College to Western CT State College; range of enrollment went up; students from across state began to come more; lead to formation of new departments; Justice and Business departments; didn't exist prior to name change to WCSC; Dr. Bersi and Dr. Feldman brought attention to business; liberal arts had less focus w/ business; always had students in justice field come to WestConn; addition of justice brought more students to college; Minorities at WestConn; primarily African; American students; college began to actively pursue minority students in late 1960s; demonstrations of the 1960s; Committees; "professionalism" of the teachers; Curriculum changes; changes made to fit w/ the "Western CT" name; End of "Nature of Man" program; broke into the individual majors after name change; was done to fit w/ the different interests of students; Basic studies; most of the students in program were African; American; began around 1973; they were recruited to play football; Football; first game was in 1971; Basic Studies was used to get more football players; Students in Basic Studies; many faculty felt many of these students didn't belong in college; some faculty refused to teach any course in program; Dr. Braun; told English department anyone who refused to teach Basic Studies would have to be let go (tape 2; side A): Basic Studies (cont.); problems she had w/ teaching the program; Dr. Haas; very involved; had open door policy; believed in discipline and regulations; Dr. Bersi; he was good in many ways; different school under him; Social and cultural changes; Budget and relationship w/ the state; Dr. Haas and Dr. Bersi in obtaining money for the college; Dr. Bersi was good at getting money from businesses; he was able to finally get Westside campus; Dr. Haas was very hands on and on top of everything; most of her administrative staff were friends of hers; most had been old school teachers; Dorms; men weren't allowed to stay in dorms in beginning; around 1974 men were allowed to stay in dorms; WestConn vs. other state schools; the conditions were always poor in time she was there; office was small and located in basement of Berkshire; bathrooms weren't readily available; other campuses had swimming pools, but not WestConn; Budget problems; restriction and limitation of budget didn't allow campus to expand and/or improve the current buildings; Westside campus; talk of it began around 1968, didn't open until 1980s; Dr. Haas was trying to get it opened, but was unable; Dr. Bersi was finally able to get things done on that campus from the money local businesses donated to the college; Music program; not a huge priority after business; Central CT State University; went there for a recital w/ her granddaughter; the campus was packed w/ people attending it; Reflection of time at WestConn