Kellie Galentine
Assistant LV Life Editor
At 76 Peggy Redman, director of the La Verne experience and director of teacher education, is retiring. Having spent the past 31 years as a faculty member and administrator at the University of La Verne, Redman said she is entering retirement planning on fulfilling some personal goals.
“I told (President Lieberman) ‘I’m 76 years old. I need to be doing some things just for me,’” Redman said. “I think it’s completely the right time for someone else to take over the position.”
Redman spent the past week in Yosemite with her husband of six years, Ray Yinger, and 10 other couples who make the trip every year.
Previously, she had never been able to go on this trip because she said it is difficult to get away from work.
“It is beautiful, it is also people that graduated from La Verne over 50 years ago, and they really appreciate each other’s company and that is what La Verne is all about,” Redman said.
In the near future Redman said that she is looking forward to her knee replacement surgery on June 13.
“I am looking forward to the surgery because I have a really deteriorated knee,” Redman said. “I knew that if I was working I wouldn’t take the time off that I needed to recover.”
Along with taking care of herself through surgery and taking trips, Redman said she is also looking forward to reading books and watching her grandkids’ sports games.
In her past few years at the University, Redman’s work for the La Verne Experience has served as the foundation for the program. Working very closely with Gitty Amini, associate professor of political science and co-chair for the La Verne Experience, Redman took on the demanding position knowing it would be one of her last efforts here.
“Being the founding director of the La Verne Experience really involved getting all these different stakeholders to come together, trying to work on what would be a really exciting new curriculum for the University,” Amini said.
“She just did a phenomenal job with it, and obviously the program is not over but we will definitely miss her,” she said.
Amini said the creation of the La Verne Experience involved taking in a lot of different opinions and holding a lot of different meetings to get the foundation of the program running.
“(Redman) was patient, a wonderful listener and was great at facilitating cooperation and helping people to come to a consensus,” Amini said.
“She has really gotten that program off of the ground and I think that is going to be one of the biggest holes,” Donna Redman, assistant professor of education and Redman’s daughter, said.
“I’m sure they will find somebody that can take over for her but because she has been involved from the very beginning that will take a bit of an adjustment,” she said.
Even though Redman is retiring, she will still be teaching a pilot introductory course for regional campus and CAPA students next fall.
“I know that in retirement I will never not be connected to the University,” Redman said.
Redman’s journey with La Verne began before she was born— both of her parents were alumni of the University. She graduated from the University of La Verne magna cum laude in 1960 with a degree in history and a minor in math.
Redman became the alumni director in 1983, which was her first position in her career at the University, followed by becoming a professor of education and eventually the director of teacher education.
“She has always been a presence, even when she started in advancement with alumni relations, everyone knew Peggy and everything that she did impacted people,” Donna Redman said.
Redman recently received the Spirit of La Verne Award, which recognized her excellence in the areas of diversity and inclusivity, community engagement and interfaith cooperation.
This was the first year that the Spirit of La Verne Awards occurred, making her the very first recipient.
“I think that the whole value structure of this institution, the emphasis on diversity, community engagement, being an ethical person, those are what I think were very strong when I was here as a student, and I continue to see those in students today,” Redman said.
As the speaker for the last commencement ceremony in January, Redman spoke about how in education a person gets paid twice.
“If we are educating we get a paycheck, but I believe you get paid twice because the person that you helped will often come back and be really excited by something you did so long ago, that you don’t remember it,” Redman said.
Redman’s retirement has been a long time coming as she has devoted time to La Verne not only through spending time as a professor, but also serving in leadership roles among faculty.
“With her retirement, people going into the education department are going to miss out on having someone who was such a good leader and role model for teachers, but she definitely has paved the way for future students and is really leaving a mark on the education program,” Jennifer Thomas, alumna and teaching credential student, said.
Even though she is retiring from her career, Redman will not be far. She lives with her husband in Hillcrest Homes.
“She is not going far, she is still a Leo at heart and we will still see her on campus at events,” Amini said. “I am confident that she is not going to see herself as a stranger and I am excited for her as she moves into the next chapter of her life.”
Kellie Galentine can be reached at kellie.galentine@laverne.edu.
