USU Women Over 65 Achievement Award Honors Three Women

Since 1986, the Utah State University Women’s Center has acknowledged the accomplishments, activities and civic dedication of women over the age of 65 in Cache Valley with the “Women Over 65 Achievement Award.”

 

The honorees, Carolyn Barcus, JoAn Criddle and Marilynne Glatfelter, will be recognized at a ceremony Wednesday, April 7, at 6:30 p.m. The event will take place in the Evan N. Stevenson Ballroom of Taggart Student Center on the USU campus. Family, friends and the public are invited.

 

Service has been a significant part of each of the three recipients’ lives as each has served the role of advocate, mentor and activist in the community and for women of all ages.

 

“These women have shown us by their actions in the community, academy and business how to create a better world for all women,” said Michelle Bogdan, director of the Women’s Resource Center.

 

With the inclusion of these women, the USU Women’s Center will have recognized more than 100 women from Cache Valley in the last quarter century.

 

Carolyn Barcus earned both a master’s and a doctor of education degree from USU. She began her career as a mental health specialist for the Indian Health Services, and later worked with the same organization as a service unit director.

 

She returned to USU in the 1980s when she joined the Psychology Department as an adjunct professor and Navajo Student Advisor. Barcus has been involved with the American Indian Support Project at USU since its beginning. She became the director of the program in 1991, an appointment she still holds.

 

Barcus’ colleagues stated that she “provides powerfully important advocacy, training and mentoring for diverse students in our program and across the country.” All this is balanced with a strong dose of genuine caring as she shares her ranch home, horses and hobbies with others in the community.

 

JoAn Criddle began her education at USU. She quit school after marriage to provide the means for her husband’s financial aid. After raising five children, she returned to school for a bachelor’s degree in child and family behavioral science from Sacramento City College. She continued her education in the area of counseling at Sacramento State University

 

Criddle’s interest in caring for others led her to author four books. Two of these books are about her experiences with a Cambodian refugee family she helped sponsor while living in Davis, Calif.

 

“She is very conscious of humanitarian concerns,” said one nominator of Criddle.

 

This can be seen in her tireless support of many organizations, including Hope International, Bridgerland Literacy and Red Cross. She has co-directed the international vision and eyeglass program of The Hope Alliance for the past five years.

 

Marilynne Glatfelter began her education at Knox College with a bachelor’s degree in English. She followed this by earning a master’s degree from Indiana University and a doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Minnesota.

 

It is through Glatfelter’s work at USU that she influenced the lives of others, especially women. She was hired as the first female therapist in the USU Counseling Center. During this time she became a founding member of the Women’s Center and served on its advisory board for many years.

 

“Marilynne’s career has been and remains a fascinating journey, during which she broke many barriers and ‘glass ceilings’” said one of her nominators.

 

This is evident in her current role as president of Logan club of Rotary International, which she joined in 1989 as the third female member in its history.

 

For more information about the Women Over 65 Lifetime Achievement Ceremony, contact the USU Women’s Center at 435-797-1728 or email womenscenter@usu.edu.

 

Writer: Jeannine Huenemann, (435) 797-8274, jeannine.huenemann@usu.edu