Four decades of service to UD

With more than four decades of service, Stuart J. Sharkey, who is retiring this month, has a broad perspective on the changes and growth of the campus as the University of Delaware has moved from a small regional school to the respected, forward-looking, research university that it is today.

In his career as an administrator in residence and student life, a faculty member, a liaison between UD and the area schools, Sharkey has contributed his unique viewpoint since 1963.

"My years at Delaware were wonderful, extraordinary years, and what made them exciting and enjoyable were the students. I have enjoyed working with them over the years," Sharkey said.

One of the major changes he has seen during his career is the quality of the student body, the faculty and academic programs, which “have improved significantly,” he said. ”The University has the feel of a private school, unlike public institutions in some other states, which are hampered by policies and bureaucracies.”

He also pays tribute to the changes and improvements on the UD campus. “President [David] Roselle has devoted time and effort to beautifying the campus,” he said, “and when students and parents visit Delaware, their reaction is ‘Wow!’

“When I first came to Delaware, there were only 3,600 students, and two-thirds of the buildings--including Smith, Purnell, Rodney, Gilbert and the Christiana Towers--did not exist,” he said.

“Women students had far more restrictive rules and regulations than men students, under the direction of the dean of women. There were strict dress codes--women couldn’t wear slacks unless the dean proclaimed it was cold enough, and they were told what was appropriate dress for football games. They had to be in residence halls by 11 p.m. Long before the courts decreed that separate rules for women were in violation, the University started easing regulations, such as visitation rules,” Sharkey said.

Under Sharkey’s watch, housemothers became a thing of the past and resident assistants or RAs were trained on how to work with and counsel students. In loco parentis became a thing of the past, he said.

“Harrington was made into the first coed dorm. To live there, a student of any age had to have a notarized letter from his or her parent, however. There was a lot of opposition with letters to UD, the trustees and the legislature. I still have a letter from one person who wrote that no self-respecting company would hire any UD grads because of the coed dorm,” Sharkey said.

Communications on campus have changed for the better and dramatically, Sharkey said, from one telephone per floor in residence halls to rooms wired for computers, and students using cell phones to keep in touch from anywhere.

A modernized Department of Public Safety replaced the security guards who patrolled the campus without radios or phones in the early days, Sharkey said. If a problem arose, the RA would turn a light on outside as a signal.

Sharkey was on campus when other schools were having student riots. “President [E.A.] Trabant understood student concerns, was accessible and met with students. After the 1970 shootings at Kent State, I was with him and his wife when they led a candlelight memorial,” he said.

During his career, Sharkey was involved in a number of innovations that are now part of the fabric of UD campus life, including the establishment of the student life aspect of the Honors Program, initiating Winter Commencement, Parents and Family Weekend, college convocations after Commencement, the expansion of Health Services and the recruitment of out-of-state students.

Sharkey also worked closely with the Black Student Union and has a plaque of appreciation from the organization.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in history and government and his master’s degree in counseling from St. Lawrence University and teaching in high school for three years, Sharkey came to UD in 1963 in what is now residence life. He became director of the Office of Housing and Residence Life in 1976 and then vice president for student life, serving from 1980-94. He also was student affairs administrator for the Freshman Honors Program from 1976-78 and taught courses in education and American history.

In 1994, he moved to the then-College of Education and became director of school services. He also became active on the board of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware and for many years has chaired the DuPont Riverfest, which benefits the clubs.

At the time of his retirement, Sharkey was assistant professor and coordinator of the Family and Community Services internship program in the Department of Individual and Family Studies, provided administrative assistance to UD’s College School and taught in the Counseling and Student Personnel graduate program.

Sharkey served on president’s and trustees’ committees at UD and was active in several professional organizations, chairing the Student Affairs Council of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges and serving on its board of directors. He also was president of the Middle Atlantic College and University Housing Officers.

Sharkey, who was honored by a reception Friday, Oct. 8, attended by several former students from as far away as Florida and Tennessee, plans an active retirement. He will teach a course, “Law in Higher Education,” will continue to serve on the executive committee of the Boys and Girls Clubs, and he plans to travel (he just returned from Italy) and will visit his grandchildren in Cleveland.

Contact: Sue Moncure, (302) 831-1740
October 8, 2004