CLOSE QUARTERS: Married couples help staff college
Liz Klimas
Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: Features
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Scenes of affection such as this occur frequently on campus - couples eating a private lunch in the dining hall, studying together in the Heritage Room or sweeping a kiss across the cheek before heading to class.
Most of the time these couples are students, but the couple in front of the maintenance building are Hillsdale College employees, Mike and Kathy Wertz.
"We still act like kids," said Kathy, a housekeeper.
The Wertzes are one of about 15 married couples who both work for the college, said Jill Pulley, personnel services director.
Some faculty and staff say the area doesn't offer many job opportunities for the spouses of college employees.
"There aren't many options around," said Director of Special Programs and Internships Anita Folsom, whose husband teaches history at Hillsdale.
The ones who grew up in Hillsdale
Mike, head of security, and Kathy have been married for, as they say with smiles, "too long" - 25 years.
They both grew up in Hillsdale County, and Kathy was the older sister of Mike's best friend.
"Thinking of her like that was the farthest thing from my mind," Mike said of Kathy when they were teenagers.
Kathy said she began seeing Mike as a prospective significant other after Mike returned home in 1984 from active service in the United State Marine Corps.
"I saw him up on a hill and asked my brother, 'Who is that?'" she said. "If I saw him again, as he is today, I would still marry him."
Mike has worked at Hillsdale for 15 years, and Kathy followed suit two years later. Both say they love working at the same institution.
"I come here at lunchtime, and we both drive over the hill to eat," Kathy said. "We both understand about work and what's going on there because we both work there."
Mike said it also may be beneficial for the college to hire couples, if there is a need, because if one spouse is a hard worker, the other one likely is too.
"Good people bring good people," he said, adding that Kathy can also give him assistance with his job in security when it comes to the "female side of things."
The ones who met at Hillsdale
Sarah and Andrew Mitchell, both 2000 alumni, ran in the same circle of friends since their freshman year at Hillsdale - She had a crush on him since the beginning.
Now with three years of marriage under their belts, Andrew is a professor in the history department, while his wife works next door to his Delp Hall office as a reference librarian.
Although the Mitchells knew each other all four years of college, they did not begin dating until the spring of their senior year. After Hillsdale, while Andrew was at Ohio State University and Sarah at the University of Michigan, they "kept their romance alive by Greyhound buses," Andrew said.
The Mitchells try to spend lunches together, check out books and go to the gym and musical events together - Andrew is in the orchestra and jazz bands. They are both active at College Baptist Church.
The ones with a daughter on campus
Chris and Maureen McCourry have been married for 18 years and have a 3-year-old daughter named Stella.
Chris, who has been at Hillsdale for 11 years, started the jazz program. Maureen was working for Oberlin College while Chris worked here and was hired as a technical librarian in 2007.
"I loved my job at Oberlin, but the idea of working across the street from him was too good to be true," Maureen said.
Stella also spends time on campus at Mary Randall Preschool, making life and schedules more convenient for her parents.
Chris said the best thing about he and his wife working at the college are her ties to the library.
"It is great having someone in the library I can absolutely depend on," he said. "As a musician, finding resources is a hard thing to do."
Maureen even took one of her husband's piano classes.
"It was a little weird at first, but it made me appreciate what he does even more," she said.
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