New Wesleyan director
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on October 4, 2004 1:58 PM
Martha Burkhart-Cawley says her new position as director of Wesleyan College in Goldsboro is a homecoming of sorts. "I'm the old new director," she said.
Dr. Burkhart-Cawley was in the director's position when classes moved downtown from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in 2001. She left to serve as executive director of the Raleigh Research Triangle Park site and then took off a year to teach art appreciation classes.
This summer, she was invited to return when her replacement, Dr. Diane Roberts, announced she was retiring to take care of family business.
"It was like coming home again," Dr. Burkhart-Cawley says. "There are just a lot of special people here in the college."
Dr. Burkhart-Cawley holds bachelor of art degrees in art history and art education and a doctorate in higher education administration.
She also has much in common with her students. Many of those attending the night classes are returning to school while juggling career and family.
"Having been an adult learner myself," she explained, "it was a natural segue for me to come here."
She said that returning to familiar territory and reuniting with the staff and former students has been fun.
"I missed being down here," she said. "When I left, I had said, 'I'll be back.'"