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Bloom is where the heart is

By Jaime North, digital marketing specialist

There aren’t many perspectives of Bloomsburg University that Wayne Whitaker hasn’t seen.

As a student. As an alumnus. And for the past 30-plus years, as an employee — where he helped spearhead a new vision for admissions and then mentoring students in academic enrichment, many of whom first in their family to attend college.

As of this summer, add retiree to the list. 

In many ways, Bloomsburg has become family. Quite literally.

“I spent four and a half years as an undergrad and had a great college experience,” says Whitaker, a co-founding member of BU’s Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity chapter who capped a 33-year career at BU in July most recently as assistant director of diversity and retention. “College not only brought me an education but also a wife and child.”

After graduating from Bloomsburg State College as a psychology major in 1979, Whitaker was first employed with the National Job Corps Program in Lopez. Two job opportunities soon caught his eye, he says — one at a retreat correctional facility and the other in BU’s Office of Admissions as a minority recruiter.

“I thought what a wonderful opportunity it would be to work at my alma mater,” Whitaker says. “I would have to thank Dr. Jesse Bryan and Dr. Irvin Wright for making me aware of this opportunity and mentoring me.”

His first position at BU wasn’t short on challenges.

“Bloomsburg did not have the best reputation in the urban communities due to some incidents in the early 80’s,” Whitaker says. “I felt in my heart that BU had something to offer all students and the personal challenge was to make it a competitor with other schools. The (assistance) of fellow alums, community leaders, faculty and staff, and satisfied parents helped put BU on the map.”

One such indicator of progress, according to Whitaker, was a shift in how BU had to recruit underrepresented students to campus for an admissions visit. During this time BU went from having to provide bus trips to campus for tours to students choosing to travel to Bloomsburg on their own for a campus visit.

“I was able to increase the number of students of color applying to Bloomsburg,” Whitaker says. “There was a noticeable increase in diversity often mentioned by faculty and staff. Through collaboration with colleagues on campus, fellow alumnus, and community leaders helped make Bloomsburg a school of choice for underrepresented students.”

After 23 years in admissions, a career shift for Whitaker presented itself. He went from bringing students onto campus for their first steps of college life — many as the first in their family to do so — to advising them through school onward to taking steps across the graduation stage.

“The lasting impact so many students have had on me is they persevered through difficult circumstances and graduated,” says Whitaker, who also helped lead BU’s Board of Governors Program. “This let me to know they were ready for the challenges that life was going to present. Some students even returned to the campus with their own families and wanted their children to be a part of the Bloomsburg experience.”