Milligan held their annual Homecoming celebration this past week. With all the alumni coming back to visit, the Communications Area held a reception honoring and remembering Dr. Carrie Swanay on Saturday, Oct. 26.
Swanay was a communications professor at Milligan, where she specialized in multimedia and broadcasting. She was also a faculty mentor to new incoming students and many other communications students throughout her years at Milligan.
After Swanay passed away in July, her office in Paxon was left full of items she had acquired over the years. The Communications Area decided to hold a reception during Homecoming weekend, where students, both past and present, could remember Swanay and take a memento of hers.
“Carrie was a collector…so we thought this would be an opportunity for people who worked with her, former students and colleagues, to get together and remember and, in some ways, celebrate her,” said Jim Dahlman, professor of communications and area chair of performing, visual, and communicative arts.
Dahlman and the other communications professors were not sure what to expect for this event. Dahlman posted the reception on Facebook and said that there was significant interest and feedback. He also said with all that was going on during Homecoming, he just hoped people would come and reconnect.
Reconnecting was exactly what Milligan alum, Phillip Brock did. He graduated in 2004 and was at Milligan celebrating his 15-year reunion. Brock was on campus with his wife and four daughters. He attended the reception because Carrie was one of his mentors and a beloved friend.
Upon seeing all of Carrie’s items laid out, Brock had an emotional moment. “I always imagined Carrie being here every time I came back,” he said. “This room and all this stuff brings back a lot of memories of her.”
Brock was not the only person who was a little emotional. Many people who stopped by had to prepare themselves before walking in and looking around. Others peeked in the door and walked away, never entering the room.
“It was bittersweet setting those things out. It brought back some good memories, and we had some good laughs,” said Dahlman, talking about how the event was emotional in both good and sad ways. Being a colleague of Swanay’s for years, Dahlman (and any other communications professor or student) were familiar with her office items, especially the pug related items, having seen them time and time again.
“You can’t get away from the sense of loss when a good friend and a good colleague dies,” said Dahlman. “And knowing how much of an impact she had on people is something special.”
Headline photo: Past and current communications students look at items of Dr. Carrie Swanay.