Mary Baccheschi, Executive Administrative Coordinator to President/Clerk of the Board
It’s that wonderful time of year! The holidays are the perfect time for connecting with old and new friends, spending extra time with family, volunteering or giving back to the community, creating memories, traveling, or just enjoying time off from work. There are so many reasons and ways that people like to celebrate.
Here at Waubonsee, we have even more to celebrate as we recognize and honor the legacy of our longest-serving college president, Dr. Christine J. Sobek. Dr. Sobek announced her retirement in April 2022. In less than a month, on January 4, 2023, she will serve her last day as President of Waubonsee Community College, after a remarkable 33 and a half years of service to the college, 21 and a half years as President of Waubonsee, and more than 44 years of service to Illinois community colleges.
Each year, I have the privilege of working with an amazing committee to plan and coordinate an annual Holiday Open House at Waubonsee. This event is always a wonderful opportunity for employees, retirees, and our Board of Trustees to connect with new colleagues and reconnect with current and former colleagues. These strong connections help build our Waubonsee community and contribute to the friendly and welcoming environment that make this a great place to work and learn.
What better time to also celebrate Dr. Sobek’s retirement? This year we expanded our invitation to all Waubonsee students and featured fun activities, including photos and trivia related to Dr. Sobek and a “bucket list” for everyone to add suggested items to in honor of Dr. Sobek’s upcoming retirement.
And we didn’t stop there. We continued the celebration by hosting a similar event with community members later that day. It was a wonderful turnout of elected officials, institutional and business partners, Waubonsee Foundation Directors, colleagues, and friends who attended to share in the joy and excitement of celebrating Dr. Sobek’s legacy and leadership. Looking back at the pictures and remembering all the smiles and conversations that day makes me feel so proud to be a member of the Waubonsee family. Many people from the college and community came together to celebrate the holiday season and Dr. Sobek.
As Dr. Sobek has often stated, “Waubonsee is more than college. Waubonsee is a community college!” And we have so much to celebrate at Waubonsee!
