Interview with Virginia Koch - OH 256

Interviewee

• Virginia Koch

Interviewer

Michelle Dubert-Bellrichard

Files

Streaming Media

Abstract

This interview was conducted by Michelle Dubert-Bellrichard with Virginia Koch on January 13, 2015, for the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections Oral History Program. Koch graduated from Winthrop College in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. She later earned a master’s degree in Adult and Continuing Education.

Koch discusses her decision to attend Winthrop, influenced in part by her older sister, a Winthrop alumna, and her mother, an elementary school teacher who helped establish a kindergarten program in Columbia, South Carolina. She describes adjusting to college life and living on campus, including her experiences with roommates, dormitory rules and regulations, dress codes, social activities, and the “Rat Week” traditions for freshmen. She also recalls changes in visitation policies that eventually allowed male students to visit women’s dormitory rooms.

Koch discusses her experiences as an Elementary Education major, including her coursework, interest in psychology, and student-teaching experience in a fourth-grade classroom in Hartsville, South Carolina. She describes the influence of her supervising teacher and how that experience shaped her approach to teaching. She also recalls campus activities and traditions, including Junior Follies, musical performances, concerts, and guest speakers such as feminist activist Gloria Steinem.

A significant portion of the interview focuses on the social and cultural changes taking place at Winthrop and in American society during the 1970s. Koch discusses the admission of male students and Winthrop’s transition to coeducation during her senior year. She reflects on changing attitudes toward women’s education and careers, the influence of the women’s movement, and the increasing diversity of the student body. She also discusses her experiences developing a friendship with an African American student and reflects on the racial attitudes and social changes she encountered during her college years.

Koch describes her career following graduation, including teaching fourth grade in Sumter, South Carolina, and her subsequent move to Wisconsin. She discusses earning her master’s degree and working in adult and continuing education, education administration, organizational development, and training. Her career included positions at Midlands Technical College, North Central College, Mercy Hospital in Chicago, United Airlines, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and the Peace Corps. She discusses her work as Director of Recruiting for the Peace Corps in Chicago and later as Deputy Director of Nationwide Testing for the federal government, from which she retired in 2014.

Throughout the interview, Koch reflects on how her experiences at Winthrop helped shape her confidence, education, career, and outlook on social and cultural change. She also discusses returning to the Winthrop campus for an alumni reunion in 2014 after approximately forty years away and reflects on the changes she observed at the university.

Publication Date

1-13-2015

Unique Identifier

OH 256

Format

MP3; WAV;

Length

01:08:16

Restrictions

This interview is open for use under the rules and regulations of the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections

Series

Alumni

Disciplines

Oral History

Keywords

Elementary Education, Coeducation, Race Relations, Rat Week, Changes in the South, Adult Education, U.S. Government, Peace Corps, Director of Education, Director of Recruitment

Recommended Citation

Koch, Virginia, "Interview with Virginia Koch - OH 256" (2015). Winthrop University Oral History Program. OH 256.
https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/oralhistoryprogram/102