After 35 years of service at Plymouth State University, Vice President of Student Affairs Richard Hage prepares to withdraw from his full-time position and begin the process of phasing out into full retirement.
Richard Hage, or VP Hage as he is fondly referred to, came to PSU in 1975 from Keene State College. After coordinating a state-wide conference for residential life workers which was held at PSU, Hage admits “I didn’t know much about Plymouth” then. A year after meeting Dean of Students at the time ,Jim Smith, Hage had a job offer for the position as Assistant Dean of Students. The job had “housing responsibilities, custodial services, and judicial responsibilities,” Hage reflects.
It was Smith and his philosophy which really attracted Hage to Plymouth State. “In a nutshell the philosophy was very student centered, at the annual staff retreat Jim said something that was really the underpinning of the philosophy and that’s “stay close to the students,” Hage said.
That’s something that Hage has held true to in his time here at PSU. “There is a respectful dialogue among teachers and students and staff due in part to Dick,” said President Sara Jayne Steen, “He has created a culture of caring. That’s absolutely huge.”
“The most important thing, and honestly it doesn’t matter if its in a judicial case if a student has gotten in to trouble, an athletic event where a student is displaying strength, an awards ceremony where a student is being honored for excelling in the classroom, or a student has won a juried art project, or you’re down in the senior arts center where students are performing community service, or traveling abroad with students who are performing in music or drama,” said Hage, “It doesn’t matter what it is, it’s the relationships that are most memorable”.
This is the attitude that makes Hage such a dedicated member of PSU, and probably why he was honored with the Scott Goodnight award in 2006 by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators for outstanding performance as a Dean or Vice President.
“He has energy and an ability to draw people together,” comments President Steen, “He has helped to create memorial services for students and that pulls us together as a community.”
But Hage hasn’t always fought for just the community of PSU, he has also helped students in NH by helping to get what is called “Michelle’s Law” passed. Michelle Morse was a student at a Plymouth State University when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. Although her doctor suggested she take a leave of absence from school, Michelle Morse maintained a full course schedule in order to keep her health insurance coverage. When Michelle passed away after graduating from PSU, Hage worked closely with her mother to make sure that the law be passed so that seriously ill or injured college students take up to one year of medical leave without losing their health insurance
“It shows how Dick is not just about helping the individual,” says good friend and colleague Dean of Students Tim Keefe, “but trying to make systems and processes better for all students”.
Hage has spent his time at PSU really getting to know students as who they are beyond their statistics on paper and feels that he has been “blessed with the people I work with from students to deans to senior administration and across the campus. There is no sense of hierarchy”.
With all he has done for PSU, it will be hard to see Hage leave but there is no rush. Hage will finish out this year as the Vice President of Student Affairs, and next fall will be back as a part-time member overseeing undergraduate admissions, developing international recruitment plans, and interfacing with the ELS program. “I absolutely love what I do,” says Hage, “but I have a beautiful family, a loving wife, two fabulous daughters, and four grandchildren – and they’re growing too fast, I want to be more active, I want to be there”.
Looking around Hage’s office at the photos of his adventures across the globe, his smiling grandchildren, and the numerous Plymouth State posters, it’s easy to see, “It’s a combination of having a hard time to give something up that you love – but easy to turn your attention to something you love even more.”
Hage believes that education is a byproduct of the environment, and he has certainly helped to create a wonderful environment here at PSU. “Everyone I work with has the best interest of the students and the university at heart. I could not have a better group of colleagues”.
Hage admits when he thinks about the day he doesn’t come in to work he grows saddened, but his plans for retirement bring him right back, “I love landscaping, and growing fruits. I want to go hiking and biking, snowshoeing, and my wife and I have plans to do some traveling.” But what Hage is really looking forward to is priceless. “I want to finish the tree house for my grandchildren,” he says eagerly, and for those who know Hage there is no doubt that it will be the ultimate tree house.