Ramona Theresa Cormier – Music Education, 1943

Ramona Theresa Cormier

1943 – Music Education

            This letter is being written by Ramona Theresa Cormier, a 1943 graduate of Southwestern Louisiana Institute’s College of Education with a major in music education. My memories of my years at SLI have been dimmed by my change of profession and by not having had any contact with the School of Music for some thirty or more years. Professors which influenced my musical as well as professional career were professors Brown, Josephine Mitchell, Charlotte Stevenson, Mary Dickman from the English Department, and of course, Professor Voorhies, the university’s band director. As a member of the band and of the drum majorette corps, I traveled with the group to football games and to other similar activities. Because I was a commuter for three years, I did not have the social experiences most students had. My senior year I lived in a rooming house on Johnston Street so that I could do my student teaching in the late afternoon under Professor Stevenson.

            Shortly after graduation, I enlisted in the United States Navy and served in the communication division as an enlistee and officer. I was honorably discharged at the rank of ensign in 1946 having served in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, a blimp base; Norfolk, Virginia; and San Francisco.

            Under the GI Bill, I completed a master of arts degree in music at the University of Southern California. While at USC, I developed an interest in philosophy, which I continued at the Ph.D. level since I no longer wished to remain in music. My philosophic pursuits were begun at Columbia University in the summer of 1949 and continued there through 1953. During the school year, I taught first in St. Martin Parish (1948-49) and then at Ouachita High School (1949-58) where I taught vocal music. My Ph.D. studies were completed at Tulane University in 1960.

            Since the completion of the doctorate, I have taught philosophy in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences at Newcomb College (1960-61), the University of Tennessee (1961-65), and Bowling Green University (1965-1993). At Bowling Green State University, I served on many committees, chaired the faculty senate, and was the first woman to become a top level administrator when I was appointed associate provost in 1979. I retired as Dean of Continuing Education and Summer Programs. I have written several books, numerous papers and abstracts and co-founded the Philosopher’s index. My specialties are aesthetics, philosophy of literature, existentialism, and Greek philosophy. I retired with the rank of Trustee Professor Emeritus of Philosophy.

            I have received numerous awards from the University–most recently the naming of the Faculty Reading Room in the university library after me,  being named a 1998 honorary alumnus; and awards from community groups, such as Women in Business, and Women in Communication. Presently, I serve on a number of local boards: I am the current Chair of the City of Bowling Green’s Board of Public Utilities, President of the Bowling Green State University Retirees Association, and immediate past president and current board member of the Bowling Community Foundation. I pursue gardening with a passion and the hobby I have under taken in retirement– glass blowing.

            I congratulate USL on its achievements and wish I might participate in the many centennial celebrations.