Behind the Spotlight Bonnie McCardell

Author: Lindsey Whitton
Features Editor

Women who came of age in the 1970s were often told 'you can do it all.' Attend a newly co-ed top college, assume a leadership career position, pursue a graduate degree, raise at least two wonderful children, marry early and well, fully support the husband's career, entertain effortlessly, have time for friends and meaningful volunteer work and stay healthy on top of it all.

For many women, this proved to be a pipedream. And then there is Bonnie McCardell.

Mrs. McCardell, a self-confessed Southerner who has "never really adjusted to the cold weather," has managed to make the rest of her multi-faceted life look pretty easy. The reality is probably far from that, but Mrs. McCardell, a tiny woman with a strong sense of purpose, is living proof that women can juggle many different roles.

Mrs. McCardell is a former college newspaper editor who challenged her college's administration, a wife who married quite young and followed her husband along an uncertain career path far from family and friends, a devoted mother and family person, an advocate for early childhood education who holds a graduate degree in that field, a leader who helped envision and execute the College's Bicentennial celebration, an ambassador who travels the world for Middlebury, an active volunteer for many local causes, a loyal friend and the organizer of two homes.

Perhaps one of the secrets to her success has been timing. She has devoted different segments of her life to focus on different priorities. She has also faced each new opportunity or challenge with an open mind. Certainly, as a child growing up in Baltimore, Md., she never could have imagined spending so many years in Vermont.

During Mrs. McCardell's first year at Connecticut College, the institution graduated its first co-ed class, so the school was very much in transition. Mrs. McCardell was the editor in chief of her college newspaper, and she admitted to having a few "run-ins" with the president. "It is very hard for a women's college to go co-ed," she commented. "It's turned out really well for the school, but it was a difficult time."

Mrs. McCardell met her future husband the summer after her senior year in high school. They were both working at a camp for physically handicapped children. He had been the business manager, and she had been a counselor.

President McCardell joined the Middlebury faculty in the fall of 1976, as a one-year replacement for a tenured professor on leave. During this period there were virtually no openings for promising new professors at top colleges and universities. Mrs. McCardell graduated a semester early that December after taking additional courses in journalism at Boston University. They were married that month and returned to Middlebury so that President McCardell could teach a Winter Term course.

Both McCardells did their best to adjust to their new Yankee surroundings. They even began learning how to downhill ski but soon switched to cross-country skiing. Mrs. McCardell got a job as a stringer covering Addison County for The Burlington Free Press. "There was great local media at that point," she said. "It was a good way to learn the town of Middlebury and the surrounding area. It's the best thing someone can do when they move to a community."

She eventually left the Free Press, to do work in local public relations, before working as an aide for multi-handicapped children at Mary Hogan Elementary School. It was a relatively new program that integrated children with serious disabilities into mainstream public schools.

Mrs. McCardell, who had always had an interest in working with handicapped children, was facinated with her new job. From 1980 to '81, while her husband was on leave and they were living in Columbia, S.C., she received her master's in preschool special education.

During these years, the History Department continued to find ways to keep President McCardell on a yearly basis. The McCardells continued to assume, however, that they would soon have to move on, probably in a southerly direction.

In 1982, everything changed. President McCardell was granted tenure in the History Department, and their first child, John Malcolm, was born. The family began to establish deep roots in Middlebury. In the fall of 1982, Mrs. McCardell began working part time at a new preschool special education program called Essential Early Education. In 1984, she became the co-director of the Mary Johnson Children's Center. Mary Johnson "serves a really diverse group of children which provided another great way to get to know the community," she said. She kept this position until her husband assumed the presidency of the College.

In 1986, their second son, James, known as Jamie, was born. They bought a house in Cornwall in 1990. They have kept that house for use during some weekends, holidays and the summer months, despite moving their primary residence about four miles down the road to the President's House.

President. McCardell was made acting president in September 1991 and officially granted the presidency in April 1992. His new job "definitely had a major impact on the whole family," she commented. "But I'd say overall it's been positive."

As the College president's wife, the amount of work that Mrs. McCardell has to do "can go in spurts. The College offers a lot of flexibility in what I do." When her husband first became president, she was completely occupied with traveling to College functions and entertaining at home. Later, she took on a very active role in organizing the College's Bicentennial celebration. Now that the Bicentennial is over and both her sons are away at school, she will be able to restructure the content and quantity of her work with the College. She has also maintained an active participation in community volunteer work through the years.

The McCardells usually entertain several times a week, to thank and acknowledge various organizations and individuals associated with the College. Student groups, faculty groups and individual faculty members who have recently won an award, notable guest lecturers and the trustees are only some of the guests that the McCardells host.

The entertaining alone would be overwhelming but "we've got great catering support," Mrs. McCardell acknowledged. "And a wonderful woman, Janice, who helps out in the house. She keeps me sane!"

The McCardells will spend this spring term in Beaufort, S.C. on a well-deserved leave. Mrs. McCardell will spend the time reading, spending time with her two sons and seeing friends.She also expressed continued interest in childcare issues, particularly military childcare.

Living in the fishbowl of Middlebury's 'first family' clearly requires certain attributes. A clear vision, willingness to sometimes juggle far too many balls at once and a dose of Southern hospitality help Bonnie McCardell 'do it all.'