Hey honey, we’re home!
While students sit in class, listening to professors rattle off facts and dates day after day through the semester, it can sometimes be hard to imagine them as anything besides a knowledge base. But behind the facts, figures and statistics, professors are real live people with real lives.
It is no secret that at Utah State University, several professors and faculty members are intertwined together through that link called marriage. Once upon a time they, like many of their students, found themselves balancing homework, classes, work and dating. Some of these connections may be widely known, others may not. Here is a glimpse into the world of just a few couples working and living together in Logan.
Rebecca and Leigh Monhardt
While working on a project for her Ph.D. at Iowa State, Rebecca came into contact with a blond-haired student from Minnesota. Rebecca said their first date was a magical time spent watching “Snow White” with children screaming around them. The proposal, however was perfect.
“It was very formal and it was very well planned,” Rebecca said. “He was nervous and he took it very seriously. Marriage is very important to him.”
They were married and after getting her Ph.D., Rebecca got a job at Utah State. Leigh still needed to write his dissertation before graduating, so he took a job in Dayton, Idaho for three years. After graduating, he took a job in Pennsylvania and commuted back and forth for one year. Rebecca said this was a very “expensive and annoying” arrangement and they were very excited when a job opened up at USU.
The Monhardts both teach in the elementary education department focusing on science education. Students generally take his foundations classes first and then her classes the following semester. This could maybe be viewed as an opportunity to compete, but Rebecca said there is no competition professionally – although in life, that’s a different story.
“Anything that’s not professional and related to work, we love to compete with each other,” Rebecca said. “Maybe we take it to the extreme there because we don’t do it at work.”
The Monhardts enjoy being outdoors and participating activities like hiking, camping and traveling. However, Rebecca said these things have been harder to do recently because they are so busy.
“Work is pretty much the center of our existence at this point,” Rebecca said.
However, the Monhardts lives may change very quickly as a result of a new member to the family. While working as team leaders for the Youthlink Peru program, they became friends of a family with a 14-year-old daughter. Rebecca said that over the past year, this girl’s situation has declined and her parents are supportive of the Monhardts adopting her and bringing her to Logan.
“It was kind of a sudden thing,” Rebecca said of the decision. “[The process] is a little frustrating at times and we’re trying to be patient.”
Even with this life-changing event in their midst, Rebecca said that they consider Logan home and feel very close to their students.
“We like it here a lot,” Rebecca said. “My husband and I both agree that we certainly have the best students in the world. I could never find nicer students.”
However, not everything is perfect in this university world. Rebecca said she feels that because he is male, her husband is perceived as the professor and she is “Mrs. Monhardt.”
“I’m not embarrassed to be Mrs. Monhardt, but I’m Dr. Monhardt and I always have been,” Rebecca said. “Sometimes I think a woman in a university setting has more challenges to overcome with perception.”
Rebecca said she feels it is important for both parties of a couple to be independent from each other and sometimes she is viewed as only part of the couple, rather than an individual at the university. She said her husband does not see this and says that they are equal, but to her it’s a little frustrating.
“Sometimes my projects are called our projects,” Rebecca said. “Just because we’re married doesn’t mean it’s his project as well. It’s important not to live in each other’s shadow.”
Steve and Vicki Allan
But not all professors feel they have run into this problem. While it is obvious that it can occur, Steve Allan said it has not happened to him and his wife, Vicki.
“Sometimes you can be treated as one, where one’s opinions become the other’s opinions,” Steve said. “That has not happened here and we’ve been treated as two individual members of the department.”
The Allans both are professors in the computer science department and have long ties to Logan and USU.
Both Vicki and Steve graduated from USU and met at church in Logan. They were married and shortly after, went to Iowa State for Steve to get his Ph.D. While in Iowa, they had two children. When Steve finished his degree, he took a job in Colorado where Vicki got her Ph.D. While Vicki was earning her degree, the Allan’s added three more children to their family. Steve said it took a lot of time management skills.
“It was certainly a busy time, but it wasn’t a bad time,” Steve said.
After finishing her Ph.D., the Allans began looking for jobs. They narrowed it down to USU and Arizona State. In the end, the family ties won out and they moved to USU.
“We felt [Utah State’s] department would suit us better for what we wanted,” Steve said.
When the Allan’s started working at USU, their youngest was only 2 years old, so they had to arrange schedules to be with the kids. That is not an issue anymore because all of their children have moved out.
Steve said he and Vicki enjoy boating at Bear Lake and doing outdoor activities. But he said it is definitely not unusual for them to talk about work at home.
The university has been very accommodating to couples, Steve said, and it has worked well for his family. The Allans have published together and see each other often throughout the day, but Steve said their research fields have moved apart.
“We are fairly separate in what we do,” Steve said.
Anne and John Elsweiler
But not all professors are so closely tied together in their work. Some professors are married to people in other departments, which creates a very different atmosphere. John and Anne Elsweiler are just one of those couples that both work for USU but still have very different professional lives.
John is the associate director of public services at the Merrill Library. Anne is an instructor of speech pathology. Although their buildings are close together, Anne said they only get together about once a week for coffee.
Anne said they both are at work about the same times during the day and that it is more like a traditional couple, going to work and coming home again. She said they don’t generally talk about work at home and try to leave work at work.
“If there’s something out of the ordinary happening then we talk about it,” Anne said. “But we generally don’t make it a habit to talk about work.”
The Elsweilers met at college through a mutual friend in Kansas. Anne said their first date was very memorable. She said she met his parents and then went to a concert an hour away. However, her dorm had a curfew and the concert got out late. John raced to get Anne home and it was a very quick goodbye.
“I had white knuckles hanging onto the door,” Anne said. “He was driving really fast.”
Because of her tardiness, Anne wasn’t allowed to go out at night for two weeks, but John came to visit her and they really got to know each other then.
After they got married, the Elsweilers moved to Houston where John worked at the University of Houston’s library. Anne said he was “looking for a move” and so the couple came to USU, where John had been offered the job he currently holds.
Anne worked in the Logan City school district and for a preschool program for children with disabilities before taking her current job.
Although their professional lives are on separate tracks, the Elsweilers enjoy hiking, biking, golfing and working in the yard together. Anne said she feels it is important for couples to do many things together.
“Getting out and doing things together can really help a relationship,” Anne said. “Don’t get stuck in a rut.”
Anne said John has been very excited about the new library. She also said Logan probably will be home for a while.
“We like it here,” Anne said. “We’ll be here at least until our bones get old and we can’t move in the snow anymore.”
-bmnelson@cc.usu.edu
The second installment of this series will run on Friday, Sept. 16.
Vicki and Steve Allan met in Logan, both graduated from USU and now both teach in the Computer Science Department on campus. (Jessica Alexander)