Distinguished:
Zeno Van Erdewyk
Taken from Alumni News Fall 2002 (9)
Zeno
Van Erdewyk grew up on the eastern plains of South Dakota. His first eight
years of formal education were spent in a one-room schoolhouse about a
mile from his family's home. He attended high school in Brandt, South
Dakota, where there were twenty-six students in grades nine through twelve,
including ten in Zeno's graduating class.
His parents always said that Zeno would attend college some day. It was a part of his culture growing up. One of his high school teachers, Mr. Robert Backer, not only helped him commit to the idea of going on to college, he helped him decided what field to pursue as well. Mr. Backer encouraged his young pupil to go into something "where they will pay you for talking"; and Zeno's career path was set.
In 1955, there was no men's dorm at GBSTC, so male students were given a list of townspeople who could provide "approved housing". Men could eat their meals served family style, in the campus dining room located in the basement of East Hall. East Hall at that time served as a dormitory for the young ladies on the campus. The men's dormitory, Lowry Hall, was built in 1958. Zeno recalls dressing for dinner and says, "We didn't dare come in after the Dean of Women had taken her seat…we quickly learned which table to sit at so we could get seconds…some girls ate less than others, and that meant more food for us."
Zeno graduated from General Beadle in 1959 and began teaching in Trent, South Dakota. In 1960, he married Carol Toft and together they had four children. By 1967, Zeno had completed his master's degree from South Dakota State and earned an Ed.D from the University of North Dakota. Lorence Flaum hired him in 1967 to return to his alma mater and teach psychology, and Zeno has been here ever since.
A unique experience presented itself in 1972 when Zeno's proposal for a student teaching program at the American School in London was accepted. The Van Erdewyk's spent a year living in London, where Zeno oversaw student teachers from Dakota State College, South Dakota State University, and Northern State College. Students from these schools would sign up to do their practice teaching at private schools in London, with Zeno as their resident supervisor. He set up the same type of program with the Caribbean Consolidated School in Puerto Rico, which accepted its first student teacher in 1992. Zeno returned to London and to Europe many times over the ensuing years, as the director of student tours for Dakota State. Over 275 people have gone to Europe on these tours, with participants ranging in age from 18 to 81.
Dakota State University • All rights Reserved
Completed by Spring 2004 Class of English 401
Last updated Spring 2004