It’s hard to believe, but on Sunday, it will be one year since I got the terrible news from Karen Matonak that Drew had lost his battle with bile duct cancer. He and I worked together from 2007 until 2018 and I can assure you that the very last thing he’d want would
be for us to mourn. So today, I want to share some of my favorite Drew memories.
Drew’s nickname for me was “Radar” after Radar O’Reilly in M*A*S*H.* I was pretty good at anticipating what he would need so I’d have something ready for him before he asked for it. I also had great hearing (which he didn’t), so many times I’d know what he was going to ask for. I didn’t tell him that until after he retired, which made him roar with laughter.
Drew’s first love was his family — Karen and his daughter, Taylor, were his world. When Taylor decided to attend HVCC, Drew was over the moon. He was thrilled that she was following in his footsteps, as he had started at Butler County Community College (BCCC) in Pennsylvania. Taylor also shared his sense of adventure. One of the pictures he had on his desk was the two of them zip-lining at Hunter Mountain.
Karen was a steady presence at HVCC. She quietly attended every commencement and went to as many events as she could. She also tried to get Drew to take some down time, and sometimes she and I would have to conspire to arrange his schedule so he’d have some freedom to relax. What most people don’t realize is that being the President of HVCC is a 24/7/365 job. Even when he was away from campus, he was always on call. (That still hasn’t changed today.)
HVCC was Drew’s second love, followed by baseball, the Pittsburgh 
Steelers and Michigan State sports. One of his favorite events combined both HVCC and the Steelers when HVCC alum Darnell Stapleton visited the college right after the Steelers won the Super Bowl. Drew was in his glory and had his Steelers’ “terrible towel” in his office for his entire tenure.
On an ordinary Wednesday in September 2009, I took a call that was a first. I walked into Drew’s office and said, “Drew — you’re not going to believe this, but the W
hite House is on the line.” Sure enough, that was the call that started five days of intense preparation that resulted in the visit of President Barack Obama and then-Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden on Sept. 21, 2009. It was one of Drew’s proudest moments knowing that the great work he and his team had been doing at HVCC had received national recognition.
But Drew was happiest when he was with our students. He absolutely loved Springfest and Fallfest. Whether it was going into the dunk tank, 
jousting with Dean Phil White, zooming down a slide, or challenging the students in the Viking Cup Challenge, Drew was game for anything.
He had a special place in his heart for the student athletes, our Student Trustees and the Student Senate leadership. When we honored him at the 2017 Foundation Gala, one of the video tributes was from Grace Harrison, who had been the Student Trustee and the Student 
Senate president of the first all-female Student Senate executive board. After the four of them dressed as superheroes for Halloween, he nicknamed them “Girl Power,” and kept their picture on the wall in his office. In her gala tribute, Grace recounted the April Fool’s Day prank she played on Drew and the one he played on her in return. Drew had a knack for making the students feel comfortable and empowered. He saw the potential in each of them, as his mentor at BCCC, Dick Robinson, had seen in him all those years ago.
I have two favorite pictures of Drew. The first is the day of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Outdoor Athletic Complex. The smile on his face as he leads the student-athletes over to the site perfectly captures his spirit. It’s how I always think of him.
The second is Drew with our current president, Roger Ramsammy, or as I like to call him, Dr. R. Drew came back to visit for the grand opening of the Gene F. Haas Center for Advanced Manufacturing Skills. The genuine friendship and admiration between presidents #6 and #7 was wonderful to see. Drew told me he was confident that he’d left his college in great hands.
This may seem odd, but as I was walking to the parking garage last night, I stopped to pick up a stray piece of paper in the grass, which made me think of Drew. The very first time he and I walked together across the campus, I was surprised that the President of the College kept stopping to pick up litter. But as I came to know him better, that was just the way Drew was. He was proud of this campus but more importantly, he was so proud of the people who work here. It was one of the last things he ever said to me.
Right now in my office, the Christmas cactus Drew gave me several years ago is in glorious bloom. I look at it and think of Drew and it makes me smile. When you think of Drew, I hope it makes you smile, too.
Published: Fri, 05 Nov 2021 12:25:44 +0000 by s.kalkbrenner