Upward & Onward.

I've worked for and knew many different people who have held the title "Dean" in my life. None of them capture the essence quite like Dean Dougherty. 

When I think of Cindy Dougherty, I think of her as my Dean. 

I can’t remember meeting her. I just feel as though she’s been apart of my life for majority of it. If I had to think of an earliest memory of her, it would probably have been her mowing her front yard barefoot and in a tube top. Dean and her husband lived on the corner of our street. I knew her as a gardener, a mower, and an avid decorator for holidays long before she became my Dean of Students. 

She was innovative.

She was the most captivating story teller. 

She wore cat eye glasses and gaudy high heels just simply because it was a Tuesday.

And most importantly, she encouraged me. Encouraged me to dream, to laugh at myself when I made mistakes, and love people for who they are. 

She was someone I looked up to, and someone who suggested that I pursue higher ed as a full time career. I remember one of our countless meetings like it was yesterday. I was in grad school and thinking about what I would do post-graduation. I told her I wished I had just gone to pharmacy school, like everyone else. She laughed and said “Taylor Boyd! You don’t want to be a pharmacist!” She told me that higher education was in my blood. She said it was a calling, and something you couldn’t deny. And she said she would support me wherever I chose to make a career. 

It was the truth. She was my best letter of recommendation. She sent me the best “first day of school” message when I began teaching.  I called her when I needed advice. And she even called me a few times asking questions about what I would do in certain situations. When I was working with one of my students who had been sexually assaulted, I called her for support because I trusted her and knew that she would help me. She had my direct line, and I had hers. 

I’m not quite sure who I’ll list as my reference later down the road. I’ve yet to come across someone like Dean. She knew me as a worker. She knew me as a neighbor. She knew me as a student. She knew me as a committee member. And, she knew me as a friend. 

What I’ll miss the most is that she was always available. She made time to listen to you, and she made sure you were her main focus while you were there. She gave feedback— honest, but encouraging. She brought students together on a shared commonality of being a bulldog. Despite our different hometowns, races, genders, beliefs... she was able to unite us all as a family, for the sake of our beloved SWOSU. 

I hope that I work with students the way she did. I want them to think of me, way beyond college, and think “She helped me” because that’s exactly what I think of her. I want to be as accessible to my students as she was to us. 

I’m incredibly thankful for the time I had with Cindy and her incredible mentorship. 

She was my Dean, in good times and bad. And she always had chocolate.

Upward and onward, Dean Dougherty.


I found an email Cindy sent me before my first day of teaching class. It is a sweet memory and piece of advice from a lifelong educator that I will cherish forever.