Welcome to the latest edition of the Salem State University Viking Voices podcast.

In this episode we have a very special guest, Cynthia McGurren Salem State College, class of 1983, who recently retired from Salem State after 31 years of exceptional service most recently as Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Executive Director of the Salem State University Foundation, Inc.

Her employment at Salem State has included the roles of director of college relations, acting vice president of institutional advancement and special assistant to the president. In 2004, she was appointed vice president of institutional advancement and executive director of the SSU Foundation.

Under Cynthia’s leadership, Salem State Foundation’s endowment grew from $5 million to $30 million. She personally has raised nearly $26 million in spendable and endowment funds for the university over her 14-year tenure as chief fundraiser.

Cynthia was a key visionary in ensuring the successful completion of our first-ever comprehensive campaign, the 10,000 Reasons Campaign, raising over $26.5 million … 94 percent participation rate of giving from full-time faculty and staff.

Cynthia, as a student, led the creation of and has been a driving force of the Salem State Series which has just announced a 37th annual event. The series has featured writers, journalists, politicians, sport starts, international diplomats, Nobel laureates, and presidents.

Welcome to the latest edition of Salem State University Viking Voices where we highlight many of the great things going on at this exciting institution and among the alumni community.

This episode features our special guest Keith Knight who after graduation from Salem State College in 1990 has gone on to become an award-winning cartoonist whose topical and biographical work has brought national acclaim and numerous awards.

Today Keith has three nationally syndicated comics. He is the author of over a dozen books. His views on race, expressed in his work have led to recognition by the NAACP as a 2015 History Maker. CNN placed Keith along with other notable voices including Joseph Lowery, civil rights activist, and Henry Louis Gates, scholar, writer, cultural critic to give America an Equality Report Card.

Welcome to the latest edition of Salem State University Viking Voices where we highlight many of the great things going on at this exciting institution and among the alumni community.

This episode features our special guest Keith Knight who after graduation from Salem State College in 1990 has gone on to become an award-winning cartoonist whose topical and biographical work has brought national acclaim and numerous awards.

Today Keith has three nationally syndicated comics. He is the author of over a dozen books. His views on race, expressed in his work have led to recognition by the NAACP as a 2015 History Maker. CNN placed Keith along with other notable voices including Joseph Lowery, civil rights activist, and Henry Louis Gates, scholar, writer, cultural critic to give America an Equality Report Card.

This episode features our special guest is Susan Edwards who since 1996 has been creating positive change and has become a touchstone to generations of Salem State students, faculty, staff and alumni. Today as Chief Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, Ms. Edwards is caretaker of a vast trove of the University’s most prized intellectual collections.

Welcome to the latest edition of Salem State University Viking Voices where we highlight many of the great things going on at this exciting institution and among the alumni community.

This special edition features an event recorded live Tuesday December 4, 2018 at the Petrowski Room, Marsh Hall.

Jon Von Tetzchner, Founder of Opera Software and Vivaldi Technologies is interviewed by Professor Rob Brown of the Salem State media and communications department.

Julie Whitlow, Ph.D. Assistant Provost for the Global Engagement Center and for International Education performs the introduction.

Stick around after the proceedings to learn how you can be a part of the many exciting things going on today at Salem State and be a force in the expansion and continuation of the mission of the university.

Welcome to the latest edition of Salem State University Viking Voices where we highlight many of the great things going on at this exciting institution and among the alumni community.

This special edition features an event recorded live Tuesday December 4, 2018 at the Petrowski Room, Marsh Hall.

Jon Von Tetzchner, Founder of Opera Software and Vivaldi Technologies is interviewed by Professor Rob Brown of the Salem State media and communications department.

Julie Whitlow, Ph.D. Assistant Provost for the Global Engagement Center and for International Education performs the introduction.

Stick around after the proceedings to learn how you can be a part of the many exciting things going on today at Salem State and be a force in the expansion and continuation of the mission of the university.

Welcome to the latest edition of Salem State University Viking Voices where we highlight a sampling of the many great things going on at this exciting institution and among the alumni community.

Our special guest of this episode is Helen Gifford, a 1970 graduate of Salem State with a Bachelor of Arts in English.

Professionally, Helen Gifford (formerly Helen Auchterlonie) has taken her journalism skills honed over many years to create a long career at the Salem News.

It was the penultimate year of a seminal decade in American history. In the previous period, three beacons of hope had been gunned down. A generation of young Americas had been shattered by the Viet Nam War. Unrest that still echoes across today’s culture and politics roiled the country and world.

The Salem State community was not immune. Among notable incidents on campus that year, one would gain national attention and played a role in the resignation of leader who today is an iconic name on campus. Our guest, Helen Gifford was a participant and first-hand witness.

This episode features our special guest the 14th president of Salem State University, John D. Keenan.

Previously, President Keenan served as general counsel and vice president for administration at Salem State University. He was responsible for the university’s day-to-day operations in support of its academic mission, overseeing human resources and equal opportunity, capital planning and facilities, information technology, risk and asset management, and the university police.

Prior to becoming president of the university, Keenan has had a distinguished career in public service that has included representing the Seventh Essex District in the Massachusetts State Legislature from 2005 to 2014. Even then a strong advocate for Salem State, President Keenan was a leading proponent of gaining university status. He also leveraged his expertise to help fund the recently complete the Sophia Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts.

A champion of many social causes, President Keenan voted to preserve marriage equality, address schoolyard bullying, and protect transgendered employees in the work place. He is a resident of Salem along with his wife, Kara McLaughlin, and their two children, Aidan and Erin.

In this episode of Salem State University Viking Voices our guest is Mark Amirault, a 1984 graduate of Salem State with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Mark is a principal at Dart World Incorporated. Founded in 1977 (originally Darts & Parts), Dart World quickly became “the place for players to shop, with people traveling as far as 100 miles away.” Today, “Dart World sells its product domestically and internationally and participates in major sporting goods trade shows.”

The latest edition of the Salem State University, Viking Voices Podcast presents audio recorded during the University’s third annual, 2018 First Year Day of Service: Moving Forward, Giving Back.