TCNJ

46 The College of New Jersey Magazine Remembrances James Florio '62 Former Governor of New Jersey For James Florio, the years at Trenton State College shaped and clarified the path he took in life. When he arrived at TSC in September 1958, he was a high school dropout who had received his GED while serving in the Navy. Once he completed his service, he had two choices: apply to the New York Police Department or go to Trenton State. His choice to go to college had a remarkable effect on him. By Governor Florio's own words years later in his autobiography, "One of my English professors, Hugh Ford, awakened in me an understanding of what education, especially higher education, was all about — how to look into books, how to read more deeply into what they really meant." Florio became involved in student politics; and he ran for and won student body president his junior year. Years later, as governor, one of the signature lines in his speeches became "Education is just another word for opportunity." He lived the reality of that at TSC. I was fortunate to work for Governor Florio during his time at the State House. What had previously been academic exercises for me as a political science major were suddenly very real situations. I saw how the state was governed, how budgets were made and enacted, and how work that the government was doing was communicated to the voters of the state. This was a new kind of education for me altogether — or, as Governor Florio referred to it, "a graduate course in real world politics and governance." Jim Florio set an example that I could learn from and he was a political leader that I was proud to know. — Brendan McKeon '89 Richard McCorkle Professor of health and exercise science emeritus and cross country coach I met Coach McCorkle in the fall of 1989 at the start of the cross country season. He was a soft- spoken man with an uncanny calmness. He always gave a word or two of encouragement, and when he needed to tell you something you may not have wanted to hear, he said it with a great deal of compassion. No one ever talked back to Coach because we respected him so much. And he accepted us as a team despite the many shenanigans we routinely engaged in, including dogpiling the freshmen and playing King of the Hill. Coach was not a fan of either and often warned that our roughhousing could result in injury and ruin an entire season. Once, after an excessive game of King of the Hill, Coach pulled aside an upperclassman for a few words, reviewing expectations and asking him to be a better leader. That talk resulted in a noticeable positive shift in team behavior moving forward. His impact remains, even today, as I tell my own children when I expect more of them in hopes that they might reflect on their actions, as we did back then, and choose to become better people. — Glenn Fuchs '93 april 21–22 alumniweekend.tcnj.edu 2023 Class notes and Family Album photos are available only in the print edition. To submit your news and photos, visit alumni.tcnj.edu or write us at alumni@tcnj.edu.

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