Press Releases

May 14, 1999
Student is First to Join College, Last in Millennium to Earn a Diploma... 36 Years Later

After Enrolling in 1963, Fred Weidig of Englewood, CO, Graduates With Class of '99

Contact:
Jane Finalborgo
Joe Dionisio
(516) 287 8313
Fax: (516) 283 4081

Southampton, NY -- In fall 1963, Fred Weidig enrolled in the inaugural class at Southampton College-- Long Island University's new campus on the East End of Long Island. Like his classmates who lived through the era of Woodstock, Vietnam and the Beatles, he expected to earn a diploma in four years.

This Sunday, May 23-- 36 years after his freshman semester-- he will finally receive his degree. As fate would have it, he joins the last class to graduate before the new millennium.

"I always wanted to finish my degree, but I just put my focus on the back burner," said Weidig, a 54-year-old father of three. "Now I'll be the only graduating student from the first Southampton College class and from the last one of the millennium. I just wonder if I should get two class rings."

Weidig is not the only recent college graduate in his family. On May 16, just one week before he accepts his diploma at Southampton College, he will be at Merrimack College to watch his son graduate. Fred Weidig III, who finished with a 4.0 average, already is working at Price Waterhouse in Boston.

It wasn't for lack of effort or intelligence that he will earn a B.A. in Liberal Studies just before the start of the new millennium. After attending Southampton College from 1963 (the year the College was founded) to Spring 1967-- just 16 credits short of a degree in Business-- he decided to work in his family's industrial gas business in his native Boston, then operated his own video store in New Hampshire for 10 years.

Six years ago, he moved to his current home in Englewood, CO, where he has worked for a satellite TV company. Recently, he found the time and the wherewithal to re-visit his dream of a higher education. Working from his home, he was re-admitted to Southampton College in Spring 1998, and began what is known as "long-distance learning." He won't earn any points for quickness, but should for perseverance.

Guiding Weidig through his long-distance education was Vicky Mulvey, Director of Academic Advising. "It felt like we needed a million phone calls to work out the logistics, but Fred was dedicated to finishing his tutorials and eventually fulfilled all our academic requirements," said Mulvey. "I guess you'd say he was on the 36-year plan."

This non-traditional student credits Mulvey and the faculty who helped him achieve his goal. "Vicky was just wonderful and couldn't do enough," said Weidig. "She tracked down professors for me and did all the legwork. She's the main thread in this story. The professors I worked with-- such as Charles Matz, John Reilly and Herb Sherman-- were always available, so it all worked out well."

Weidig has not set foot at Southampton College since 1967, so he will see many changes on campus, such as: Chancellors Hall, a $10 million academic center that opened in 1998; the newly opened Technology Center, which brings Hollywood-style computer animation facilities to the College; even the 29-year-old gymnasium, built in the late 1960s, will be new to him.

"We're kind of making it a whirlwind tour back to the East End of Long Island," said Weidig, who lives in Englewood with Paula Zayac, and has two other children, Lisa and Eden, both of New Hampshire.

Weidig has many lasting memories of his college days: as a senior, renting a house for $50 a month in North Sea... going to a fraternity party at Canoe Place Inn in Hampton Bays to see a little-known group called the Young Rascals... working at Dads & Lads, a men's store in Southampton, where he met Truman Capote, whose novel In Cold Blood was newly published.. and driving past lots of strawberry and potato farms in the area. "I hear they're all wineries now," said Weidig. "I'm looking forward to visiting them for a tour."

Weidig first heard of Southampton College while attending Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pa. He and Don Getz, a classmate at the academy, both liked what they heard about the newly-born branch of Long Island University and soon enrolled. For the past 31 years, Getz (who graduated in 1968) has been at the College's Marine Science Center located on Shinnecock Bay, where he serves as captain of the research vessel, The Paumanok.

When Weidig returns to the College, he will be on hand to see Jules Feiffer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist for The New Yorker, deliver the address at his graduation ceremony. At Southampton College's 36th annual commencement, Long Island University President Dr. David Steinberg will confer degrees upon 290 undergraduates and 42 graduate students.

Weidig is more than proud to be one of the 290. As for those who have abandoned their dream of pursuing higher education, he offers some advice.

"Staying focused is the key," said Weidig. "That's the message people can take out of this. It's been quite a quest for me, but it can be done."

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