Valley Star

Issue date: 5/21/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Paul Olden SHE'S RELAXED ALREADY - Valley College President Tyree Wieder is retiring June 30. She says she's looking forward to spending time with her family, traveling and not having to wake up at 6:30 a.m. to get ready for work.

In her office in a quiet corner of the Administration Building, Tyree Wieder nibbles the turkey sandwich she has been too busy to eat all day and ponders her looming retirement as president of Valley College.

"Its coming up very fast; when my husband retired three years ago, we had kind of thought about this, and now its here," said Wieder, who retires June 30. "I'm just trying to wrap up some things . . . One of the difficulties with this job is that it never slows down."

Students and faculty at Valley know of her tireless work for the college as president for the past 14 years, but Wider works just as hard as a mom to her daughter, Shavonne.

"My mom has been a full-time mother and college administrator my entire life," Shavonne said. "She made it to every soccer game, to many Girl Scout cookie sales, and even the camp parent's days and still was in all her staff meetings, board meetings and numerous campus student events. She takes such pride in the look of the campus, that's something that she has instilled in me at home as well."

For those who see the 61-year-old Wieder around campus, it may be difficult to imagine her as anyone but a school official. However, she has many interests that lie outside of the college, including reading, music and scrap booking.

"I enjoy cooking, especially holiday cooking. We have several family events at my house every year . . . I go all out and I spend a couple of days preparing and cooking," said Wieder, who loves it when her whole family gathers at her home to eat. "Passover, I like to cook matzo ball soup, brisket . . . New Year's Day, we have ribs and greens and black-eyed peas . . .You have to have greens to have money for the year and you have black-eyed peas for good luck."

The luck of the black-eyed peas rubbed off on Wieder in 1990, when began working at Valley as the vice president of academic affairs. She was named president of the college in April 1994.

Magdalena Lopez, Wieder's executive assistant, says she will miss working for the energetic and dedicated president.

"She's fabulous. She is always available, always friendly, even if you don't have an appointment," Lopez said. "I admire her because she does so much . . . She is fair but assertive, and those are the qualities of a college president."

Wieder grew up in Los Angeles and attended Compton College. She then earned her bachelor's degree in sociology and her master's in educational psychology from Cal State Northridge. She then went on to earn her Ph.D. in higher education from UCLA.

She attributes her career choice to her community college experience, which inspired her to keep working toward her goals.

"I would not have gone to college if not for Compton," she said. "When I finished at CSUN, I knew that I wanted to help people.

She met her husband Les at Moorpark College, were she began working in 1974, as a counselor for the Theatre and Performing Arts Department.

"He was a new hire…Now, we are coming up on our 28th anniversary" she said, pointing to two photos of her husband and their daughter Shavonne.

Along with her husband and daughter, Wieder says she has much planned after her retirement, including several trips during the second half of the year.

"Our family has one main goal - let Tyree relax," Shavonne said. "She's been 'on' for too many years. I think the first thing we are going to do as a family is let her do nothing and love every minute of it."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tyree Speaks from Paul Olden on Vimeo.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools