Effective the end of June 2015, Bernadette Weinberg and Beilei Zhang will retire as staff members of the UCSB Department of Geography. A formal farewell for our dynamic duo was held on the first floor of Ellison Hall on the afternoon of June 3, in the form of an open house retirement celebration and a presentation of plaques and gifts. To quote some wag’s farewell note to them, “Now who is going to do all the work around here?”
Bernadette has 20 years of service at UCSB, during which she has served as Geography’s Academic Personnel and Space Management Analyst since November 2002, and Beilei has been with the Geography Department for 25 years, acting as our Contract and Grants Manager. Our Chair, Dan Montello, emceed the presentation on what he termed “a bittersweet occasion” with a masterful mix of solemnity and humor. He asked Bernadette if it was true that she had once been an Army sergeant, noting that her encyclopedic knowledge of university policy was intimidating at times (Bernadette admitted to once being a Navy Lieutenant), and he ruefully recalled the first time he went to Beilei’s office with a grant proposal and felt like Alice (in Wonderland) when Beilei asked, “And who are you?”
The celebration was well-attended, the food was excellent, and the centerpiece cake sported the tongue-in-cheek decorative comment, “UCSB Quitters.” Gifts to Bernadette and Beilei included a token financial donation, engraved plaques that incorporated hand-blown paperweights, and personal testimonies. Regarding the latter, Bernadette’s took the form of a memory key carousel festooned with hand-written cards from well-wishers, and Beilei’s took the form of a memory book, again incorporating hand-written comments from well-wishers.
Bernadette sent the following email to everyone at Geography the next day: “I am still filled with joy from yesterday’s retirement reception for Beilei and me. First of all, I want to thank you all for your contributions to our retirement gifts. Your generosity is overwhelming and very much appreciated. Secondly, I will treasure all the kind words that each of you expressed on my ‘key’ cards (now I know where my missing key rings went!). Each and every one of your comments touched my heart with your acknowledgements and appreciation. And lastly, but certainly not last in my thoughts, I want to thank the staff for the coordination of our retirement event. I want you to know that every detail was noticed, and I appreciate your joint efforts. I will miss you all and cherish your friendships.
Beilei echoed Bernadette by saying, “Dear all, I totally agree with Bernadette. I was having a hard time falling asleep last night thinking about each one of you and the happiest time of my life as part of Geography. Leaving my 2nd home and saying goodbye is a lot harder than I prepared myself for. I have not gotten the courage to read the notebook yet, for fear I would be too emotional. I will allow myself to read one page each day and repeat each page for the rest of my life. Thank you all so very much for the generous gifts! Many thanks to my good ol’ colleagues for their thoughtful planning and execution of the parting party! I shall remember you all in my heart forever.
And we will all remember Bernadette and Beilei. As their engraved plaques say, “Many thanks for your amazing creativity and service” (Bernadette) and “In gratitude for your excellent leadership and service” (Beilei). Amen.
Editor’s note: Photos of the celebration can be seen on our Event Photos page.
