Bette Brennan stopped short in the middle of writing an email to clear time to tell us about her years in Brandeis offices, as an English teacher, and as a glowing mother and grandmother. Bette Brennan
Role at Brandeis:
Assistant to the Dean of Student Life
Time at Brandeis: 13 years

justFeatures: Where have you worked in your 13 years at Brandeis?
BB: I began my career in Residence Life and worked there for eight years. I was the keeper of the keys; any student who lost keys came to me. I've been in Rick [Sawyer's] office for five years.

JF: What has changed the most at Brandeis?
BB: We have more residence areas, fabulous new rooms ... this glorious building that I'm in.
JF: Have the students changed?
BB: The students have not changed. They're as great as they ever were. That's why I'm still here.

JF: In what ways do you interact with students?
BB: For judicial issues, with the senior speaker and with prizes and awards. I do special work with Dean [Lori] Tenser, Dean [Nathaniel] Mays and Dean Sawyer.

JF: What is the best part of your job?
BB: The student contact, definitely. I used to teach high school English. Now I get the student contact without having to make lesson plans or grade term papers.

JF: What's the craziest story about someone losing his or her keys?
BB: One time a guy showed up in a bathrobe-a female, pink bathrobe-and bunny slippers. Another time someone came dripping wet in a towel.

JF: What do you like to do outside your time at Brandeis?
BB: I have two beautiful granddaughters; they occupy my weekends. One is 5 and the other is almost 2-Kathryn and Grace.

I love to garden also ... My favorite type of flower is one that I don't plant: the wild violet.
I also like bird watching and feeding birds. I like to cook ... any type of food, though mostly Italian, since that's what I am.

JF: If you could work in any job-at Brandeis or at all-what would it be?
BB: I'd be a grounds person on campus ... I love being outdoors and growing things.
JF: You said you used to teach English. Did you have a favorite book, author or genre to teach?
BB: Robert Frost poetry. Once I had the good fortune of hearing him speak at Williams College. He spoke about New England and read the poem "Birches." [Spells word to clarify]. Pardon my Western Massachusetts accent; I'm from there.

JF: Do you think college students are different now from when you were college age?
BB: Certainly. College students now are more serious. It's more stressful now and more difficult to get a job. When I graduated, people contacted me to teach at their schools.
JF: Do you have a favorite type of music?
BB: No, not really. My daughter is a musician; I like listening to her.

JF: What type of music does she sing?
BB: I don't know what it's called. Modern, maybe? Not rock, not country. Like Celine Dion, that kind of stuff. She sings for a band called Mirage. She also sings the national anthem at sports games at the Fleet Center. I'm a nervous wreck when I watch her perform live.

JF: Do your granddaughters like hearing their mom sing?
BB: Yes. [My daughter] can imitate a lot of voices, and sometimes when the kids hear the radio, they think it's her. When they see her on TV, their eyes go wide open. The 2-year-old doesn't really understand. Sometimes they watch her on TV while she's sitting there with them and they sing together, even the 2-year-old.

I do have a son, too. He does visual display work with Ralph Lauren in Manhattan.

JF: Is there anything else you want Brandeis students to know about you?
BB: I like the informality, with students always dropping by. Please continue to do so. I think of how I felt when my kids were in college, and how they might have wanted an adult to talk to. Some students keep up with me for all four years; I really hate to see them go, but then someone always follows right behind them in their footsteps.