Long-time Student Life official Tom Sloane may be best known by students as acollector.Positioned on his desk, bookcase, computer�€everywhere you look in his well-worn, inviting office in Elizabeth Moore Hall�€theres an array of bobble head dolls, an assortment of ball caps, a bulletin board full of lapel pins, and a collection of beanie babies.

And, for the most part, he can recount the name of the student who gave him the item or the circumstance under which he came across it. Thats part of his charm: he gets to know people and remembers their stories, especially those visiting from a foreign land and first-generation college students.

Sloane appreciates the sacrifices parents make to send their kids to college, and the pride they feel when their son or daughter is handed a diploma.My dad was an auto body repairman when he met my mother, Eleanor, who worked in the funeral home. They were hard-working folks who never pressured me about my education but always expected me to do my best; they were the reasons I worked so hard and did as well as I did,he said.

And he hasnt forgotten the others who helped him along the way.As a WVU freshman, I workedat the University Library for Virginia Perry, head of circulation, making 65 cents an hour�€enough to pay for my entire tuition at WVU ($168 a semester), with spending money to spare,he quipped.Now, I have the chance to help young people.

Sloane received his undergraduate degree in English in 1962, and began his first full-time job at WVU in 1968 teaching English. Soon after, the legendary Dean of Women, Betty Boyd, hired him as a resident assistant and the rest, as the story goes, is history. His career in Student Affairs was born.

I discovered that I enjoyed the student part of teaching more than the research part of it, so I decided that teaching students could be done just as well in Student Affairs work as it could by being full-time faculty,he noted. Except for a brief stint at Ohio State University when he earned a PhD in English in the late 1970s, Sloanes entire career has been spent at his alma mater.

Some people leave Morgantown and WVU and then come back years later to live, to work, to visit or to retire. But for me, WVU has always been home,he said.WVU helped shape my life. Teachers inspired me; colleagues mentored me; students and families shared their ups and downs with me; friends supported me. WVU is a very special place to me and I hope, through my work with students, I am making a difference.

Over the past 40 years, he has, indeed, made a difference in studentslives, whether working with them in residence life, international student services, student judicial programs or new student orientation, to name a few.

And, besides Boyd, hes worked alongside friends and mentors like the late Dean of Students Joe Gluck and retired Student Affairs administrators Herman Moses and Gordon Thorn. They were what Sloane describes ascaring individuals with high morals and standardswhose passion was working with students.I can remember sitting in on discipline meetings with Dean Boyd. She would lean into students until they would become almost face to face, chin to chin; she truly cared about them and it was enthralling to see what an impact she could have on students by her demeanor. Students always left her conferences knowing she cared about them. She asked the tough questions�€the �€~whyquestions�€and was able to get them to think about their existence here. She was a powerful figure who I admired very much.

He also learned to keep his sense of humor.

Dean Gluck always held that humor extended our lives, created fewer wrinkles, and took a lot less energy than being stuffy,he said.

In recent years, as WVU s senior associate dean for student life, Sloane has dealt with sad times as well as memorable ones.Student injuries or deaths are always difficult, but I have met the most amazing parents, siblings, and family members during these times. They appreciate knowing that our University cares about their sons and daughters, sisters, and brothers. . .and, while I often have to deliver difficult news, they help me as much as I hope I help them.

Sloane makes hospital visits, attends memorial services and funerals, arranges for posthumous degrees, takes care of paperwork�€and generally makes a difficult situation a little easier for these families, said Vice President for Student Affairs Ken Gray.

Tom Sloane is the main person I look to in an emergency involving our students,Gray said.He is one of the most compassionate individuals I know. No matter how difficult the situation, he has the unique ability to say and do the right thing.

Colleague Kim Mosby agrees.Tom is very intelligent and level-headed�€and, more importantly, extremely compassionate. He has had to help students and parents at the lowest points in their lives, but hes always been caring, comforting, and sympathetic. Parents who lost children years ago still contact Tom from time to time just to talk.

But there are many happy occasions as well. Sloane recently wrapped up a month-long international student recruiting trip to Asia and the Middle East�€Thailand, Taiwan, China, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Bahrain, Oman, and Dubai were among the stops.As I traveled the world recruiting new students, I met up with alumni who may have never returned to campus, but who have really never left either,he said.They are tied to our campus because of our sports teams . . . and have wonderful memories of former teachers and experiences here. Like me, they think of WVU as home. I guess being a WVU alum means you always have a home in Morgantown, no matter how far away you are.

Sloanes influence on students truly extends to the global marketplace, said long-time colleague Ron Justice.Tom has touched so many people, including international students who he continues to stay in touch with and visit in their home countries,Justice said.He is dedicated to all students, but he has a special interest in Japanese students and their culture,Mosby added.His reunions with former students are amazing. He remembers almost all of them and they all remember him very fondly.

Sloane also stays close to students as an adjunct faculty member. He recently included a bequest in his will to establish a scholarship fund for undergraduates in the Department of English. The recipients will be graduates of West Virginia high schools and demonstrate financial need and academic achievement.

I was blessed with many wonderful English teachers�€Beatrice Law, J.P. Brawner, Gordon Pitts�€who opened my mind to new ideas and understanding,he said.Im convinced my experiences here learning language and literature have helped me be a better human being, develop problem-solving skills, and understand more about why and how people behave and interact the way they do. And, I know other West Virginia high school graduates will benefit from the strong education the liberal arts and English offer.

I think whatever we call it, teaching is what we all do, whether we have a faculty title or not. Everyone in Student Affairs is a teacher, or should be, or should think of himself that way. Students come to us to learn lessons in life, and they look to us for the answers. Most of the time there arent answers, at least easy ones.I think we teach by example, by who we are, and students are always watching us for those cues.So we teach as much by what we are as what we know,he added.

Sloane is also faculty advisor to the Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) fraternity, a group he joined at age 50-something so he could understand the Greek system.Ive always been a late bloomer, and in college I had no interest in frats,he said.But around 1990 the FIJIs came to me to ask me to advise them. At any rate, I told them that Id do it if I could understand more about it�€go through pledging, initiation, all that. So I entered the pledge class when I was 50-something.

I really believe fraternities have a great deal to offer young men,he added.If done properly, pledging can provide leadership skills, study skills, and information that will help students mature, grow, develop. The ideals of fraternities are outstanding and, in every way, fit the values of higher education and moral development. Its in practice where these goals sometimes break down; thats why we need to devote all our energies to restoring fraternity life to solid ground.

And, if you think joining a fraternity at 50 iship,check out the music Sloane enjoys�€Journey, Meat Loaf, Erasure, James Blunt, Enya, and Abba are among his current favorites.I like music across the board, old and new. My students do a song interpretation/analysis each semester so I learn about new groups that way.he said.

Another social outlet is hockey, especially taking in a Buffalo Sabres game.I am obsessed by them . . . they are such exciting, young, great players. Hockey is such an international sport that I follow players from Canada to Slovakia to Sweden.

But, in saying that, Tom Sloane always seems to comehometo WVU .