When Sandy Ritter officially retired as trustee for Oakland Community College on Jan.1 after almost 37 years of service, she had the honor of being the longest serving board member in the history of the college.
Ritter’s first run for OCC trustee was in 1978. She won. That was six terms ago, almost four decades.
‘When I was sworn in, I was holding my 5-month-old son in my arms, and I looked down and thought, ‘when I finish this term, you will be 6,’? she remembers.
Fellow Clarkston resident and longtime OCC faculty member Tom Stone said he finds the span of Ritter’s term fascinating.
‘She ran for and won a seat on the board as mother with a newborn, and left office as a grandmother. That’s amazing, and really says a lot about the amount of respect and appreciation she earned to be continuously returned to the board all those years,? he said. ‘She was always committed to doing a great job. She has always been generous and unassuming with her leadership and the way she invested herself in OCC.?
Ritter originally wanted to be a pharmacist when she enrolled at the University of Michigan. Instead she chose a career as an educator, a path it seems she was destined for.
During her career, she testified before U.S. Congress and received numerous awards for her work.
Her first teaching job was in 1968 working with third graders in Detroit. After that first job, she stayed in the city, but taught middle school for the next 15 years.
Those 18 years spent in Detroit earned her a wealth of knowledge in education.
When asked if it was tough working in the city, Ritter explains, ‘it was a great experience. There were problems then, but the problems today are much different.?
Problems today are more complex, she admits.
‘We know a lot more now than we did then about how kids learn, and students nowadays are bombarded with a lot more stuff to learn.?
Technology is one example.
‘I love technology, but the one downfall is kids are learning things today, we would not have taught them,? she said.
Many schools still teach handwriting, which is good, but Ritter worries future generations may lack socialization skills like the art of having a conversation.
‘Schools still do a good job teaching kids how to communicate,? she assures.
After leaving the middle school, Ritter accepted a job as administrative assistant to Congressman Bob Carr.
That job opened doors to her future career and showed her a new world.
‘Working in that capacity is much different than working in the classroom,? she admits. ‘It opened my mind, and I realized there was so much more to education than you see when you are working in the classroom.?
She witnessed needs of Michigan residents on a wider scale, and was surprised at the widespread pockets of poverty across the state.
Ritter’s job was to identify needs of the people, and take that information to lawmakers? staff so problems were addressed.
‘I helped identify needs and took those needs to Carr and staff in Washington.?
She worked with coworkers, and rallied support in favor of policies created to address needs they helped identify.
‘I worked as part of a wonderful team,? she said. ‘When you are working on those types of issues, no one does anything alone. We all worked together towards one common goal.”
Ritter spent four years in the position.
‘My major role on that team was listening, and communicating with staff,? she said. ‘And that is what I did, I listened and communicated.?
While working with Carr, Ritter still worked with educators, but from a much different prospective than working as a teacher in the classroom.”
Ritter later returned to serve in education and accepted a job at the Michigan Department of Education as the coordinator in Southeast Michigan in the Adult Literacy Initiative.
That initiative was started after a deadly fertilizer spill in Michigan.
Investigators discovered the accident was caused because workers could not read information on the fertilizer bags.
‘That accident turned lot of attention towards literacy and caused a lot of changes. The state started looking into illiteracy rates,? she said.
She helped build literacy programs across Michigan, including the Oakland County Literacy Initiative, a program that still remains.
‘My job was to develop a model for the program and help train people to develop similar models and literacy councils across Michigan.?
Ritter became familiar with 29 community colleges, including OCC, while working as a liaison between the state and colleges to promote literacy.
‘It was phenomenal to know OCC supported literacy programs,? she said.
Her work throughout her life earned her a great deal of respect from others in education.
John Duffy, a trustee at Elgin Community College in Illinois, met Ritter in 32 years ago during an ACCT Central Region Nominating Committee when they waited for candidates to interview for a director position.
No candidates ever came to the interview, so Duffy nominated Ritter for the seat.
Both served five years together on the AACT Board of Directors and continued to be annually appointed to the ACCT-AACC Joint Commission on Federal Relations boards.
Duffy said Ritter is one of the most remarkable people he has ever known, and he admires her calm and deliberate manner, and how she never swayed from important issues.
He added that she examined issues deeply, and worked tirelessly as a team-player to reshape issues.
‘She listened to everyone’s point of view and challenged them when they needed to be challenged,? he said.
Even when tensions mounted during deliberations, Ritter maintained an exceptional and spontaneous sense of humor that lightened moods, a spirit that made working with her a joy.
Stone agrees.
‘She is very personable and a joy to know as a person,? he said.
Ritter’s husband, Dennis, also served in several government roles including Waterford Township supervisor and city manager of Clarkston.
He said his wife is very humble about her achievements ? ‘there are a lot of good deeds and accomplishments she’ll never tell you.?
Ritter will no longer serve on the OCC board, but she will continue working part-time supervising student teachers at University of Michigan, a job role in which she coaches students to transition into teachers.
Her off- time will be spent with family, completing various projects and browsing estate sales.
Although her time serving at OCC is now a memory, being part of a college so focused on students is an experience she will remain proud of forever.
‘What an education,? she smiled. ‘I learned so much from the faculty, the staff, the community and the students.?
She will miss graduation most, a day when OCC students from all walks of life gathered for commencement.
‘I will miss all the students, from the kids graduating college while they are still in high school to elderly students, crossing the stage to claim their diploma,? she said. ‘They all shared one common dream, and I will miss shaking their hands, and seeing them as they achieve that dream.?