Beth Kivel:
CLASS OF 1979
Robert E. Lee High SchoolClass of 1979
Tyler, TX
University of WisconsinClass of 1984
Madison, WI
Beth's Story
I was born and raised in Tyler, Texas. I attended the University of Texas but transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Madison where I received a degree in journalism and women's studies. I then moved to Washington, D.C. where I worked for a few years writing testimonies for congressional hearings and lobbying on Capitol Hill on issues of pay equity and pension reform for women. I then moved to live and work on a Quaker farm in Plymouth, Vermont. Shortly thereafter, I spent about six weeks camping across the United States and ended up in Oakland, California. In 1988, I worked with a group of people (youth and adults) to start a social/recreational program for lesbian/gay/bisexual and transgender young people in San Francisco. The organization, the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center (LYRIC), just celebrated its 21st anniversary. I co-founded this organization to ensure that young people didn't experience the same kind of hatred and violence that Shannon and I experienced when we were at REL. While in San Francisco, I also worked on and received my Master¿s degree in Recreation Administration. I lived there for six years before moving to Athens, Georgia where I was offered an opportunity to complete my doctorate. I entered the program in 1992 and received a doctorate in Education from the University of Georgia in 1996. I teach classes in an area known as recreation, parks and tourism. We train college students to work in city parks and recreation, national parks, the travel and tourism industry and with non-profits like Big Brothers/Big Sisters and summer camps like Camp Shelanu. I got my first teaching job at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls; and then two years later was offered a position at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Three years into that job, I was offered an opportunity to live abroad so I moved to Leeds, England (3 hours or so north of London). I lived there from 2001-2002. I had a great opportunity to take a university job in California (my favorite place to live) and jumped at the chance to move to Sacramento. I am now chair and associate professor of the Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration at California State U...Expand for more
niversity, Sacramento. I chair a statewide scholarship committee that distributes $20,000 a year in scholarships to college students across the California State University System majoring in recreation, parks, tourism and/or therapeutic recreation. I am co-chairing our national research meeting which will be held this fall in Salt Lake City. I am on the board of directors of our national association (Society of Park and Recreation Educators) and I am an associate editor of our oldest journal, the Journal of Leisure Research and guest editing a special issue on leisure and issues of racism (think of the legacy of segregation of public parks in the south, for example). Politically, I'm disgusted with the limitations of a two-party system and would like to see our country adopt a European Model for legislation. I'm also particularly disgusted with the spineless state legislature of california and a governor who has been on a mission to undercut and undermine the Master Plan for higher education in this state, a plan that used to be the model for higher education across the U.S.
I work too much despite the fact that I teach students about the importance of leisure. I love independent and foreign films and would love to some day make a documentary film. . . I like to write, but don't make the time to write the sorts of things that I enjoy. I'm very involved in my local community and I teach 5th graders at one of the local temples -- I teach them about Judaica, which includes Jewish lifecycle events and what encompasses the meaning of Jewish community.
I am partnered with a woman named Sharon and we enjoy doing community and political work together; we like hiking, hanging with my cats and going on trips to some of the many hot springs in northern California.
A few years ago, I bought a house, a 1918 highwater bungalow. . . It's a great old house and I have some great neighbors. . .
so, that's a little bit about my life -- I don't get back to Tyler too often because I have very few family members left there. . . i'm always glad for visitors here so if you find yourself in california, look me up. . . i'm going by my middle name these days. . .
(Beth--the name you knew me by) Dana Kivel
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Photos
