Dr. Christa Dobbs with Dr. Don Williams

Don Williams: I believe a university needs to pay close attention to the history,
particularly of those people who played significant roles in the academic side of the campus.
In 1967, we started the move toward a senior level status.
And this teacher that we're going to talk to today arrived that year.
and she helped make that transition from junior college to senior and she did far more than that.
She's been a blessing to the university and has been a professional friend of mine for a number of years.
I want to introduce her by reading from the 1986 catalog.
This is a description of Dr. Krista Dobbs.
In the catalog, she is described as a model of personal excellence for all students at LCC.
She has been the chairman of the business department since 1967.
She completed her doctoral work at Texas Tech.
She was recognized as an FWMAX distinguished teacher.
She brings experience from her work with private businesses and public accounting firms.
She is a past president of the Lubbock area chapter of the National Association of Accountants.
Under her leadership, the business department has become the largest academic department at LCC
and has an excellent reputation among the local and regional businesses.
So, Krista, I felt like that pretty well summarizes you.
Within 10 years, you had established a program that was at the top at our university,
and you continue to do that and to maintain that rank and excellence through your retirement.
And today, we're actually in a building named in your honor,
which is a very fitting recognition of such a great academic leader.
Christa Dobbs: Thank you.
Don Williams: So tell me, Krista, what brought you to LCC?
Christa Dobbs: The reason I came to LCU was that I actually was offered the job.
I was taking graduate courses at Texas Tech, and there were several of the faculty members that were also attending the same classes that I was attending.
And one day, Dr. Norman Keener stopped me after the class that day
and asked me if I would be interested in teaching at LCC.
And it took me by surprise, but it was a pleasant invitation,
and I had heard a lot about LCC,
And I thought I might as well look over it and see if this would be an ideal thing for me to do.
At the time, I was a high school teacher in business at Rankin, Texas.
And I felt like this would be a step up in education if I did accept the job.
So I came out to LCC and looked it over.
And I asked Dr. Keener, I says,
is there anything about me that you would like to know?
And he said, no, I already know everything I need to know.
And so he surprised me that I didn't know.
But I did accept the job.
And I called the board chairman in Rankin and told him that I had decided to change jobs.
And he congratulated me on the decision.
So I immediately started getting ready.
And I did start the fall of 1967 as a result of that.
Don Williams: So, Krista, when you came, where were you officing?
Christa Dobbs: Oh, that was a jewel.
Everyone would really think that they would like to have the privilege that I did
because there was the room where we had typing.
And in the back of that room, there was a window all the way across
that divided that classroom from a small office back there.
So that's where it was.
And at one time, we had four faculty members in that room,
and that was their office that we had.
But we could also keep an eye on the students for sure.
Don Williams: Because you had a large plate glass window there, right?
And that was on the first floor of the ad building on the west wing, right?
Christa Dobbs: That's right on the south side of the West Wing.
And so we, I guess we didn't know any better
because we hadn't had another office area offered to us.
But later we moved all the way upstairs in the administration building.
So we had an office all by ourself, each one of us.
So that was a big move that we made.
Don Williams: So you had a good advancement in the office area.
Now you had Anne Deloach was teaching the...
Christa Dobbs: Business communications.
Don Williams: Okay, and then Bonnie Jackson?
Christa Dobbs: She taught the skills classes.
Don Williams: Ah, okay, and then you had Pat Maddox?
Christa Dobbs: Economics.
Don Williams: And you actually succeeded in bringing over Dr. Rouse from Tech for a time, didn't you?
Christa Dobbs: That was very fortunate.
He was teaching at Texas Tech, and he agreed to just come over and volunteer his services.
And the students really honored him because they thought that he was a very knowledgeable person.
and he enjoyed the students in turn,
and we were very, very fortunate to have his expertise.
Don Williams: And that helped us bridge the junior college curriculum
into the senior level.
That's correct.
Well, I'm thinking, basically, when you came,
what all were you teaching?
Christa Dobbs: Just about anything that needed to be taught
that I couldn't find anyone to teach.
I taught typing, shorthand, business machines,
later marketing and word processing.
Don Williams: Now, you taught 10 key at one time, didn't you?
Or was that Ann?
Christa Dobbs: Yes, I did.
That was the business machine.
Don Williams: Because I remember the complicated look of those machines
when I would come by in the hall.
And you were such a whiz-bang on that.
Just unbelievable.
Christa Dobbs: Well, there were so many times that it came time to start classes
and we didn't have a teacher.
And so, you know, I took it on.
So I never knew how many I was going to be teaching.
Don Williams: Well, as a chair, you really provided leadership that you taught what was necessary, and your average load would be 16 hours plus, right, during the semester?
I think that's interesting to remind folks that there was a dedication on the part of the faculty to be sure that the programs were moving smoothly and we were taking care of the students.
And we taught, you taught whatever number of hours was necessary to be sure that semester was covered.
Now, when you were teaching, you were chair, which meant you were also doing most of the advising of the students.
That's right.
Setting the schedules.
Assigning rooms, was that a major task?
Christa Dobbs: For the faculty?
Don Williams: Right.
Christa Dobbs: We didn't have much choice about that.
It was a given that there was just maybe one room available.
And so one would take this one and someone else would take another one.
Don Williams: But you were primarily up on the second floor, right?
Christa Dobbs: All together.
Don Williams: Yeah.
Okay.
When you look at those classes, I know that you, for instance, did sponsor.
Not only were you the chair, but you were a sponsor for a social club, ladies?
Christa Dobbs: Yes, Patty Vickers and I were the sponsors of Theta Row.
And I had never even heard of Master Follies when I came in.
And I was supposed to be a sponsor, and I didn't know what I was in for at that time, you know.
But I guess we made it through.
Don Williams: Well, you did a good job on that.
Speaking of Master Follies, you really helped out on the editorial committee for Master Follies
when we used to have to watch and see the preview of the show,
whether their costumes were appropriate and what actions they were taking.
I appreciated you very much during that time.
And in fact, when you weren't there, I was always in a bind.
Let's just put it that way.
Thank you. Well you also became known for your Christmas party so tell us a little
about that as you brought the kids over. Well we announced in every one of the
Christa Dobbs: business classes that we were having a Christmas party at my house and they
were all they didn't have to dress up or anything and just come and visit and
have a real good time and we had an interesting thing to happen at that time we had just tons of
punch and cookies and things like that and they were visiting and at that time we had several
students from Kenya and and so one of the boys that was on the track team that and he was in a
business class, he came over to the house, and so he saw all of those cookies, and he got around on
the opposite side of the table so he could reach them a little bit better, and he ate several, and
then all of a sudden he said, well, he was going to leave, and I said, well, thank you for coming,
and about 15 minutes later, the doorbell rang, and I went to the door, and there he was,
And he had gone back to the dorm and he gathered up all of his friends at the dorm and brought them back over to the party so they could have some cookies like he did.
I guess, really, it's the only time that the kids had had homemade cookies at that time.
Don Williams: Well, and so you took another step forward, not only a great advisor, but also a cookie maker.
So you were so multi-talented.
And since we're talking multi-talented, you and Dr. Mason, I recall, did a chapel skit concerning registration for the fall or spring registration when we had the punch cards.
Christa Dobbs: Uh-huh.
Don Williams: Now, did you write that or did Dr. Mason?
Christa Dobbs: We got together and decided all of the things that we required the students to do at the time that they enrolled and gave them all the rules that we went by and I guess dress code and everything, you know, and so we fixed the skid up with those and we thought it was very humorous for us to when we go over it.
Don Williams: Because we had some interesting rules on dress code.
What do you think would happen if we did that skid in chapel today?
Would they be shocked?
Christa Dobbs: I don't think they would even know what we were talking about.
Don Williams: So as we go through, I want to remind folks that you see here why she was so popular,
not just as a classroom teacher or as the advisor of her class of her students but also one who
provided a welcoming to her house with homemade cookies which impressed a lot of kids particularly
those who had never had dr dobbs homemade cookies and banana punch yeah that's right i forgot about
the banana punch. Now you also served on the faculty senate. Yes. And you made a trip with
Dr. Hacker in my place. So tell us about the flight that you had. We went to St. Louis
Christa Dobbs: in this small plane that Dr. Hacker had. And one of the men that was in the maintenance department
was the pilot and we started back and we got in a storm and the we couldn't see anywhere
that we were going we were completely covered with the clouds and Harvey Pruitt was in the
plane and he's started singing once upon the billows you know and all of that and here we
were just scared to death. But we finally got back to Oklahoma City and landed there for them
to do something and I guess fill the plane with gas. And so we took off and when we took off,
we found out that one of the propellers wasn't working. So we had to land again and they worked
on the plane and we finally made it back safe but we were all so scared that we thought we
might never get in an airplane again especially one of that size and he had his own twin that
Don Williams: twin engine aircraft that time that when when he was here as president so and I still owe you for
taking my place on that trip as you reminded me through every year that I
owed you so now tell us a little about the faculty master follies well after a
Christa Dobbs: few years of seeing master follies some of the wiser faculty members decided
that they would see if they couldn't outdo the students.
So we got together and decided on what we would do
and got our costumes ready, prepared it,
and it was going to be the last act of Master Follies
as a surprise to everyone.
And I think what we did, we broke every rule that we had given the students,
telling them that they couldn't do that at Master Follies.
And we decided we'd try it out.
And we had more fun because we just laughed at ourselves
about all the things that we had dreamed up that we would do.
And one time we were on roller skates,
And one time we were doing the, what is it, El Paso?
Don Williams: El Paso, Marty Robbins song.
Yeah.
Christa Dobbs: And we had Perry Mason and Les Perrin and all of those were joining in.
And so to this day, I think some of the older students can remember doing that.
Don Williams: Yeah, we actually had some fun with that, and they were quite concerned that we were competing with them, but we assured them we were just giving a demonstration of what a good show was.
So we had some fun.
Now, do you remember Senior Chapel?
I thought of that where the seniors, when we became a four-year institution, they would put on a skit and they made fun of us as faculty members in that skit, particularly the dean of students.
It would be right at the end of school.
Christa Dobbs: I remember one of the things was they were walking across the stage like Dr. Estep walked.
They thought that was funny.
And then they had quite a few remarks to make about J.O. Bell in the cafeteria and the food that they had in the cafeteria.
I remember those things.
Don Williams: Yeah, we had that one time, which probably may have resulted in the end of Senior Chapel.
But when they had the give some day and made fun of the Gibson folks who had given some stock to the university,
I think that one may have been the reason we had a cease and desist order on Senior Chapel.
Now, Krista, we didn't have any grad classes while you were here.
Did we add some grad classes before you retired?
Christa Dobbs: Yes. Yes. Dr. Everhouse taught some of those.
Don Williams: Oh, good. Okay.
Yes.
I couldn't remember for sure, but I was thinking we did.
Because we had added Bible in 92 with a grad master's program.
And I know we were looking at business as the other.
When you look back, what are the highlights for you during your years here?
Christa Dobbs: I think the highlights really happened after I quit teaching, before I was teaching,
because at that time I could see the success of the students who had graduated,
and I was just amazed at some of them they had gone to.
The businesses were so good about hiring the students.
Don Williams: Yes.
Christa Dobbs: And I had some that went to accounting firms
and they stayed for years and years in those places.
I had people that turned out to be vice presidents of the bank.
I had those that became medical doctors.
And I went to a lot of places, and I met some former student.
And the first thing they wanted to tell me is,
I'm the one that's the CEO right now of the place where I'm working.
Don Williams: Well, looking at the track record of your graduates is a real positive for you, for the department, for the leadership that you provided.
Krista, I had almost forgotten, but you have an RV, a motor home that you have driven all over the world, basically.
So would you tell us a little about that?
Christa Dobbs: I became a member of the Sojourners that we did volunteer work for people that needed help in all sorts of physical problems as well as teaching Bible classes.
And we went to every state in the United States and also going to Alaska.
And I bought my motor home, and I decided that I was going to use it to go on the sojourns.
So I did, and I pulled my Saturn behind it, and I drove that motor home 110,000 miles,
and I did sojourns in 10 different states of the United States.
and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Don Williams: Well, Krista, based on what you shared with us today,
you can truly see why we stated that Dr. Krista Dobbs
is a model of personal excellence for all students
because of the life and example that you've lived.
I think our time is almost up,
But I would like to see if you have any other thoughts that you would like to share about Love of Christian and the time you spent here.
Christa Dobbs: Well, I just think it was indeed a great pleasure to be associated with the faculty and for all of the administration and especially the students that we had.
And it made very, very fond memories.
Don Williams: I think that's the bonus that those of us who've taught here have received is that friendship that just continues in the last year after year because we have made so many good friends and they've returned a lot of favors to us.
And you, my dear, are an excellent teacher, excellent role model, and I'm just thrilled that we could share your story with the folks that you have taught and with folks who did not know you, but to see the value placed on students and the value placed on being sure we completed preparing them for their professional careers.
Christa Dobbs: Well, thank you for making it possible that we had so much fun along with all of the toil.
Don Williams: There was a good mix.
And so I can't tell you how much I enjoyed the time we had together working in academics and in the theater activities.
Thank you for joining us, and we will close out.