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Honorary Life Trustee Charles Van Zoeren began his involvement on the Board of Trustees when he was asked to serve by a friend of his father. He remembers feeling honored and knew immediately he’d enjoy the experience. Charles, then, joined the Board at 41 years old and feels he was part of a current youth movement. He believes he has received many benefits from his service.
“My rewards were to serve an enterprise I respected and to understand the operations of a non-profit organization,” he says.
Charles ultimately found so much enjoyment in the position that he began to consider it one of his hobbies.
“Some people play golf, some hunt and fish; I play college,” he says. Charles also finds interest in playing tennis lending his voice to choruses and his business career. He says those around him in the trucking industry say he is ‘semi’ retired.
As a trustee, Charles feels one major challenge of higher education lies in maintaining quality despite numerous ill-prepared high school graduates seeking higher income through college degrees.
In reference to the challenges of Ripon College in particular, he says, “Ripon must maintain and enhance the quality of its program and its reputation with an endowment that is inadequate.”
As to the future of Ripon College, Charles feels excited about the leadership of David Joyce and notes the president’s prior experience.
“He has made a multitude of improvements already and is committed to many more” Charles says.
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