‘Matriarch of Cypress College’ Pat Ganer Remembered by Colleagues
Pat Ganer wrote the book on Cypress College. Twice, actually.
It only seems fitting that one of the college’s first students, who then returned in a faculty role that spanned more than four decades, would be the unofficial historian and author of “A Tree Grows in Cypress” — the first of which was written for the college’s 40th anniversary and the second written a decade later for the college’s 50th anniversary.
As a student, she won the first championship in campus history; as a faculty member, she was the first to lead the accreditation process.
Dr. Ganer died unexpectedly on Sunday, July 20.
“As I have gathered, Dr. Ganer would not only be on Cypress College’s Mt. Rushmore, she is simply one of Cypress College’s greatest of all time,” said Cypress College President Dr. Scott W. Thayer. “She loved Cypress College and helped establish the student-centered journey still present today.”
List all of her accolades and you still only scratch the surface of what Ganer meant to Cypress College.
Ganer retired from Cypress College in May 2017 following 46 years as a member of the college’s faculty. She also was in the first class of students — enrolling when the campus opened in 1966. She proudly shared that her student number was 428.
She served for two decades as the Forensics Program director. During her tenure at Cypress, she also served as Curriculum Committee chair for seven years, was the first faculty accreditation chair, and was the Academic Senate president for four terms.
That’s not what stands out, though. What does is how much Cypress College meant to Ganer.
“She loved the college and worked tirelessly to make it the best that it could be and always answered the call,” said Liana Koeppel, a Cypress College faculty member who succeeded Ganer as the director of Forensics. “She put the college first. My success is due to her grace and mentorship. She was an amazing mentor — not only for me, but numerous women in forensics. She was smart, witty, powerful, confident, self-assured. She has meant everything to me.”
The words Koeppel used to recall Ganer — commitment, ethos, “super intelligence,” love of Cypress College, work ethic — were echoed by several others.
“She was a force and she was absolutely brilliant,” said Donna Friess, a retired Cypress College Communication Studies professor who had Ganer in class as a student during the college’s first year. “She went away and got educated and came back to us (as a faculty member). She took over that forensics program … and she won championship after championship. She came home where she belonged. It was organic. She was very generous with her time and with her heart and her brains. She went beyond the call for Cypress College.”
Studying at Cypress College, completing higher education, and returning to work here is a recurring theme connected to Ganer.
“Pat made an indelible mark on me both as a student all those years ago and in my capacity in the Foundation these last 8 years,” wrote Rachel Ghatikar, the Cypress College Foundation’s developement director who, like Ganer, transferred from Cypress College to the University of Southern California. “Pat was one of the most exceptional human beings I have ever had the privilege to know.”
Ganer was a generous donor to the Cypress College Foundation, including having established a Legacy Society Endowment to support Cypress College students in perpetuity. Click here to make a gift in her honor.
Two long-time faculty members also said their experiences as students of Ganer influenced their path that ultimately led them back to Cypress College as instructors and eventually to leadership of the Academic Senate.
“Pat Ganer is one reason why I came back to Cypress College after finishing my undergrad degree,” said Jolena Grande, who started Cypress College’s Funeral Service baccalaureate degree program and has also served on the California Community Colleges Board of Governors. “I remembered her path from student to faculty to Academic Senate president (and beyond) and I followed it for myself. She was an exceptional mentor and beloved colleague. To sit by her side during her final Senate presidency was an honor I will always cherish.”
Recently retired Human Services faculty member Gary Zager’s path was similar. He studied in Ganer’s class in the early 1970s and later served as Academic Senate president, noting that Ganer was the main reason he served in that role.
“She had such a wonderful mind,” Zager said. “When I had her, she had been teaching for five or six years. She allowed me to do things in class that are untraditional. She was unbelievable as a professor. I am pretty extroverted and she gave me a way to put a shell around it and gave me lessons to control what I wanted to say.”
Ganer staunchly ensured the best for both students and fellow faculty. She was revered by them and by administrators.
“It was my great privilege to have known Pat for almost 40 years, long before I came to Cypress College,” said Cypress College President Emeritus Bob Simpson, who retired along with Ganer in 2017. “She was the truest of friends and a fierce advocate for the causes she believed in. Her passion for her discipline, her commitment to her students, and her love of Cypress College were unparalleled.”
“It would be difficult to identify an aspect of the College she did not champion and push to ever higher levels of achievement,” Simpson said. “From department leadership to Academic Senate participation to support of library services to college accreditation to the passing of facility bond measures, Pat’s contributions helped to shape the college during her time and far beyond. If you were lucky enough to be considered a friend by Pat, you were a friend for life. I am grateful to have been able to consider myself in that circle, and I will miss her greatly.”
President Margie Lewis, who served from 1999-2007, had similar recollections.
“Pat Ganer was brilliant, strong, and independent, full of vitality and a powerful spirit,” Lewis said. “She was an incredible teacher, colleague, and friend, loyal and generous. Her creativity and wit enlivened many Opening Day programs, and her sense of humor eased numerous challenging moments. She was an integral part of the college from its beginnings, as a student herself before going on to teach thousands of her own students how to think critically, while also providing outstanding leadership to faculty and administrators alike.”
“Pat was unique — I have never known anyone else like her,” Lewis continued. “I am incredibly grateful that she and I were colleagues, working together for the betterment of students and Cypress College, but I am even more grateful that she was my friend. No one can fill the void she has left behind, but her legacy will live on in the people she impacted, both students and colleagues.”
Those who worked with her will remember Pat for her many Opening Day skits where she played a variety of roles, including as Regis Philbin and Simon Cowell. Friess recalled Ganer’s sense of humor and sarcasm, both of which she displayed in these Opening Day skits.
After retirement, Pat was part of a retiree group and hosted events for the former employees to stay connected. She hosted events at her home, including those in support of the Cypress College Foundation’s Legacy Society.
In “A Tree Grows in Cypress,” the two history books about the campus that Ganer authored, she wrote about the very first Opening Day at Cypress College, which included a dedication at the flag pole. Ganer was there as a student. Fifty years later, as a faculty member, Ganer led a re-dedication ceremony at the main campus flag pole.
By then, Ganer was “the matriarch of Cypress College,” having received the moniker — along with a red velvet crown with gold trim — from Friess, who was the then-longest-serving faculty member when she retired in 2010.
Ganer loved travel, visiting locations such as Machu Picchu. In her teaching capacity, she twice instructed in the semester-abroad program, once in London and then in Madrid. Off campus, she served as president of both the American Forensics Association and the Western States Communication Association.
She was known, in part, for wearing her politics on her sleeve, even serving as an analyst on presidential debates for the Los Angeles Times and MSNBC. One of the courses she instructed at Cal State Long Beach focused on campaign-based communication. Another of her classes there covered international speaking — an area in which she also brought real-world experience, having presented at conferences in Japan, Dublin, Amsterdam, Sydney, and Sao Paolo.
She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Southern California, her Master of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her Ph.D. in Communication with an emphasis on Political Communication from the University of Utah. She was an avid fan of the Utah Utes as well as the Anaheim Angels.
A celebration of life for Ganer is being planned for sometime during the fall semester.
