When Sally Bartling arrived in town seven years ago to take up her new role as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, people were kind and helpful.
They gave her the scoop on neighborhoods and grocery stores. They helped her settle in to her new address. And they kept pointing her in the direction of one of Keyser’s most valuable resources: Dinah Courrier.
“I used to always ask, ‘What’s Dinah do?’ Bartling remembered of the woman who is now a professor of office systems technology at Potomac State College of West Virginia University.
“Well, there was an easy answer to that,” Bartling said. “‘Everything.’”
Indeed.
When Courrier first met Bartling, she was by then an active parishioner and volunteer at the church she grew up in – but her outreach went far beyond that.
And that tireless work on behalf of PSC and the surrounding community of Keyser is why West Virginia University has honored her with one of its highest awards for service to others: The Neil S. Bucklew Award for Social Justice.
The 2008 recipient couldn’t have been a better choice, Bartling said.
“Every community has that ‘go-to’ person,” Bartling said, “and in Keyser, you go to Dinah. I don’t know how she keeps it all straight. She just reaches out to everyone. She has an overall love of this place that you really have to celebrate.”
That includes the African-American population of Mineral County and the region. Courrier helped coordinate the Howard High School History Project, which celebrates the rich history of a former segregated school; and PSC’s Multicultural Day, which came about because Courrier made it happen.
She also serves as PSC’s Retention Coordinator while coordinating off-campus education. She’s the social campus liaison and served as interim dean of academic affairs from 2000-02.
And that’s on top of her work in the community. She’s a lay minister at Trinity Lutheran, a past president of the Keyser Rotary and a life member of the Mineral County Historical Society. She also co-edited two commemorative books about PSC and the community it calls home: “Potomac State College. The College Series, 2001” and “A Pictorial History of Keyser, 1974-1994.”
Courrier is also a legendary follower of PSC’s athletic program, but school Provost Kerry Odell wasn’t talking sports when he called her a “cheerleader” for the school and the community.
“Cheerleaders are hopeful and optimistic and see the best in everybody and every situation,” said Odell, who nominated her for the award. “That’s Dinah. I can’t imagine PSC or Keyser without her. She’s just one of those people who always does the right thing.”
Courrier is a PSC graduate with an associate of arts degree. She continued her education at West Virginia University, where she earned a bachelor’s in business education and English. She holds a master’s in education with a concentration in English from Frostburg State University.
Her husband, Jim, is a 1970 graduate of the WVU School of Dentistry. They have a son, three daughters and nine grandchildren.
The award is named for former WVU president Neil S. Bucklew, who established the President’s Office for Social Justice on the Morgantown campus.
It carries a $2,500 stipend for University staff, faculty and administrators who give their time to social justice causes. Past winners include longtime student advocate Horace Belmear, and John Zondlo, a chemical engineering professor known for his work with minority students who wish to pursue that field.
KEYSER, W.Va. —
