Inside Furman is published monthly during the school year by the Furman University Department of Marketing and Public Relations. For story ideas, e-mail John Roberts, editor.
Twist of fate
Knee injury led Swartz to student personnel work
During the spring of 1990, before her freshman year in college, Tobi Swartz and her father drove more than 700 miles from their home in Illinois to visit the University of Southern Mississippi , where she was planning to enroll.
Touring among the Magnolias and white-columned buildings on the Hattiesburg campus, Swartz, a cheerleader and runner in high school, learned that freshman cheerleading try-outs were being held that weekend. On a lark, she decided to participate and spent the weekend twirling, tumbling and, undoubtedly, impressing the squad's coaches.
Days later, Swartz learned that she was among the handful of freshmen selected for the junior varsity squad. Confident that she had found her niche in student life, Swartz blissfully packed for her new home in the Deep South.
But in December, just months after arriving, Swartz tore her anterior cruciate ligament while performing a stunt. The injury required reconstructive knee surgery.
Sidelined from cheerleading, Swartz became a resident advisor and, later, a peer counselor. Working with students, organizing events and serving as an orientation leader, she developed a passion for her work and found a mentor in Joe Paul, Vice President for Student Services at Southern Mississippi.
It was the knee turn, a twist of fate, that led Swartz down a career path in education. It recently brought her to Furman, where she serves as director of the Bridges to a Brighter Future program.
Bridges is a summer enrichment program for economically disadvantaged high school students living in Greenville. Each year, approximately 70 rising 10th, 11th and 12th graders participate in the four-week residential program, where they receive tutoring, take field trips and enjoy a variety of activities designed to broaden their horizons and prepare them for college life.
Since its establishment in 1997 with the help of a gift from Mamie Jolley Bruce, more than 73 students have graduated from the Bridges program. Sixty-nine of them have gone on to college.
Swartz's background and job experience seem tailor-fitted for the Bridges post, which requires a blend of administrative, teaching and marketing skills. After earning an M.Ed. in student personal services from the University of South Carolina, Swartz worked for two years as an academic services coordinator for the Master's of International Business Program at USC.
From 1998 to 2000 she served as the state coordinator for the Life Scholarship program, helping to interpret state regulations, auditing schools and traveling the state to educate high school students and teachers about the new scholarship.
In January 2001, Swartz was named a professional development coordinator for Richland I School District. In her position, funded by an $8.1 million, three-year U.S. Department of Education Safe Schools Grant, Swartz developed teacher conferences and workshops designed to improve school safety, classroom management and student health at the district's 47 schools.
After her husband, J.J., took a job in Greenville the fall of 2002, Swartz began looking for employment in the Upstate. She served for one year as director of the educational talent search program at Tri-County Technical College — a grant-funded initiative to help first-generation college students attend college — before coming to Furman.
“I felt bad about leaving them after such a short time,” says Swartz. “But when this position became available it was a perfect fit. I had been looking at Furman for some time hoping to find a job [that would match her skills].”
Since arriving at Furman in November, Swartz has spent most of her time visiting area high schools, getting to know Bridges teachers and students, and brainstorming about new ways to improve the program, which had been under the direction of Judith Chandler until her retirement last fall.
“Bridges has a great foundation,” says Swartz. “But everything can be revitalized. This is a great time to breathe some fresh air into Bridges. There are some awesome opportunities to take it in different directions.”
While planning “no major changes” until after she's seen the program in action, Swartz is already putting her stamp on Bridges by introducing more evening activities and working with the Marketing and Public Relations Department to craft a marketing plan that will hopefully boost the program's profile and, perhaps, attract donors.
“We have some great student success stories,” she says. “We need to tell them.”