The Honors College celebrated Diann McCabe’s retirement after 20 years of service and dedication to the university and the community.
Students and faculty of the Honors College gathered in the coffee forum of Lampasas Sept. 2 to celebrate McCabe at her retirement party.
McCabe has been a Bobcat since she was 18-years-old. Geographic location brought McCabe to Texas State in 1969. She moved into a residence hall, started her freshman course load and married her husband, Terry McCabe, now assistant professor in mathematics at Texas State, before the year was over.
Between starting a family, moving around and eventually coming back to campus to finish her undergraduate degree, her graduate degree and then starting her work on campus as an honors professor, McCabe said she’s lived a fulfilling life and is ready to pass her legacy onto the director. McCabe said she and her husband will spend the spring semester of next year traveling, reading and enjoying time together with their friends.
McCabe said retiring is bittersweet, but knows it is a great time for a new director to take her spot and continue the legacy of growth she is leaving within the Honors College.
“There’s a lot of new, exciting things happening here that I’m very please d to have been apart of,” McCabe said. “I think this is a good time for someone else to come to (fill the position).”
Through directing developmental projects, teaching unique classes and bringing famous guest speakers to influence her students, McCabe has built strong relationships with her colleagues and students.
Holly Hearn, public relations junior, took a class McCabe taught on walking. The class investigated walking in a variety of ways; how walking is cathartic, how it influences society and more. Before taking McCabe’s walking class, Hearn met McCabe at NSO where McCabe helped to inspire Hearn to become a student involved heavily with her campus.
“She is a very outstanding member of the outstanding community, she does so much work for the town, and it’s inspired me to get more involved with the town,” Hearn said.
McCabe’s official last day was Aug. 31. The following day McCabe came to finish packing her office and join her retirement party which filled the lounge of Lampasas with students, faculty and staff after 3 p.m. on Sept. 1. Louie Valencia, alumnus, led the party by giving a speech and reading heartfelt notes written by students.
McCabe’s contributions to the community include more than helping to inspire students. Over the years McCabe has left her mark in several ways. McCabe created, designed and implemented Walking: An Active and Interdisciplinary Investigation, the class which has influenced Hearn and other honors students.
Her favorite project however, will leave its mark on San Marcos for as long as it stands.
McCabe spearheaded the initiative which brought San Marcos The LBJ MLK Crossroads Memorial. According to Tour San Marcos, the memorial remembering President Lyndon B. Johnson and Martin Luther King Jr. is strategically placed between the crossroads of a historically African American community and near the El Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos, the Hispanic cultural center in town.