The Gift of ‘Giving Back’

Dale Lippert’s 40-year career at Dean has allowed him to “give something back” for the help he received as a young man.

It's Monday afternoon, but it may as well be any afternoon. Dale Lippert is sitting at the desk in his office sharing stories with a staff member - a very common occurrence. As an assistant professor in the Sport/Fitness program for Dean, Dale has a lot of stories to tell - 40 years of them to be exact.

They are stories about students, both past and present. They are tales of many a young man and woman who have passed through the halls of Dean in the past four decades - those mischievous, sly, and even some diamonds in the rough. But it's the stories of the troubled students, the ones lacking direction but who later blossomed into self-confident and successful adults, that Dale relates to the most.

"I think I see myself in a lot of these kids," says Dale, whose experience in higher education is the result of a history teacher who cared enough to set a young Dale Lippert on a course for success.

As a teenager, Dale admittedly lacked self-discipline, which adversely affected his studies, until a high school history teacher brought him to reality.

"He told me I had so much potential and believed I could really be something," he said. And from that moment, things started to change. It was the interest that teacher showed in him that Dale said would eventually inspire him to "give something good back."

After graduating from high school, Dale found his way to Springfield College in western Massachusetts. Following commencement, he found his way to Franklin, MA when a classmate was hired to teach at Dean Junior College. Dale was soon hired to work as an educator in the physical education program. He started work in August of 1965 and committed to working that academic year as the head wrestling coach and assistant football and baseball coach.

During his tenure he has coached almost every sport except lacrosse. He admittedly "stepped in" as field hockey coach in the absence of head coach Karen Sykes and spent a season as girls soccer coach when his head coach quit a day before the season was to begin.

But it was his experience in the classroom that kept Dale at Dean for the past 40 years. Teaching youngsters who needed - and wanted - his guidance has meant more to Dale than any accolade he could ever receive in his life. Still, it is the notion of giving something back and a legacy to be carried on by his own children that will be his ultimate reward.

"I have always told them, 'give something back, give something back,'" he said. "In the end, it will never be about what anyone thinks about your accomplishments; it will be that you made them for the right reasons."

With four decades safely behind him, Dale knows retirement is looming on the horizon. It may be this year, it may be in another five or 10, but when the time does come, it will be after Dale has given back a great deal. For now, he continues to teach and coach runners, including this writer, who finished her first 5K road race last fall.

He is part of a committee organizing the Dean 10K Challenge Road Race, to be held on Saturday, April 22. And although he isn't running the 6.2 mile course himself, he is encouraging anyone he can to participate.