Wow! Talk about a helicopter parent! 0

Mom’s the President, and I’m Outta Here.

By Emma L. Carew

As Will Jeffery zeroed in on where he would attend college last spring, he concluded that the University of the Pacific was his dream school. That is, until his mother was hired as the president.

“He tried to be happy for me,” says Pamela A. Eibeck. “But I still remember him looking at me and saying, ‘You know, Mom, you ruined it for me.'”

Ms. Eibeck, 52, learned of the position while looking at Pacific’s Web site with her son. At the time, she was dean of engineering at Texas Tech University.

As Pacific rose to the top of her son’s list of colleges, Ms. Eibeck says, she realized that the reasons she liked the university for her son were the same ones that made it an appealing place to work.

“The way the timing worked out, we both applied for admission to University of the Pacific last spring,” she says. “It was, needless to say, a very unnerving process.”

The university accepted both mother and son, but Mr. Jeffery decided to go with his next choice, Santa Clara University, rather than become Pacific’s “first son.”

While President Eibeck understands Will’s decision, she has wistful moments. “I will admit to dreaming about the ability of our son to come home and do the laundry,” she says. A freshman dorm is across the street from her official residence.

ED note: Guess what? Ms. Eibeck just recently retired last year after 10 years of exemplary leadership of the university. Over the years I have recommended the college because of the focus she placed on preparing students properly for their respective careers while creating a unifying cooperative spirit between academic departments. Something that is often lacking in large universities with ego-driven disparate personalities.