Cathy Moreland Schilling ’76 clearly remembers her admissions interview with Ken Corwin, but at the time, she had no idea that the conversation would be the first “domino” in her University of Redlands journey. As a student, she kept herself busy with classes, tennis and SPURS, but also has fond memories of watching “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in the Grossmont basement.
The next big “domino” happened in her junior year. Schilling traveled to Austria for the Salzburg Semester under the direction of Peter Madler and met members of the Delta Kappa Psi sorority who have become lifelong friends, many of whom she still travels with today.
After Salzburg, Schilling joined Delta, and once she had graduated, Jane Corwin, wife of the same Redlands admission director who had interviewed her, encouraged Schilling to get involved in Delta alumnae meetings. “She was a role model for me, and it was like coming full circle.” Not only has she been a leader among Delta alumnae (she was named Delta Woman of the Year in 1995), she has also served on the University of Redlands Board of Trustees, Alumni Board, President’s Circle Leadership Committee, Centennial Committee and, most recently, as a co-chair of her 40th-reunion committee.
A physical education major, Schilling served students with disabilities as an adapted physical education specialist in San Bernardino County and Rialto Unified School Districts. Just before her retirement, she recalls, a disabled high school student made his first hockey goal during her class. Seeing the immense joy on his face was just one moment of inspiration in her fulfilling 34-year career.
Schilling also volunteers for the American Association of University Women, for whom she chaired a STEM conference, and Alpha Delta Kappa, an education sorority that funds two U of R scholarships. “Attending the University enriched my life, and all of these experiences were like dominoes, each one making the next one happen.”
As loyal donors to the University for the past 23 years, Schilling and her husband, Craig ’76, have seen firsthand the need for their annual President’s Circle support. “When you realize how much the University needs to provide scholarships and keep everything going, and when you believe in the experience the students receive, you just know how it important it is.”
For more information on making a Redlands Fund gift like Schilling, please contact Director of Annual Giving Molly Widdicombe at 909-748-8381 or visit www.redlands.edu/giving.
