Professor Jean F. Stonehouse was a part of Bridgewater State for 45 years. Now, she’s a permanent part of the campus she loved so much.
The dedicated history professor, who died in November 2014, was known as a champion of students and faculty, as well as an active member of the BSU community.
As Dr. Brian Payne, associate professor of history and president of the Bridgewater chapter of the Massachusetts State College Association (MSCA), put it, “Today we dedicate this building to one of our greatest.”
Watch the ceremony below.
Dr. Stonehouse graduated cum laude from Bridgewater in 1966. She obtained her master’s degree at Boston University and returned in 1969 to teach at her alma mater. At the time of her death, she was the second longest-serving employee at BSU.
During the ceremony, held in a tent outside the entrance to the residence hall that now bears her name, Dr. Stonehouse was remembered with much love, but also with smiles. A long-serving president of the MSCA, she was known to be a tough combatant when working on behalf of faculty or students.
President Frederick W. Clark Jr., who knew Dr. Stonehouse as both colleague and teacher (he got an A in her course, he recalled), said she was “The fiercest champion that anyone will ever find of the highest standards of justice, fairness and of equality. He added that Dr. Stonehouse, “Although small in stature…was as strong as the Rock of Gibraltar,” and in short, not someone “you would want to tangle with.”
Members of Dr. Stonehouse’s family were on hand for the ceremony, as were dozens of faculty and administrators who worked with her.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, a ribbon was cut, making the renaming official. (Story and photos by John Winters, G ’11, University News & Media; Video by Matthew DeGrechie, Moakley TV Studio)
