Charlotte Weldy Hurst Scholarship

Charlotte was an admissions counselor at Goshen College when she was killed in a automobile accident November 8, 1985. She was 41. Her husband, Gerald R. “Tony” Hurst, survived the accident. The Hursts’ two sons, Michael, 21, and Benjamin, 17, were not with their parents at the time of the accident.

Charlotte graduated from Goshen College in 1966 with a degree in elementary education. She and Gerald were married July 10, 1965. She received a Master’s degree in guidance and counseling from Indiana University in South Bend in 1984.

After College, Charlotte had a variety of teaching assignments. From 1966-67, she taught at the Academia Menonita in Puerto Rico as a voluntary service assignment. She also served as guidance counselor at Heritage Middle School in Middlebury, Indiana during 1979.

In 1979, Charlotte founded the Pleasant Oaks Nursery School in Middlebury. She also served as director and taught at the school. The nursery school opened with an enrollment of about 20 and has grown and been successful since that time.

Charlotte began working as an admissions counselor at CC in 1984. She was well known among students for her spontaneity and quick smile.

Rich Gerig, Director of Admissions, in a tribute published in The Record (CC’s weekly student paper) at the time of her death, said, “We remembered the growing confidence she had in herself and her work. It hadn’t been easy for a 40-year-old mother to enter graduate school and then the world of work outside the home. But she was doing it.”

Her outgoing personality and sense of humor were two qualities that made her an effective admissions counselor, Gerig said. “Both prospective students and their parents often noted the friendliness with which she welcomed them to the campus. There was always a lot of laughter, commotion and joy when she was around. No questions–she made things happen.”