Farewell tribute to Pat Smull
Pat, Lafayette was very fortunate to welcome someone as dedicated and talented as you to our campus community. We are grateful that you began your lengthy Lafayette career on Aug. 23, 2000, when you choose to accept a position as a College Store cashier. Lafayette’s Development and College Relations Division was pleased to welcome you when you accepted the position of office assistant III on May 9, 2005. After benefiting from your talent and commitment, this division promoted you to accounting clerk on Oct. 3, 2015, and accounting technician on Sept. 30, 2017. In 2019, you were recognized with the Leopard Award, which is given to members of the support, plant operations, and public safety staff for an exceptional contribution that they have made to Lafayette beyond their normal job responsibilities.
Stephanie Hayes, executive director of campaign and advancement operations, noted that your attention to detail, responsiveness to staff questions and requests, and willingness to take on extra efforts to help the team will be missed by our Development and College Relations Division and very difficult to replace. “During our busiest of months, Pat often was the first to arrive at the office to get started in processing the gifts that we received and keep everything moving forward,” Stephanie said. “I always knew that we were going to have a big entry day when I received the daily gift report before 8 a.m. from Pat. Working alongside Pat for all these years has been such a pleasure.”
Throughout your collaboration with the Development and College Relations team, you were renowned for your caring. You often send cards in celebration of someone’s birthday or an accomplishment or blessing in their life. You also demonstrated compassion for colleagues who endured pain.
Stephanie noted that your dedication was quite evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. “As we have all transitioned to remote work, Pat raised her hand to volunteer and headed into the office to receive and process checks, work with the post office, and liaise with finance to keep our systems running smoothly,” Stephanie shared. “We never missed a beat because Pat never missed a beat.” Stephanie also noted that you were committed to notifying our gift officers of any large gift that the College received so that they could promptly express their gratitude to the donors.
Pat, your talents and heartwarming dedication to your colleagues and Lafayette are treasured. Please know that you are missed. We hope you are enjoying your retirement.