20 / 32
20
TOWER
|
Winter 2016
BACK TO CLASS WITH…
RENOUNGER
The name Reno Unger was synonymous with public rela-
tions at Kutztown University for 35 years, until he retired
in
2008.Hespent 19 at the helm of the University Relations
Department, the balance as a professor.
Ask someone once enrolled in one or more of professor
Unger’s classes what he’s most known (even beloved) for
and they will likely tell you of his “sea stories.”Unger says
it was the best way to hold students’ attention in a warm
classroom after lunch. But when you dig a bit deeper,
you’ll find the one-time Navy man is truly regarded for
his heart and eagerness to lend a hand.
Despite retiring from public relations and teaching, his
“once career”is still a big part of his life today.Now it comes
in the form of his volunteer roles in the Kutztown com-
munity which he and his wife Nancy, a former teacher in
the Kutztown Area School District, call home. Unger is
playing an essential role in establishing and implement-
ing a public relations plan, including the develop-
ment of several publications, for Kutztown
Community Partnership (KCP).
“I do publicity and publications 15 –
20 hours a week,” he explains, downplaying
his importance matter-of-factly.
But even in an understated way,
Unger is known as a guy who gets things done.
In addition to those sea stories, he’ll be the first
to tell you he tirelessly preaches the importance
of networking. His connections in the Berks commu-
nity – and beyond – run deep, even to the Philadelphia
Eagles organization, where he just so happened to con-
nect a student looking to work in community sports rela-
tions the other day because – hey – he knows someone
who did that.
“What I really, really liked about being a professor
was helping students figure out where they were going
and helping make the connection to get them there,” he
said. “I would help them untie the red tape, find the right
person.”
Going above and beyond, he could also tell you who
to avoid in the process and the approach to take once you
made the connection.
To say he loved teaching might be an understatement.
“I miss teaching every day,” he admitted.
Being the people-person and networking advocate
he is, he stays connected to students he struck a chord
with. He explains he keeps in touch with some, and he’ll
look them up when he travels and he makes the time to
reconnect.
While he enjoys traveling, he’ll tell you he stays in
Kutztown because it’s his favorite part of the country, it’s
as simple as that. Perhaps that, and his love for the public
relations trade, is what keeps his desire to serve Kutztown
in a volunteer capacity going strong.
What is a thrill for Unger? Art. His eyes light up as
he discusses and shows off pictures of his glasswork, pen
and paper etchings, wood carvings and boxes, and more.
He enjoys being the student and taking classes at the
GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading and at the
Banana Factory in Bethlehem.
Perhaps what he enjoys most of all is photography.
Once a year he invests in a photography workshop that’s
seen him travel to the Chesapeake Bay; the coast of
Oregon; the Big Sur of California; Costa Rica; the
Grand Tetons; and White Sands, New Mexico, to name
a few. He even displays his images in a show, usually at
Basin Street in the borough, and usually in November.
It was the eagerness to indulge in those passions that
pushed Unger to retire.
“I wanted to do it [retire] while I was still in good enough
health to do all the exciting things, like travel and art and
photography, that I wanted to do,” he explained.
As Unger would explain it, he kind of “lucked into”
the positions he’s held. He earned his undergraduate and
graduate degrees in journalism from Marshall University
in West Virginia with a 4.5-year stint in the Navy splitting
the two. His graduate studies went from full-time to
part-time at Marshall when the university was looking
to hire a public relations director and as a journalism
prospect, it was recommended he look into it.
“I remember asking, ‘What’s PR?,’”Unger recalled. He
went in to learn more, and as they say, the rest was history.
“I don’t know if I applied for it or not.That afternoon
they called and offered me the job,” he laughed.
But his role as professor at KU is something he looks
back at as the “best 16 years of my career.” It’s clear he
misses his interaction with the students most, and molding
them.Perhaps helping them grow can be reflected in another
somewhat unexpected hobby the Kutztown resident enjoys:
raising Polyphemus moths from caterpillar to adult.
“It is one of the family of giant American silk moths
that can be as big as a bat (5.5 – 6 inches across). All are
beautiful.”
Maybe that’s it: what Unger relishes most is seeing
things blossom: students, careers, relationships (like
those between the Kutztown community and university),
works of art, photographs and more. Perhaps the best is
yet to come, or so you’d believe when reflecting on one
of Unger’s favorite quotes from old-time baseball player
Satchel Page: “Never look back. Somethin’ might be
gainin’ on ya.”
BY
NIKKI M.
MURRY ’98
PHOTOGRAPHYBY
DOUGBENEDICT