Charlie Boswell '74,

Last year Charlie Boswell '74 joined the Society of 1842 because "I want to help the next Charlie Boswell," he explains.

When Charlie came to Roanoke College in 1972, he was dismayed that the fees exceeded his finances. A visit with Donald Sutton resulted in a cook position with dining services and enough grants to cover his expenses. "The college," he asserts, "bent over backwards to help me."

This wasn't Charlie's first foray into academe. In 1963 the Roanoke, Virginia, native enrolled in aeronautical engineering at VA Tech to pursue his childhood fantasy of becoming an astronaut. Two rotations at NASA in Huntsville, Alabama, and a stint with the campus radio station convinced him that his future pointed towards broadcasting. He left school in 1965 to work for a radio station. 1966 found him at Roanoke College for a semester, but the airwaves beckoned him.

Over the next 5 years he recalls walking into his co-workers' offices, seeing their diplomas on the walls, and realizing "I'm smarter than those people." So he decided to give Roanoke College another try, this time studying his hobby, theater arts. Two years later when at age 29 he graduated cum laude, he declares, "I was validated."

His return to broadcasting necessitated frequent moves for Charlie, wife Martha, and 2 sons. Advancing from on-air to sales, he eventually bought 3 stations in South Carolina. When he sold the stations in 2003, he and Martha returned to Roanoke where they are "happy as larks," says Charlie, zipping around in their canary-yellow 2002 Thunderbird convertible sporting, of course, a Roanoke College license plate.

Throughout the years Charlie has loyally supported his alma mater; along with the Society of 1842, he is an RC Associate and contributes to the Roanoke Fund. Additionally, he has provided the voice-overs for college-produced videos of RC Medal recipients. He intends his bequest to the college to be used to establish a fine arts scholarship for that "next Charlie Boswell."