M E M B E R Profile

Lifelong In uence
From ROTC to U-Club
Im the luckiest man youll ever talk to,
says retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Sheldon Godkin. As a graduate of both Oglethorpe and Boston University, one could wonder how he managed to score an honorary lifetime membership to the University Club at Colorado State. One phone call, however, turned him
Shelly Godkin, Alumni Association Life Member Godkin in Okinawa, Japan, 1955 Godkin in uniform

green and gold forever.

[ e Colonels Assignment Division] called and said, Youre going to Fort Collins, Godkin recalls. I had never heard of it. It came as a very pleasant surprise. It took a reference to a book to nd out

Godkin and friends with his VW on campus in 1980

the university at which he would be serving as an Air Force ROTC commander, but by the summer of 1979, Godkin, along with his wife and daughters, had made the move to Colorado. Soon a er Godkin arrived in Fort Collins, he began reshaping the ROTC pro-

gram, and in 1980, he began implementing a part of military routine that had not existed at CSU for many years. One of the rst things I did was meet with the cadets, he says. We got a drill team going. e drill team, a group of cadets who whirl weapons and perform choreographed marches, is now called Wing Walkers. e team began small, but competed with CSUs ROTC rivalAir Force Academy whose team tremendously outnumbered that of CSU. And, of course, the team is present at most of the universitys sporting events. Today, the drill team has grown, and so has the trophy case in the Military Sciences building. A major contributor to the collection of awards is United States Air Force o cer Megan Wade, a 2013 CSU graduate of agricultural sciences, who was commissioned by Godkin himself an honor he says was all his.

As a former member of both the ROTC and Wing Walkers, Wade rst met Godkin during her sophomore year, upon initiation onto the drill team. From that point on, her college career was strongly a ected by Godkin, as a commander, mentor, and someone who deeply inspired her. He really took the time to get to know me, and the others in Wing Walkers as well, Wade says. I would go months without seeing him and when I did, hed greet me by my rst name, which is rare in the military. He really showed that he cared. Although Godkin retired from a 31-year run in the Air Force, and le CSU in the early eighties, it was just a few years before he found himself back on campus. rough the connections he had made as an ROTC commander and as a professor of aerospace studies, he heard about a new managerial position at the universitys faculty club. In early 87, I got the word from some friends in the [Lory Student Center] that they were looking at starting what they were going to call a faculty club, he says, recalling the pitiful faculty lounge that had consisted of a few co ee machines and some plastic couches. A er three rounds of interviews, and an admission that hed had no prior restaurant or bar management experience (but knew how to make drinks), Godkin was o ered the position. It was then that he began

to transform the stale lounge into the polished club that serves not only faculty, but University sta , alumni, and retirees. Although Godkin was the driving force behind the transformation, he humbly credits former CSU president Philip Austin and former Lory Student Center director Manny Cunard for making it all come together. But I had all the fun of getting it done, Godkin adds. He says that the clubs selling points are the free breakfast, co ee, and tea on weekday mornings and probably the ursday night happy hours. What kept me here at the U-Club for17

years was that the club lled a need, he says, It was something the University didnt have. Godkin retired from the University Club in 2004 a er nearly two decades, but that doesnt mean he is far from CSU. e ambiance of the University is what has kept him around as a member of the Alumni Association. I was so welcomed here at CSU by the faculty and the sta , he says. People were so great; still are. It made a major impact on me a favorable impact. Godkin, who still owns a 64 Volkswagen Beetle that sports custom U-Club license plates, received a lifetime mem-

bership to the club, and is occasionally seen there having breakfast with friends. And while his name will forever grace the plaque mounted in the club entrance, his cadets recognize him for something entirely di erent the in uence he continues to have on them. ough Godkins time as a professor came to an end nearly 30 years ago, his name is still fresh in the minds of students in 2013. His legend, his story, and his passion have carried on still, Wade says.
By Shelby Taylor-Thorn (13)

CSU Air Force ROTC Wing Walkers, 2013

A R O U N D T H E O V A L Summer 2013