Dr. Shirley Tucker

Professor Emeritus Paved the Way for Unparalleled Student Services at LBC

I have the great privilege of serving students through LBC’s Ally Center, a beautiful and welcoming space on the fifth level of the Teague Learning Commons. Students can visit us for academic mentoring or to arrange for accommodations for disabilities. Online students can meet with a professional writing mentor virtually or can join a webinar on writing skills. The Ally Center’s motto reminds students that we are a people and a place devoted to coming alongside them in their journey.

But before there was a center, there was a person who embodied this spirit of encouragement and intentional, individualized care. Dr. Shirley Tucker, who first served at Washington Bible College, joined LBC in 1992, invited by then-Education Department Chair Dr. Penny Clawson, who recognized in Dr. Tucker the combined expertise of a public school teacher and Christian school administrator, writing instructor and advocate for students with disabilities.

In addition to teaching education courses and supervising student teachers, Dr. Tucker taught a college success course, worked with students on writing and set aside a space for students to take tests. Eventually, that space expanded to accommodate the RAP Center (Reaching Academic Potential)—today’s Ally Center. As a faculty athletic representative with a heart for student-athletes, Dr. Tucker monitored their required study hours. They completed those hours in the most unlikely of spaces—a choral rehearsal room—with the help of candy and Dr. Tucker’s famous homemade cookies. During one session, three basketball players lamented over their literature homework of memorizing a Shakespearean sonnet. Using memory tips and movement (“imagine dribbling a ball as you say the lines of the poem”), Dr. Tucker coached them to completion.

Dr. Tucker believes her gift as an encourager perfectly fit her roles at LBC. She piloted an early start program (now Thrive@LBC) to allow students with unique needs to arrive early and receive support in advance of the fall semester. Kyle Crist (’13 & ’17), a student with cerebral palsy, was admitted through this program. Kyle had been in special education programs all his life and was finally taught to read the summer after sixth grade by a loving and determined grandmother. Dr. Tucker created an environment conducive to Kyle’s learning, provided assistive technology and discovered Kyle’s sharply honed listening skills and unique abilities. Not only did Kyle graduate from LBC, but he also went on to earn his master’s degree in Professional School Counseling, eventually working with high school students with special needs.

Dr. Shirley Tucker, in pink, crowd-surfs during a Chargers basketball game.

Dr. Tucker experienced great camaraderie among colleagues during her time at LBC. Biweekly faculty meetings allowed for frequent connections across disciplines, characterized by respect and appreciation. She brought this same respect and appreciation to her interactions with students, teaching them to advocate for and understand themselves as learners. The mutual trust between Dr. Tucker and her students was always evident. In fact, during one basketball game, students invited her to “crowd-surf!” She trusted them not to drop her, but just as importantly, they trusted her to honor their request in the spirit in which it was given—with appreciation and good humor.

Dr. Tucker retired from LBC in 2014, and her legacy is a gift of caring and practical encouragement, particularly for some of LBC’s most vulnerable students. After a recent lunch with three LBC alumnae, Dr. Tucker received emails from each of them thanking her for the specific ways she encouraged them and gave them tools that they still use today. Terri (Christian ’93 & ’94) Fisher shared: “[Dr. Tucker] would often have students in her home to play games and eat a meal. As a missionary kid, my parents had no place to hold my graduation celebration, so [Dr. Tucker] opened her home to us so we could celebrate. I feel blessed to have been able to call her my professor, my colleague and my friend!”