Lorraine Calbow

Lorraine Calbow is Professor Emerita of Counseling at South Mountain Community College. She is an accomplished author and educator, and a founder of the Storytelling Institute at SMCC – the only in the country to offer an Academic Certificate. She was one of the original seven faculty members at SMCC.

Lorriane Calbow was first hired to work at Phoenix College in 1979, but moved to South Mountain Community College in the summer of 1980. When the college first opened, the campus was still under construction, so faculty taught at the nearby Catholic Church and their offices were in mobile trailers. In her role as Counseling Faculty, Calbow also helped students register for classes.

Looking back, Calbow remembers a lot of challenges facing the new college. On one hand, state and local policymakers lacked faith that the college would be successful. This influenced even the physical makeup of the college itself. Calbow remembers that SMCC was built with collapsible, temporary walls, in the event that the school was not successful.

Calbow also remembers the SMCC faced an uphill battle with other “sister” colleges in the Maricopa District, which were home to faculty and administrators who doubted the investment made in South Phoenix. Calbow credits Dr. Raul Cardenas – the founding president – for intentionally leading the campus through these difficult early years. Faculty, staff, and students worked hard to alleviate political and social tensions in a community charged with complex and competing priorities. Their “Harvard of the Southwest” strove to reconcile political and racial tensions in South Phoenix.

During her time at SMCC, Calbow witnessed and initiated significant changes. Shifts in administrative leadership effected the campus climate, while new academic programs helped to advance poorly-prepared students to the challenge of academic rigor. Drawing on her psychology training and storytelling expertise, Calbow was a diving force and founder of the Storytelling Institute, the only in the country to offer an Academic Certificate in Storytelling.

Ms. Calbow used her counseling expertise and her intellectual interests to connect storytelling to many academic areas at SMCC. She stated that everyone has stories of events, experiences and places that they are passionate about which makes learning more interesting when relating through storytelling. 

Narrator	Lorraine Calbow
Birthdate
Place of Origin
Place of Residence	Tempe, Arizona
Occupation	Professor Emerita of Counseling at South Mountain Community College, author, founder of the Storytelling Institute at SMCC, and one of the original seven faculty members at SMCC.
Years Active in South Phoenix
Recording Duration	1:01:16
Date	October 9, 2018
Location	South Mountain Community Library
Interviewed By	Student Researchers: Stephen Loper & Tommy Pham
Story Written By	Student Researchers: Stephen Loper & Tommy Pham; Faculty Co-Author: Summer Cherland