When I declared myself a communication major, my friends raved about Dr. Bonnie Jefferson. Sitting in her Rhetorical Tradition class on day numero uno, I finally understood what all the hype was about. Jefferson’s love for rhetoric is contagious; one can’t help but laugh and get enthused while sitting through her class. Her energy spreads throughout Devlin 008, reaching even the back rows.
Stepping into her office, the positive vibes continued to flow as she pointed out all her knick-knacks and memorabilia that she has collected over the years, accumulated mostly from students and TAs, ranging from snuggies to presidential bobble heads. Dr. Jefferson has it all.
Now as a girl from a small town in Virginia, I was pleased to hear her charming personality and ambition was harvested on her family farm in a town of about 200 people in West Virginia, where Dr. Jefferson claims you would find her, “laying out, talking and being ridiculous” with her cousin Anna. Her face lit up when she reflected back on her absolute favorite activity: rowing on the river with friends. Her idol was Katharine Hepburn because she was such a bold and interesting woman, traits Jefferson’s students also admire in her.
Dr. Jefferson has always been strong willed. By age twelve, she declared she wanted to be a teacher, and even her mother, a grade school secretary, found it bizarre that Bonnie was so eager to go to school. At the time, most women didn’t continue their educations, and Jefferson was the first to attend college in her family as an undergrad at Marshall University (Go Thundering herd!). Jefferson’s love for rhetoric was cultivated during her time at Marshall as she pursued her two passions: history and theater.
When she began teaching at Boston College, she started as a CSOM professional speaking professor (thank goodness she’s seen the light since and has graced us Comm majors with her presence!). She left us for a brief time to teach at Stonehill College but returned to BC and just couldn’t stay away! At BC, she met her friend of twenty-five years, Rita Rosenthal, who also teaches in the Communication Department here.
At the end of this year, Jefferson will be embarking on a new stage of her life, experiencing the thrills of retirement. Although we are sad to see her go, we’re excited for her to channel her energy towards her new passion: grandchildren. She has one daughter in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and one in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Jefferson predicts a move for her and her husband in the near future. Her friends, who have donned themselves “Martha’s Vineyards Communications Association,” threw her a grandma shower, and she hopes there are more to come! Jefferson gushes over her time spent with her little granddaughter, Sophie, who she will not see until Christmas but is forever grateful for the wonders of Skype.
Jefferson’s final token of advice to BC collegiettes™, “as a student it is important that you figure out a major that you just absolutely, desperately love. If you don’t love it or the content you’re learning, you’re in the wrong major.” Follow your passions, as Jefferson followed hers, and some day you, too, may be a Her Campus celebrity.