在西方大学学生事务办公室领导超过25年, 布里吉达·克瑙尔(1935-2023)引领住宅生活进入现代
Even before he arrived at Occidental, 1982年的本·鲍尔迈斯特知道布丽吉达·克瑙尔这个名字，简称布里格. 他回忆说:“在我大一入学前的那个夏天，我母亲在布林莫尔的一个研讨会上认识了布里格。. At the time, Knauer was associate dean of students at Oxy, and “my mom had basically warned Brig to keep an eye on me, which she did.”
Several years later, as a resident adviser in Haines Hall Annex, 鲍尔迈斯特参加了一个深夜对另一个走廊的恶作剧(“有些规则可能被打破了”)。. 由于缺乏睡眠，我在去8a的路上穿过四方广场.m. 当一个同学告诉我布里格要我在10点前到她的办公室时，”他回忆道. “How did she already know?”
Later that morning, 布里格没有把书扔向我，而是让我知道有一本书——一本很大的书——而且它就在她的手中.” Seeing Knauer years later in Port Townsend, Washington, he adds, “that candor, 火花, and solid core were a joy to experience again.”
Knauer, who died at age 88 in Port Townsend on May 17, 2023, 在西方大学学生事务办公室25年的职业生涯中，他受到了几代奥施康定学生的喜爱，无疑也受到了不少人的恐惧. “Brig always came across as a tough-as-nails dean, and she certainly could be that,” recalls Ralph Mayo ’82. “但在她的外表下，她是一个非常有爱心的人，她总是尽她所能帮助你度过个人或教育危机. 在我需要的时候，我再也找不到比你更支持我的人了.”
“Brig was a 岩石—patient, 种类, very funny, supportive, rational, and all around wonderful,” says Kathy Andrews ’79, 她在奥克西大学的最后一年担任诺里斯宿舍的总住客. “她建立社区的方式多得我无法形容——不仅仅是宿舍员工, but with the larger campus community.”
A graduate of UC Berkeley and Stanford, where she earned a master’s in student personnel administration, Knauer came to Occidental as dean of women in 1967. Previously, 她曾是斯坦福大学“女性区”(Women’s Row)的主任，大二的时候住了八个宿舍, junior, and senior women. She was named associate dean of students in 1970, when gender-specific positions were abolished, and succeeded Ben Culley as dean of students a decade later.
教务长是校园里要求最高的职位之一——不可预测且压力很大. In the 1970s, as associate dean of students, Knauer oversaw the work of the director of residence, 13 head residents (HRs), 以及40名常驻顾问(RAs)——负责从宿舍抽签到纪律处分程序的一系列职责.
But her work touched every aspect of student life. During the Vietnam War, 她的任务之一是帮助那些希望逃避兵役的男学生(那些成绩不佳的人有失去延期的风险)。. “我给一些出于良心拒服兵役的学生写信,” Knauer recalled in 1992. 她每年还担任一些学生的学术顾问.
After Knauer was named dean of students in 1980, she oversaw increases in counseling services, expansion of the residence life staff, and establishment of a volunteer programs center. As a member of the College Council in the mid-1980s, 她在制定和实施Oxy的第一个性骚扰政策方面发挥了重要作用.
“Clear-eyed but optimistic, 布里格一直坚定不移地致力于支持学生, defending, encouraging, and understanding,” says Mel Malmberg ’79, 她是在大四的时候认识Knauer的，当时她还是诺里斯学院的助理教授. 她对待同事也是如此——她是一位极好的导师和朋友，有着辛辣的幽默感和深厚的人性.”
Malmberg在20世纪80年代初回到Oxy，在校友办公室工作了几年. “我们几个女性管理人员会在上班前在鹰岩的辛迪餐厅见面, and share anecdotes and a few choice expressions,” she recalls. “It was hard not to spit out my coffee once Brig got going.”
上世纪70年代末，埃丽卡·鲍迈斯特(Rechtin Bauermeister)在Knauer手下担任助理和人力资源经理. “布里格对我来说是一个启示——我以前从未遇到过如此直率的人.,” she says. “She never put you off or talked down to you, and you knew she would hold whatever line she had drawn. 她像熊妈妈一样支持她的常驻顾问. 在我在奥施康定遇到的所有人中，她是我最渴望效仿的榜样.”
克瑙尔是那些追随她职业脚步的人的朋友和导师. “During my time at Oxy, I was heavily involved in student housing, being an RA my junior year and HR my senior year,” Pam Raymer-Lea ’76 recalls. 当时雷默-李正在印第安纳大学攻读大学管理硕士学位, Knauer offered her the job of residences director at Occidental. “I turned her down because I wanted to finish my degree,” she says. “我不知道有多少次我怀疑这是不是一个正确的决定. While Brig and I stayed in contact and occasionally had lunch, 我想知道，如果我接受了那份工作，我还能从她那里学到什么.”
Like others who worked with her, 雷默-李看到了克瑙尔不像她的行政角色的一面. “Brig was 种类, caring, and truly cared about students,” she says. “I think many of my friends thought that she was cold and hard, 但她也负责学生纪律，并告诉我，她不能被视为软弱.” In fact, she continues, Knauer“经常要求我传达学生纪律的积极结果, student housing, or billing fees to a student and not attach her to it. 她经常和我谈论学生，提到他们的名字和他们的情况. I was astounded that she cared so much, knew so much, and truly wanted to take care of those students who needed it.”
When Knauer announced her retirement in 1992, 校长约翰·布鲁克斯·斯劳特(John Brooks Slaughter)指出，“在学院历史上最困难的时期，她在学生事务办公室(Office of Student Affairs)工作，并以勇气和信念指导了学院的学生生活项目。.”
“By and large, I’ve enjoyed my job through the years,” Knauer told Occidental magazine at the time of her retirement. Talking to writer Kathryn Zirbel ’87, she recounted some of the more inventive pranks that happened on her watch: the dismantling and reassembling of a Volkswagen Beetle in the lobby of Stewie; shopping-cart races with mattress buffers in the residence halls; and the transformation of the area in front of Thorne Hall into a parking lot. “当然，别人开的玩笑总是更有趣，”她说.
In later years, Knauer搬到了长滩，并担任非营利组织Alamitos Bay Beach Preservation Group的董事会主席. 她在那里的领导使她被任命为长滩运输公司的董事会成员. 2006年，Knauer搬到了汤森港，在当地的食品银行做志愿者.
Survivors include her spouse, trustee emerita Kristine Morris ’76; nephew Steven Ross ’73 and his wife, Maren (Sowerby) Ross ’75; and great-niece Kathryn Ross ’03.
