Virginia Glynn Barr

UWF degree and year of graduation:
BS Sociology, 1970

Why did you choose to attend UWF?
It wasn’t my original plan to attend UWF, as I had been accepted at FSU. However, I decided to make a visit to campus and met with the chairman of the Sociology Department, Dr. Ray Oldenburg. During our meeting, he mapped out my entire course work, semester by semester, that I needed to graduate in the next two years. As he spoke about the campus, I realized that I wanted to return to this very perfectly sized university. My experience had been very student focused, unrushed, and quite unlike any other college I had visited. I knew before I left that day that I would be returning to UWF.

What were your goals as a student?
My primary goals were to graduate, to be financially self-sufficient, and to have a career in a profession that somehow made a difference.

What is your best memory from your days at UWF?
My best memory is today’s reality that I met my best friend, Ann Stewart Peebles, while living in the dorm at UWF. Our 40-year friendship encompassed working on the first two UWF yearbooks and has continued through weddings, husbands, organizing a UWF Alumni chapter, electing her husband, Bill Peebles, to the County Commission, and our most recent work is with the Homeless Continuum of Care in Okaloosa County. The UWF play, "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," gave me acting experience which not only helped me as a frequent public speaker throughout my career, it led to an offer to perform with a professional summer stock theater in Pennsylvania.

Who was your favorite professor and why?
Dr. Ray Oldenburg was my major professor and his encouragement had a very strong impact on me. My psychology professor, Dr. Goldberg, began directing my thoughts toward graduate school, and Dr. Zimmerman’s classes were endlessly fascinating. I have been fortunate to serve on committees and projects with many UWF faculty and administrators since graduation.

What do you do now?
I am the Executive Director of the Mental Health Association in Okaloosa and Walton Counties. The Agency is a mental health education and resource creation, not-for-profit agency. Prior to this position, I was a clinical therapist and group home administrator in the public mental health sector. After earning a Master’s Degree in Social Work Administration, it was my goal to become the director of a human services organization.

How did UWF help you progress to this point?
UWF gave me my first community organizing and leadership experience as head of University Women’s Council during my undergraduate years. The Council and other student groups successfully lobbied the administration to change the women’s curfew to match the men’s curfew. After graduation, Dorothy Stewart, the first UWF Alumni Director, kept many of us involved with alumni work, which subsequently led to a 2nd leadership opportunity as the President of the UWF National Alumni Association. Both experiences were valuable preparation for other leadership responsibilities in life. Over time, I realized that UWF never stops being a life-long educational factor in my life.

Outside of work, what kind of activities and organizations are you currently involved in and what are your hobbies?
Fortunately, living on the gulf coast provides lots of balance to my life. My husband and I live in a 1930’s former summer house that requires constant restoration. In addition, I have a great love for antiques, my pontoon boat, and traveling at every opportunity. Community involvement is still very important to me. I serve as the Treasurer of the Okaloosa/Walton Homeless Continuum, Chair of the Mental Health Managed Care Advisory Council, the Board of Trustees of West Florida Community Care Hospital and am a sustaining member of the Junior League of the Emerald Coast.

How do you stay connected to UWF?
I stay in touch with fellow alumni, serve on university committees and find that I am a member of community and professional boards with former faculty members. UWF is involved in many day-to-day aspects of my life.

What advice do you have to current and future UWF students?
Immerse yourself in UWF, not just the campus party life, but take advantage of the political and academic opportunities for the field in which you are training. As an example: little did I know that my experience with the UWF yearbook would provide me with an understanding of layout and design that I use in my job today. Learn to say yes when you can, and no when it’s not good for you or your academics.

What quality makes UWF special or unique?
UWF has many appealing qualities. It is the size and the personal one-on-one attention. UWF was a very nurturing living and learning experience. When I was an undergraduate, the school was new, the faculty knew all the students by name, and the administration was always willing to listen. I think that all of us, the school and the students, all grew up together. The faculty relationships; UWF keeps up with its alumni and has an enormously empowering sense of community that is rare. UWF is a microcosm of your future…. What you learn there will prepare you for the real world. The time I spent at UWF was magical, we thought it was Camelot. I think that UWF was the best gift ever received!

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