Dr. Ethel Rackin, is a professor in our English department as well as an academic advisor. Since beginning her time working at Bucks in 2010, she’s been able to positively impact our English Department.
Coming from a familial legacy in the educational world, her father teaches at Temple University and her mother at the University of Pennsylvania. Rackin’s personal connection to the world of writers was a prime motivator for pursuing her career. Which then led her to start the first six years of her professional life as an editor for the American Poetry Review. Another one of her drives came strongly from her time under the wing of Gerald Stern, an American poet who taught literature and creative writing at Raritan Valley Community College and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
Aside from her educational expertise, Rackin has been able to put together two crucial events that now contribute regularly to the school’s English field. The Wordsmiths Reading Series and the Bucks County Laureate Program.
Thanks to the first Wordsmiths event, Rackin was been able to personally meet, and assist others in meeting a multitude of writers. Including poets Charles Simic, Richard Blanco and Brenda Hillman. She stated, “I am proud that I had the opportunity to bring in some of the nation’s most important living writers to do public readings and talks at the college,” said Rackin.
Throughout her time at Bucks, she has held a potent admiration and high hopes for all the next generations of English majors coming and going. She said, “I absolutely adore our English majors. They are, as a group, really intelligent, really fired up, have gone on to transfer to great institutions, have gone on to great professional lives including becoming teachers, going into publishing, going into journalism, and many other related fields. So, my hopes for my students here at Bucks are as high as they go. Because I have seen so many students really thrive here, and succeed in the world of writing and language arts.”
This level of personal connection to her past students has led her back in-touch with some of them, and getting to experience, to her pride and pleasure, what works they had to share with the rest of the world.
“Often when you’re teaching, you don’t really know whether you’re having a positive effect on students. A lot of times it can be hard to tell, and you don’t necessarily form close friendships with students while they are your students. But it is extremely rewarding after the fact to know that those students succeed”, Rackin confessed.
Now she spends her time at Bucks, further helping both faculty and students alike, and all the while making a mark that would inspire past and future writers to remember the lessons and moments at Bucks with her guidance.