Last month, the RWC family lost a wonderful woman and professor by the name of Mei Ying Minnich. Professor Minnich, who died December 19 at the age of 52, was a professor in the RWC English Department and devoted a lot of her time to tutoring in the Writing Lab. However, that’s not what she’ll be remembered for most.According to close friend Professor Maria Damen, her personality is what will stick in the minds of the people that met her. Always a very open person, Damen said Professor Minnich had a heart for helping people and making friends. Professor Minnich’s impact was strongest in her relationship with international students, Damen said.
Around once a quarter or so, she would invite students to come to the Writing Lab and bring food from their native countries and have a party of sorts, sharing the food and laughs.
“The most incredible thing about her,” Damen said, “was that as a tutor and as a teacher, she viewed students as friends.”
Professor Minnich, in more than a decade at RWC, touched the lives of many people with her kind and warm heart, Damen said. She always went the extra mile for students to make sure they had the opportunity to succeed, not just in school, but in life as a whole. She will be missed.