Cira Mervin already had 10 children when she took a job in Harris Hall as an administrative assistant for the office of African American Student Affairs in 1987. But as coworkers, students and friends gather today to celebrate her retirement from her position as Student Government office manager almost 20 years later, she recalls several other “children” she adopted while working at the University. Former student body presidents, chief justices and senate presidents found places in Mervin’s heart because they “let her in,” she said, and she stays in contact with them regardless of distance and time apart.
Among them was Jenny Chang, who served as Student Body President for the 1998-1999 academic year.
“My relationship with Jenny was mother-daughter,” Mervin said. “We bonded immediately. The first year she was elected, she came into the office during that summer — it was me and Jenny all summer long. We worked together to set up her office and get our staff together — a lot of times, it was just the two of us in the office all day.”
Mervin said she fondly remembers the year of Chang’s presidency as “the year of the women,” because female students Alexis Mei served as Student Senate President and Jamie Brown served as Student Chief Justice.
She described the women as “determined” and Chang as “strong.” Chang battled breast cancer from 2002 until April 2006 when she passed away.
Several other student leaders from years past are among Mervin’s “family” such as Chad Myers, 1997 to 1998, Darryl Willie, 2000 to 2001 and Tony Caravano, 2003 to 2005, to name a few.
Caravano said this tie was especially evident in his first year at N.C. State.
“When I was a freshman, she played the role of my family basically when I first met her,” he said. “She took good care of me because she knew I was an out-of-state student.”
In the aftermath of the tailgate shootings outside of Carter Finley Stadium in 2004, Caravano said Mervin assisted him with his responsibilities as a student leader.
“It was a really stressful time for myself and for Will Quick [the Student Senate President at the time],” he said.
Caravano said he appeared on the news and in front of various groups with the goal of reassuring students and viewers of the safety of the University.
“I would talk through what I was going to say [with Mervin] to make sure that it was appropriate and that it was reflective of our campus,” he said.
He said that year, Mervin became a close friend.
“The office was run perfectly [by Mervin]. I always knew where everything was. Her system was flawless — it afforded her the time to help out with some other things,” he said.
And among those other things, he said, was the time she took to work with the students as they went through the process of growing up.
“Sometimes [working as Student Government office manager is] a curse, and sometimes it’s a blessing,” Mervin said. “The blessing is, you love them and they are great and they are wonderful, and the curse is, they leave.”
But the initial switch from African American Student Affairs to her in the Student Government office in 1996 was a challenge, Mervin said.
“It was a little different because it was me and another woman that worked in the office — she was part time,” she said. “Everybody that I worked with closely were students, instead of a lot of the advisers and directors that I worked with over in Harris Hall.”
Mervin said “every day was different,” and she adjusted to work without a definite job description.
Some days she made copies. Others, she worked with finances and budgets. On several occasions, Mervin said she spent hours talking with the Student Body President at the time.
One of the most difficult tasks – at first – was filtering calls. She said it was her job to locate student body officers to notify them of meetings or to ask them to complete tasks. This process became easier with the growing use of cell phones, Mervin said.
And then there were the controversies.
“The hard thing was to work through fee increases,” she said. “The students had their feelings and they were trying to save money. The administration knew what needed to happen. Sometimes it was very difficult working through that time because everyone had such passionate views.”
Elections, Mervin said, were also trying at times. She said her motto during heated runoffs or controversial elections was one she borrowed from author and journalist Anna Quindlen – “Show up, listen and try to laugh.”
Mervin said she dealt with these times by “making the best of things, and being there and listening and…letting the students vent. Because sometimes, when you feel so passionate about things, you don’t hear what you’re saying until you say it to someone else.”
She said she could “see all sides” of disputes within the Student Government, and sometimes, the sheer passion students had kept them from communicating with each other.
“It was difficult, but it was learning experience for them and for me,” she said. “[Students are] going to be the ones running the world. They needed to be able to talk and argue and be passionate.”
Will Quick, last year’s student body president said he frequently consulted with Mervin when he was stressed or looking for someone who had the perspective of experience.
Quick said Mervin was a resource for every project he worked on during his years in Student Government.
“It’s easy to come up with ideas, but you’ve got to have somebody who’s willing to make phone calls and reserve spaces for events,” he said. “We could keep coming up with ideas and know that the back end was covered by [Mervin].”
In the midst of everything, Mervin said her work in the office helped to “keep her young.” It was the students she worked with that taught her to use her PDA, her computer and her cell phone.
And, in turn, she said she attempted to “put a face on older people” for the students.
“[I told them] if they were voting on social security and health care, to please remember me!” she said, laughing.
In her final year as office manager, Mervin took time off to care for her husband of 32 years.
“I wanted to spend more time at home while my husband was recovering from surgery,” she said. “The University was so patient with me. They let me be out when I needed to be out.”
She said, the patience came from students and administrators alike.
“Paul Cousins [director of the Office of Student Conduct] was so supportive of me as my supervisor,” she said. “He is my dear friend.”
Then, Mervin said, she made the decision to retire.
“Sometimes when you look at a situation, you realize that it’s time,” she said.
And, although she majored in psychology and worked in a few other fields before beginning her career at the University, she said she treasures her experience.
“I don’t think I could have chosen anything that I enjoyed more than being at N.C. State,” she said. “I felt that I was among a lot of people that loved me.”
As she looks to the future, Mervin said she wants to write, as well as decorate. But, that doesn’t mean she will lose contact with the students she’s worked with over the past 20 years.
The guest room in her house is frequently occupied by former student leaders who come to visit. And, if they don’t come to stay, Mervin said they always call to catch up.
“I never realized how much I loved [the students] until I knew that it was time to go,” she said.