Few people can probably say that they remember the exact date that they first set foot on their alma mater’s campus — especially if that day was more than six decades ago when they couldn’t even spell “college” yet.
That’s not why Corynne Courpas ’76 was named the 2023 Alum of the Year, but it’s certainly a demonstration of the love and dedication she has had for McDaniel College (formerly Western Maryland College) since Wednesday, Aug. 5, 1959, a date that lives on in her memory and her heart as the introduction to the college that changed her life.
On that summer day in 1959, 5-year-old Courpas accompanied her dad to the Baltimore Colts practice on the Hill. “Dad was a big Colts fan and a vendor who sold National Bohemian beer, so he got tickets to come to practice one day and he brought me,” she recalls. “From the first time I set foot on the campus, my dad — even more than me — fell in love with it.”
Fast forward about 12 years when Courpas was college searching: she knew she wanted to stay fairly close to home in Reisterstown, but she also wanted to live on campus. “Dad was just such a fan of Western Maryland that even though it seemed a little out of our reach, he was determined to make it happen for me,” she says. “That meant so much to me.”
After graduation, Courpas made Westminster her home permanently, and she’s been working to make a difference in the college and the community ever since. We talked with her about how the different phases of her life have led her to being named Alum of the Year for 2023.
I majored in Biology kind of on a whim. I had a feeling in the back of my mind that I might wind up in science, though I thought I wasn’t cut out for medicine. I took the state employment test and scored very well and got an interview at Springfield Hospital Center in Sykesville. I was hired as a medical technologist, and it was the last thing in the world I ever wanted to do, but I came to really like the job and the challenges.
About seven or eight years in, I started thinking about my future and next steps as a state employee, and I found out I’d gone as far as I could go in my area. So, I decided to go back to school to get a second bachelor’s degree in Business. Thankfully, a professor advised me to go to University of Baltimore, where they would let me enroll in the Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) immediately. He saved me about three years of my life. I had such an amazingly well-rounded undergraduate education at WMC that I only needed to take two or three prerequisite courses alongside my graduate courses. I completed my M.B.A. in 1987, taking just a little over two years.
By this time, I had 11 years of experience as a med tech and had worked in my family restaurant business my whole life. I realized I wanted to get back into food service instead of medical equipment sales. I started working at Carroll County Foods on Dec. 21, 1987; the company merged with Performance Foodservice (PFG) in 2000, and by the time I retired in 2020, it was a Fortune 200 company.
“I had opportunities that my parents never had, and it just seemed like it was my responsibility to give back, to pay it forward. And I’ll be totally honest: you get more than you give. Hundreds of friends that I’ve made in this community were made through my volunteer work, through meeting other people that volunteer and give of themselves no matter their capacity. It’s an amazing network.”
When I started at PFG, I got a little bored because I was used to working two or three jobs and going to school. That’s when I started getting back into volunteering in the community.
I remembered my parents being involved when Paul Sarbanes ran for Congress back in the 1970s, so I got involved in my first national political campaign in 1988 when Michael Dukakis ran for president. I’ve been involved politically with the Democratic party on the local, state, and national levels ever since. I even served as an elector for the Electoral College for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and following the 2022 elections, I was named secretary of the Maryland Democratic Party.
The first board that I ever served on was at the YMCA, which Carroll “Splinter” Yingling ’68 had invited me to. We always talk about giving time, talent, and treasure; I had a fair amount of time, a little bit of talent, and no treasure. But that was my first board, and it was all because of Splinter’s support and encouragement. Since then, I’ve been involved with the Y, Carroll County Arts Council, The Arc of Carroll County, Carroll County NAACP, Carroll County Torch Club, and Carroll County American Wine Society.
I had opportunities that my parents never had, and it just seemed like it was my responsibility to give back, to pay it forward. And I’ll be totally honest: you get more than you give. Hundreds of friends that I’ve made in this community were made through my volunteer work, through meeting other people that volunteer and give of themselves no matter their capacity. It’s an amazing network.
This has been my home since 1977, and I have strived to contribute to my community. While I have no children of my own, I am actively involved in the lives of my nieces and nephews, and I strive to make Carroll County a better place for their futures.
Splinter and Marcus “Lee” Primm ’89 got me involved in the Carroll County Student Grant Program (CCSGP) at McDaniel, which was my first fundraising experience. The next thing I did was join the Alumni Council, and I have been involved in the Sports Hall of Fame and the Alumni Awards Committee in the past. I served as president of the council from 2007 to 2009, and I am currently the vice chair of the WMC Heritage Society.
But a lot of my involvement in the college is a little more casual. It’s responding to the requests like “Can you show up for this event? Can you help hand out caps at graduation?” I love being local and being able to do those things. It’s great to be welcomed and to always have people be so appreciative of everything you do at the college.
It all started for me the year after I graduated, when I got my first call asking for money. The first check I wrote to the college was probably $10 or $20. That grew over time, and I have given to the college every year since the year after I graduated. But I always felt like the college helped me out when I needed it, so I needed to give back what I could. That lesson in philanthropy was really important to me. You should not be embarrassed to give a little bit. Every little bit you give helps.
Meeting the students is also really encouraging. Being in politics, I hear all the time that young people don’t care. And that’s not true. They do care, and a lot of them are just absolutely wonderful people. I’ve gone on two Jan Term trips as an alum, and I have just been blown away by the students. They are bright and ambitious and dedicated. You get more than you give when you engage with the campus, with the staff, and most of all with the students.
“My takeaway in this recognition is that you don’t have to graduate at the top of your class. You don’t have to give a million dollars. You don’t have to do any one huge thing. People look at all the little things you’ve done over the years, and it adds up to something meaningful.”
I was shocked. I was not an outstanding student, and I wasn’t really involved on the campus because of my need to work a lot. So, I guess my body of work — my years of community service and college service and my career — all of that taken together really means something to the people that are watching.
My takeaway in this recognition is that you don’t have to graduate at the top of your class. You don’t have to give a million dollars. You don’t have to do any one huge thing. People look at all the little things you’ve done over the years, and it adds up to something meaningful.
Knowing that I’m appreciated in that light, it just means the world to me. From being nominated by Don Hobart ’62 for the Alumni College Service Award in 2014 to this most recent honor, I was and am so grateful to be part of the Western Maryland and McDaniel College community, and to be seen as someone deserving of recognition in a circle of people who inspire me every day is incredibly special.