As she came back to campus and attended Homecoming celebrations and Conservatory Alumni Reunions, Karen Dromie Becker ’77 “saw how much Shenandoah had grown. Not just with the number of buildings or the increased enrollment. But with energy, vitality and a spirit of inclusion. And most of all with an overwhelming opportunity for students to learn and blossom and be at their very best.” Karen hopes to utilize her position on the Alumni Board to help the university “continue to flourish” and to “introduce Shenandoah to prospective students.”
After graduating from Shenandoah Conservatory with degrees in music education and piano,Karen worked at a computer company called Olivetti, where she met her future husband, Don. She then worked for Verizon for more than 30 years in various positions, including service representative, trainer/instructor, business office team leader and staff manager and specialist for the Office of Credit Management. Becker said she applied what she learned as a music education major at Shenandoah to her work as a trainer/instructor.
Now retired, Karen volunteers at Tabby’s Place, a shelter for cats with special needs and/or severe medical conditions, in Ringoes, New Jersey. She is also an executive board member of the Hunterdon Warren Group of the NJ Sierra Club, and previously served as the NJ Democratic State Committee Representative in Hunterdon County, and as the liaison to the Hunterdon County Young Democrats. Karen divides her time between volunteer commitments and the Delaware beaches, and she is an avid international traveler. She aspires to visit Palmoli, Italy – the village from which her grandmother and family emigrated.