MAYS LANDING — Current and former colleagues from the fields of academia and nursing, as well as numerous alumni, friends and family, took a moment on July 16 to wish outgoing Atlantic Cape Community College Dean of Nursing Myrna Morales Keklak a happy and healthy retirement, while raising funds towards the creation of a $15,000 endowment.
Morales Keklak, who began her tenure at Atlantic Cape back in 2001 as an assistant professor, had announced her intention to step away from the College on July 31 after a successful 24-year run. Over the course of her two-plus decades of leadership at Atlantic Cape, Morales Keklak was promoted several times thanks to her dedication and hard work. Under her leadership, the College saw a successful launch of its evening Nursing program and the Practical Nursing (PN) program, which significantly expanded nursing education for students across the region. The Nursing program also earned some of the highest national council licensure examination (NCLEX) scores in its history during her tenure.
She was also committed to the College through her involvement in many committees and events as a club advisor, by developing a summer boot camp for new nursing students and serving as the chair for both the Nursing and PN Advisory Boards.
Over the years, Morales Keklak received numerous awards like the Atlantic Cape Faculty Member of the Year Award in 2007 and accolades from the New Jersey Board of Nursing for exceptional quality of the self-studies submitted for the PN program.
“We are here tonight to honor Myrna because we appreciate all that she has done for Atlantic Cape and our students. We hate to see her go, but we understand that the time comes and the foundation that she has laid is because of all that she's done. We're so glad that we could be here to say that we thank you and we recognize your efforts,” said a grateful Atlantic Cape President Dr. Barbara Gaba.
Morales Keklak started her nursing career in 1982 when she earned her associate degree in Nursing from Brookdale Community College. She then went on to earn her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Kean University and Master's in Nursing from Seton Hall University.
As a single mother, Morales Keklak courageously put herself through nursing school while also supporting herself and her young daughter, Melissa, who recalled the struggles they endured, but fondly highlighted her mother’s positivity and perseverance.
“I was a very small child at the time, but I remember all the struggles, all the challenges very clearly, but my mom kept saying to me, ‘please hang on, please hang on, because when I get my nursing degree, our lives are going to change.’ She would wake me at 5 a.m., before I had to be at school, to drop me off at the babysitter so she could get to her first job, then go to clinical and school at night. I hung in there with her because I believed in her.
“When we talk about things like single parenthood, it’s because she really didn’t have support systems and resources. I share this with you tonight because I want you to understand that commitment, that sentiment and the challenges are all things that all nursing students go through, and my mother has never forgotten that. It is what has kept her student-centered, and at the end of the day, as she reminds me so eloquently, so humble.”
Morales Keklak learned the art of positivity, gratitude and self-worth from her mother, Rosa Morales Vasquez, who had a second-grade education and only spoke Spanish when she moved to the United States with her husband, who was U.S. Army combat soldier.
“My parents lived the American dream. They believed the way to achieve that dream was through education. My mother laid the groundwork for my two brothers and I. She could barely read, but she wanted us to read and encouraged us to do well in school. She told us to take our education seriously and to make something of ourselves,” said Morales Keklak, who lived in Puerto Rico until she was seven, then lived in military housing before ultimately moving to the U.S. when she was in the eighth grade after her father retired. “We were raised with manners. She taught my brothers how to tie a tie, to clean and polish their shoes. She taught us these basic human traits of cleanliness, neatness and respect.”
Growing up in a small, two-bedroom apartment in Long Branch, NJ with her parents and two brothers, Morales Keklak and her family may not have had many material possessions, but her mother ensured that they all felt worthy and valued.
“We didn’t have a lot, but we never felt anything less than valued,” said Morales Keklak. “Because of the way my mother raised us we always felt like we had potential, so we always believed that we could be something.”
Thanks to her mother’s unyielding support and daily message of belief in her children, Morales Keklak and her husband, Peter, decided to create an endowment at the College in her mother’s memory. Morales Keklak is proud that her mother learned to speak English by completing her English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and eventually earned her GED, as well.
“I wanted this scholarship to be representative of what she did for us, which in turn allowed us to do it for our children and now it allows me to do it for someone else too,” said Morales Keklak, who closed her remarks with an abundance of gratitude for all who have played a part in her life’s journey.
“I have gratitude for my parents who, in spite of poverty, prejudice, and issues of language, believed in the American dream and the role of education in establishing that dream. I have gratitude for my community college education because what many don't seem to know is that for someone like me a community college education was the cornerstone of my success.”
View a photo gallery of this event on Flickr here.
Visit atlanticcape.edu/give to learn how you may support Atlantic Cape and its students.
About Atlantic Cape Community College
Atlantic Cape Community College is a Middle States accredited, 2022 Achieving the Dream Leader College and Hispanic Serving Institution proudly serving the residents of Atlantic and Cape May counties. As a comprehensive, two-year community college, Atlantic Cape offers 47 undergraduate degree programs, and 34 certificate and professional series programs at its Mays Landing, Atlantic City and Cape May County campuses. Atlantic Cape is home to the renowned Academy of Culinary Arts, rated the top culinary school in New Jersey, and for more than 50 years, our highly-acclaimed Nursing program. Atlantic Cape also partners with more than 30 colleges and four-year universities to offer students the opportunity to seamlessly earn a bachelor’s degree upon graduation.
