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Dees, Lillian

Lillian Dees

Biography

Lillian Dees first came to Southwest Texas State College in 1962 as as administrative assistant for the journalism department and news and information service. She worked in the College News Service for Dr. Bruce Roche during the years leading up to Lyndon Johnson’s presidency.

She then worked as an administrative assistant to the dean of the School of Liberal Arts before being named director of the LBJ Student Center.  When she retired from the Student Center (circa 2017), she continued to teach as a senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology.

Dees earned her BA in 1984 and her MA in 1989 from Texas State University. She received an Alumni Achiever Award, presented by the Texas State University Alumni Association, in 1995.

Texas 150 Oral History

Lillian Dees talks about her experiences working under many different deans, including Bruce Roche, Ralph Houston, and Keith Lovin, and departments, including Journalism and News Service and Liberal Arts. She describes how she acquired her final position as director of the LBJ Student Center. She also recalls the changes in the campus, including buildings and student body population, over the twenty-year period that she was employed at Texas State University. She discusses changing university administrations, alluding to President James McCrocklin, interim president Jerome Cates, and others. She recalls "Lillian Dees Day," which was created by Dr. Keith Lovin.

 

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PDF Transcript, October 25, 1985
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HTML Transcript, October 25, 1985

Full audio is available for this interview.  Request via Ask an Archivist.

LBJ100 Oral History

Lillian Dees talks about being a College News Service employee at the time of Lyndon Johnson’s visits to campus. She remembers details about President McCrocklin’s inauguration and the signing of the Higher Education Act – two formal events for which President Johnson was on campus – and seeing the Secret Service or FBI sharpshooters on the roofs of campus buildings. A personal highlight was meeting Johnson’s press secretary, George Reedy. Dees talks about her job working with members of the national press who were on campus to cover Johnson’s visits, and how Johnson always remembered and recognized people.

Transcript icon
PDF Transcript, May 6, 2008 (not yet available online)
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HTML Transcript, May 6, 2008

Full audio is available for this interview.  Request via Ask an Archivist.