USD Icon Nancy McCahren Walks Down Memory Lane
“That’s my brother, Tex,” McCahren says as she points to a photo. “He played basketball for the U. the year they went to Bradley University – undefeated at the time – and beat them by three points.”
She moves on to a small volleyball gifted and signed by the USD volleyball team to thank McCahren for a donation she made to the team. Next is the Empire Lifestyle magazine in which she is featured on the cover, holding a basketball. The medallion she received from actor Kevin Costner is around her neck. Of course, she is wearing her signature red.
McCahren continues to make her way through each photograph and memory, and once she’s done, she sits down – her USD blanket next to her – to prepare to answer questions about her life as a Coyote. Her legacy.
“The best part about being a Coyote is that it has been my life,” says McCahren. “There isn’t anything that means more to me in my whole life than the university.”
The daughter of Carl B. “Rube” Hoy, a longtime USD basketball and track coach and athletic director, McCahren grew up in Vermillion, South Dakota.
“When I was five years old, I started watching football and basketball games at USD. I didn’t like the football games. It was too cold,” McCahren remembers. “But I loved the basketball games because I could go and sit with Mother, right in the front row of the auditorium. I spent a lot of time there.
“I’ve been cheering for the Coyotes my whole life,” McCahren continues. “The university has been my home and my life.”
When the time came for McCahren to pursue her college education, there was no alternative in her mind – USD was the only choice.
“My mother suggested I attend the University of Nebraska, but when I was in high school, the University of Nebraska beat the Coyotes 50 to nothing,” McCahren recalls. “So I thought, ‘Are you kidding? I’m not going to Nebraska.’ I’ve loved Vermillion, and I’ve loved the university. If I had to do it over, I would do it the same.”
Her choice to attend USD started what became a long history of McCahren’s service to the university.
In total, McCahren has three degrees from USD: a B.A. in English, an M.A. in French and an Ed.D. in educational administration.
She went on to serve in USD’s Department of English from 1962-1965 and again from 1966-1987. McCahren also worked in the Office of Student Life from 1968-1984 and the Department of Modern Languages from 1982-1990. In 1990, she brought her talents to the USD Alumni Association and served as executive director until she retired in 2004.
McCahren fondly remembers teaching the advanced writing courses and proudly boasts the fact that her students used pen and paper to write their essays.
Many of McCahren’s students – including former USD President James W. Abbott ’74, ’70 – have contacted her to express their gratitude for the rigorous standards McCahren set.
“I got a letter from a former student, who I hadn’t heard from since he graduated, who got a job with Texas Instruments. He said he got the job out of eight candidates because he could write,” McCahren says with a smile.
Though teaching was her first love, McCahren – a Theta herself – also enjoyed being the advisor for Sorority and Fraternity Life. She remembers one Sigma Alpha Epsilon student in particular: Vance Thompson ’86, ’82, who was interfraternity council recruitment (IFC) president at the time.
“Vance Thompson was the smartest, most thoughtful, most involved student and IFC president,” McCahren says. “At Christmas time, he rang my doorbell and brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers.”
McCahren possesses a wealth of memories about USD, and while she could recount stories for hours, what truly matters to her is the profound impact of the people she encountered.
“The legacy of USD has been the real involvement, love and commitment from the people who have been here – from the very first president to the current president, from the very first student to the ones who are here now,” McCahren says. “It’s the people.”
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