Dr. Keith Meyer’s Story

An Interview with Odyssey supporter Dr. Keith Meyer

 

Dr. Keith Meyer

Why have you chosen to donate so much money to the Odyssey Project?

I have watched this wonderful program grow and flourish over the 22 years since Emily (my wife) got it organized and functioning. I have seen firsthand how this program blossomed and really has provided tremendous opportunities for people who had been disadvantaged socially and economically, allowing them to get on a path to a higher education rather than having no hope for a better future.

 

In addition to knowing that your in-laws came out of poverty through free higher education at Berea College, what in your own family story makes you believe in providing access to nontraditional students?

Ruby Meyer earned her high school degree at 55 and bachelor’s at 61

Both of my parents were descendants of immigrants who came to the US in the 1850s with little more than the clothes they were wearing but bearing hope that they could start a new life in a developing land. My parents led hardscrabble lives on their family farms where opportunities were few, attending grade school in one-room schoolhouses and unable to pursue a higher education. But they found each other and settled in Milwaukee, raising a family despite a tight budget and having to cope with the Great Depression.

My mother (Ruby Meyer) was finally able to resume a high school education once we children were old enough to fend for ourselves. She finished high school when she was age 55. Then she pursued her dream of getting a college education at UW-Milwaukee, graduated with a degree in sociology, became a social worker, and worked in the Sunrise Home for the Blind in Milwaukee until she retired. She saw education as the key for a better life for her children and herself. She would have loved to have been able to enroll in a program like Odyssey. As with Wanda and Bob Auerbach, education was key to a better and rewarding life for my parents.

 

How do you feel about the Odyssey Beyond Bars program in prisons?

As a professor of medicine who cared for lots of incarcerated individuals who were hospitalized in the UW Hospital or who visited its outpatient clinics, I got to know and help many people with their health issues while becoming aware of the inequities in our system of justice. It was clear that African American individuals generally received lengthier sentences, often because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, lacked money for lawyers, and had the book thrown at them. Many expressed a yearning to be given a second chance and get their lives back on track or at least be exposed to the humanities while imprisoned. We need to help our incarcerated fellow humans via programs such as Odyssey Beyond Bars as well as work to reform our biased judicial system.

 

You’re a veteran, and we now have a new Odyssey Beyond Wars program specifically for veterans. Why do you think veterans might need a place where they can find fellowship and share stories?

Keith Meyer at 19 as Navy seaman, with nieces

When I was eighteen, many of my friends were getting drafted into the Army, and I knew that I would undoubtedly get drafted soon. I tried a semester of college at UWM, but I dropped out as things weren’t going well. As my 19th birthday approached, I knew I was about to get drafted. I enlisted in the Navy and beat the draft by eight days. While I was not fond of the regimentation and hierarchy, being in the military changed my life in a positive way. I was lucky. I wanted a second chance at getting a college education, and the GI Bill really helped me.

When I returned home from active duty in 1972, I had many stories to tell and missed the comradery we all had in the barracks or aboard our ships. Odyssey Beyond Wars can provide a wonderful platform for reminiscing and finding fellowship while also pursuing goals for those who want to better their lives and get a jumpstart on a higher education.

 

Over the years, you’ve attended many Odyssey events and met many Odyssey students. What about that experience has impressed you or changed you?

I have watched Odyssey students who may have been homeless and hopeless embrace the opportunity offered by Odyssey. I have observed them undergo a metamorphosis as their year progressed. I’ve seen them discover and develop their latent talents, gain confidence in themselves, and realize their potential to become productive members of society. Whole families are changed, and I’ve watched that transformation for over two decades now.

 

Anything you’d like to add?

Along with Emily, I have been happy to support Odyssey financially from the beginning, whether it’s contributing to the Project Fund to help with tuition and textbooks, the Family Fund to aid with rent and food, the Odyssey Beyond Bars Fund to target prison inequities, or the Future Fund to build an endowment. Now that I’m older, I’ve been able to direct a large chunk of my RMD (Required Minimum Distribution) to Odyssey as well as to name it in our planned giving. I encourage everyone to contribute generously and to tell others about this amazing program!

 

       Keith Meyer (left), with wife Emily Auerbach and her father, Bob Auerbach