Steve Akana / Roundup
One evening about fifteen years ago, he opened the door to the old dormitory that had been built in 1947 and had been converted into his faculty office.
Upon entering his office he noticed this white stuff suspended throughout the office.
He looked closer at it and realized that they are egg sacs from spiders.
His office had been overrun by black widow spiders.
Quickly he called plant facilities and told them that they had to bomb his office or he wouldn’t be able to teach class because he couldn’t get to his files.
Plant facilities came through and set off a bug bomb in his office and then it was back to teaching as usual.
This is just one of the more unusual things Political Science Professor Norm Levy has seen throughout his 25 years at Pierce College.
Sitting leisurely in his faculty office, Levy can hardly believe that he is retiring in June, having spent nearly half a century teaching.
He has spent forty of those years teaching for the Los Angeles Community College District, first at Los Angeles City College from 1970 to 1985 and then at Pierce College from 1985 until present.
Teaching has always been fun for him, except for the grading, which he said is the only aspect of teaching that is not all that fun.
“Teaching is the only profession that I have come to know that everyday I have actually looked forward to it and as long as there are students who listen to me, I figured I’d keep doing it until now,” said Levy.
Even now he is not saying goodbye to teaching for good, since he will be back in the fall as an adjunct professor to teach part time.
He will teach Political Science 1, Political Science 7, and a current events seminar for the Encore program.
“If you’re going 70 mph do you want to slam on the brakes and screech to a halt or would rather ease down and gradually get off the freeway,” said Levy. “I just want to slow down and teach a couple of classes, playing it one semester at a time.”
Over the years he has taught at Pierce College, Levy has come to cherish his time spent with students and his fellow colleagues.
One of his most memorable moments was when the Political Science Department faculty through a surprise party for him to congratulate him on doing a good job as head of the department from 1998 to 2007, which really meant a lot to him because the position was very challenging and required him to make decisions that were not always agreeable with everyone.
Levy has been very active in the community and always encouraged his students to do the same.
He believed strongly in students giving to the community by donating blood to the American Red Cross and would offer bonus points to students that donated.
“When I was a student at UCLA I had a job delivering blood to the major hospitals,” said Levy. “I realized how precious blood is and how one can be an active citizen by giving it to the community anonymously to help save lives.”
Continuing to give to the community, he plans to volunteer his time to do educational recordings for the Braille Institute in Los Angeles, as well as volunteer to be a Jewish Big Brother once he retires.
Always a teacher activist throughout his career will continue being one since he has been formally elected Governor for Retired Faculty for the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, which is a professional membership association that advocates solely for all community college faculty.
Levy has dedicated his life to teaching students and faculty alike.
“He is an intelligent, articulate, eloquent, scholarly gentleman and we will not allow him to leave because we need his counsel and his guidance,” said former student and fellow colleague Dr. Kassem Nabulsi. “He is a good friend and mentor.”
Outside of the classroom, Norm Levy, professor of political science, has played tennis for more than 60 years. Levy continues to practice weekly with his friend at the Porter Valley Country Club in Northridge, Calif. (Anibal Ortiz / Special to the Roundup)