Faculty & Staff Story

The advice I would give to anybody is you can’t go wrong with Catawba.”

Karl Hales, PhD, is a retired Faculty Emeritus Professor of Communication at Catawba. Karl was a Professor of Communication for 39 years and was awarded professor emeritus upon retirement. After retirement, he taught in Catawba’s evening degree program (now Catawba Online) for five years. Many long-time followers of Catawba football recognize Karl’s voice. He served as the public address announcer for Catawba football for 42 years. He also served in that capacity for Catawba basketball for 14 years. He is the only person to date who has been inducted into both the Sports Hall of Fame and the Blue Masque Hall of Fame (theatre) at Catawba. He also received the Paul Fisher Service Award and the Swink Award for Outstanding Classroom Teaching.

Originally from Lebanon, Missouri, in high school, Karl was involved in two choirs, a small ensemble, band, orchestra, and theater. Karl graduated from Drury College, now known as Drury University, in Springfield, Missouri. He earned his master’s degree at the University of Arkansas and Ph.D. at Florida State University, with post-doctoral work at Harvard. 

Karl explains how he “backed into” his career in the field of communications and speech. “I started out at the University of Missouri but lasted there only a year and a half. To please my father, I had started out as pre-med. I am not doctor material; that’s just not me. I transferred to Drury as a theater major, and my professor there, my advisor, had three degrees: music, theatre, and communication, which at that time was just called speech. He convinced me to take communication courses in addition to my theater courses. Well, I fell in love with it and wound up with a double major. Later on, I ended up with a triple major because I picked up English as well.”

After graduating, he taught high school for three years, then went to Humboldt State in Northern California to teach a combination of speech and theater. When Karl planned to come to Catawba, there were three jobs available. He filled two of them. “One job was directing, and I’m a director, and I got to do that here; one was in workshop and building sets and technical theater, I’m not qualified to do that, so I said no to that, and the other was they wanted to get more speech taught. I asked, ‘Can I build a department?’ And they said, ‘Well, if you have time.’ Because I was also asked to direct. So, I directed seven plays for Catawba. Then I edged toward building the department. I started the communication department at Catawba.”

Karl explains his methodology for teaching communication. “I’m a classical rhetorician. That’s almost a dead art these days. The art of oral rhetoric is not taught in many schools anymore. They’ve all gone to media and a technological approach. I taught a very practical approach.”

He shares a story about a former student who came back years later to talk to him. “He was a vice president of a company at that time, and he said to me, ‘Do you remember that you had us do those impromptu speeches?’ I said yes. He said, ‘I hated you when you did that.’ I said, ‘Well, I’m sorry.’ He said, ‘Don’t quit doing it. I use it every day!’ He said, ‘Do you remember when you had that one speech, where you disagreed with whatever I said and made me prove myself?’ I said yes. He said, ‘I hated you that day, too. Don’t stop! I use that every day.’ I taught life skills. I’ve had so many students tell me over and over how much they use what I taught as a practical approach to interviews, to speaking, to how to get along with people. I taught a course called interpersonal communication, and we went into all of that. I also taught the fundamentals of speech course.”

Speaking with heartfelt eloquence, Karl shares his thoughts about Catawba. “For me, to talk about Catawba is the easiest thing in the world. It was my home. It was my life. I participated in the athletic program, I participated in theater, I was on committees, I was vice president of student affairs. Catawba was my life. I taught there for thirty-nine years, plus the five years I taught in the evening degree program after I retired [School of Evening and Graduate Studies – now Catawba Online]. I talk about it as a family. A caring institution where there are people you can talk to, who want to know your problems and want to help you solve your problems. They want to teach you. We have excellent professors at Catawba. Better than a lot of places that get higher praise. Our professors are strong and intelligent, but on top of all their education and abilities, they still care about you. They want you to come to their offices and talk to them. On a large campus, you can’t do that. You can’t just walk in and talk to them.”

Karl gives a personal example of just how impersonal a large school can be. “When I was getting ready to transfer from the university, I went to my chemistry professor to get my grades. I had to have that to make my transfer. There were 360 seats filled in that auditorium for that class. I sat in seat seven, directly in front of where the professor stood. He asked me, ‘Who are you?’ I said, ‘I’m Karl Hales.’ He said, ‘Come on, who are you?’ I said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m 62916.’  I’ll never forget that number. He said, ‘Okay’ and started looking through his stuff. He said, ‘Chem 12?’ I said, ‘No sir, Chem 11.’  He said, ‘Monday, Wednesday, Friday?’ I said, ‘No sir, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.’ He goes and gets another box. ‘Nine o’clock?’, he asked. I said, ‘No sir, ten o’clock.’

He didn’t have a clue. He was my appointed advisor. He didn’t even know what class I was in. That’s why I like Catawba. It is personal. The largest average class size I ever remember was a 17 to 1 student to faculty ratio.” 

“The advice I would give to anybody is you can’t go wrong with Catawba.”

The Hales family spans three generations at Catawba. Karl’s two sons, his daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren have gone to Catawba.

The Hales Family at Catawba (so far):

• Son Rob. Class of 1987. Major: Therapeutic Recreation. Currently teaching and coaching.
• Son Alex. Class of 1990. Major: Communication Arts. Currently coaching baseball and softball with several organizations.
• Daughter-in-law Nicole Shappell Hales. Class of 1995. Major: Education. Catawba field hockey player; Deep South team. Vice-Principal of an elementary school in Rowan County. Husband: Rob.
• Granddaughter Elisabeth Farmer Edds. Class of 2018. Major: Athletic Training.
• Grandson Cole Hales. 2024. Major: Sport Management. Catawba baseball player. Son of Rob and Nicole.
• Granddaughter Kary Hales. Class of 2025. Major: Exercise Science. Catawba volleyball and softball player. Daughter of Rob and Nicole.