Impact Report: Year-Ends 2021 and 2022

Willis

George and Alisha Willis: named fund and quasi-endowed fund donors in honor and memory of CSM professor Janice Willis

Janice Marie Evans Willis loved being part of the College of San Mateo community. For over 45 years it was her second home. When Janice sadly passed away in January 2022, CSM lost an icon, beloved among students and her colleagues throughout the District.

“Many of her former students told her how she changed their lives,” says Alisha Willis, Janice’s daughter and only child. “A bank manager at Citibank in Hillsdale told me how the direction her life took was positively impacted by my mother’s class, teachings, and personality.”

Janice’s dedication to education began early in her life career. She was given extraordinary opportunities by those who saw her talent and believed in her, and she, in turn, chose to do the same for others.

Educated by the Catholic nuns at Bishop McDevitt High School in Pennsylvania, Janice was given a choice of what she wished to do after graduation. She told her teachers that she wanted to work and they arranged a position for her at the local phone company. A year later while working at the Pennsylvania Department of State’s office pool she was recognized for her shorthand skills and pulled to work with two local politicians who encouraged her to go to college, which she did at age 19 at Penn State University.

“My mom saw the power of education and knew her life would have been very different if she hadn’t gone to college. She was acutely aware of how different her life was from that of lifelong friends who hadn’t had the opportunities provided by higher education.”

In 1970, Janice married George Samuel Willis, a Morehouse College student who was attending a summer internship at Penn State. George, a fourth-generation Californian, and Janice decided to move there when he was accepted into a physics graduate program at the University of California, Berkeley. Janice started her career on the West Coast as a teacher at Skyline High School in Oakland and then as a professor at Skyline College. From there, in 1977, she was asked to come and teach business courses at CSM, which she did for 45 years.

“She loved the campus and her students. The campus was beautiful, peaceful, and serene. The students were eager to learn. Mom had students who were already professionals, who could immediately implement what she taught, and students who were just beginning their lives and would use what she taught to decide their future paths. She wanted her students to succeed so she would reach out to textbook manufacturers to understand how they came to solutions, which she would share with her students.”

Janice was somewhat of a maverick. She was one of the first professors at the District to embrace online education. She treasured and respected her students, and strove to make sure she was always accessible to diligently and patiently answer their questions both on campus and virtually.

Part of Janice’s caring for her students included making sure they could afford to go to college, which is why she was an SMCCC Foundation donor for over 20 years. “Mom felt strongly that people pursuing a goal shouldn’t be held back because of financial reasons. A person can accomplish so much if they don’t have that worry. She didn’t just want to give verbal support, she wanted to give financial support as well, paying for the opportunities she had been granted throughout her life.”

In her honor and memory, George and Alisha created the Janice M. Evans Willis Scholarship Fund. The fund is quasi-endowed, which means that they have made a commitment to work towards eventually making the fund endowed through donations. “Mom was such a fixture at CSM for so many years that Dad and I want this fund to help students forever. She had so many good friends and grateful students, that I’m sure that with their support we’ll reach the endowed amount quickly. Mom’s philosophy was to continue paying success forward and she would have wanted us to create this fund to support students like she was supported. She was a profound, warm, and loving person who saw the good in others and she would be pleased to have this fund in her name.”

In addition to the fund, George and Alisha are also in the process of establishing a memorial bench at CSM. Once the bench is on campus, they will hold a dedication service for her family, friends, students, and colleagues.

Janice Marie Evans Willis will be missed by all who knew her. Thanks to her husband and daughter, her legacy will live on through the success of students who receive the scholarship in her name and through those that take in the campus’s beauty while sitting on the bench that bears her name.

To support the Janice M. Evans Willis Scholarship Fund, click here.