![\"AllForLove\"](\"http:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/AllForLove.jpg\")
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From the moment she took her first French class as a 13-year-old, Clara Krug was hooked on the language often called the \u2018language of love.\u2019 For the past 35 years, Krug has guided thousands of Georgia Southern University students through the intricacies of the French language and their personal journeys into the French culture. Sadly, when next semester begins, the Department of Foreign Languages will be missing the University\u2019s longest-serving professor.<\/p>\n
Krug, who joined the faculty in 1978, retired in May and said goodbye to a college that has witnessed astonishing growth and changes during her tenure. When Krug first arrived on campus there was no football team, no cell phones, no email, no personal computers, no Internet and the Foreign Languages Department was part of the School of Arts and Sciences. The professor said technology included \u201ca rotary dial telephone, an electric typewriter, a mimeograph machine, reel-to-reel or audio cassette tapes and players, chalkboards and an overhead projector.\u201d<\/p>\n
During her years of service, the highly-regarded scholar taught all levels of French courses\u2014from elementary to upper division levels\u2014and found she most enjoyed teaching elementary French. \u201cIt is interesting when you teach a first semester classroom. Students begin with little, if any, knowledge of French. At the end of the semester, they realize the progress they have made and how much more proficient they are in the language,\u201d Krug said.<\/p>\n
Originally from Dundalk, Maryland, in eastern Baltimore County, Krug graduated from James Madison University with a bachelor\u2019s degree in French. She earned both her master\u2019s and doctorate degrees in French literature from Michigan State University. Krug joined Georgia Southern from the University of Wisconsin \u2013 La Crosse and is proud of what she was able to achieve. \u201cI wanted to work for a university where you can teach a variety of courses and you pretty much have to do that here,\u201d said Krug who also headed classes in existentialism, theatre of existentialism and literature of Africa and the Caribbean.<\/p>\n Department of Foreign Languages Chair Eric Kartchner worked with the respected professor for six years and praised her devotion to helping others learn and appreciate the French language and Francophone culture and history. \u201cThrough her service with the World Languages Collaborative,\u201d Kartchner said, \u201cshe has promoted foreign language learning throughout southeast Georgia, and through her leadership with National French Week, she has taken French language and culture beyond the classroom, into the community. She has also been a strong advocate for shared service and governance, and she has demonstrated her commitment with her actions. Her most important legacy, however, will be in the heart and mind of each of the hundreds of Georgia Southern students whom she has inspired in the classroom for 35 years.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"IN](\"http:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/AllForLove-2-315x391.jpg\")
Clara Krug joined the faculty in 1978, inspiring students before Internet, cell phones or even an Eagle football team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n