ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

CHRISTIE WHITAKER MSW 1997,
Co-owner, Newberry-based Whitaker Funeral Home,
crisis response professional

“The (MSW) degree definitely validates me and gives me opportunities”

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Christie Whitaker, co-owner of Whitaker Funeral Home in Newberry, found personal and professional opportunities at the Carolina College of Social Work, even as a non-traditional student who already had years of experience in the funeral home industry and as a crisis response professional.

“I don’t know who suggested an MSW but I liked that the (University of South Carolina) program is so broad,” said Christie, who earned an undergraduate degree from Newberry College after building a family and a career in the mortuary business with husband Doggett, and her own career in crisis response. “I thought there was no hope … because I had been out of school for many years. I had the practical experience but not the theoretical.”

Whitaker’s concerns were dispelled when she realized that she loved the professors – who she said supported her despite the fact that “it was obvious that I was green” – and the relationships she developed with classmates like Lulis del Castillo Gonzalez who also earned an MSW in 1997.

“I learned a lot … the program makes you so much smarter,” Whitaker said. “The (MSW) degree definitely validates me and gives me opportunities, especially when responding to crises in the mental health capacity.” And there have been no shortage of events to which she has applied her social work education.

Whitaker has responded to high-profile tragedies including 9/11 and the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 near Rockaway Beach, NY, working with federal government agencies and private companies. She interviews victims’ families, and develops protocol to train other professionals how to interview them. She also has worked as a mental health coordinator to train team members to understand what happens to them personally as they respond to victims, families and the greater community.

“They know that I know what they’re going through. When they see I’m working in the mental health capacity, they’re more open to telling me (what they are feeling).”

The mother of four daughters, Whitaker admitted that it takes a certain disposition to work in crisis response. “(But) I want to help our families,” she said, “I want to help myself and others understand the (grief and recover) process.” She explained that each event she responds to is life-changing, but “you adapt when you return home because you have a family who depends on you.”

“Crisis is significant to each individual. That doesn’t mean I don’t have empathy but I don’t have the right to own (the victims’) problems because it didn’t happen to me,” she said. “Probably the greatest thing the MSW did for me was to help me understand that I can’t separate myself from (crisis) but my educational background has given me the tools to recognize that I do need help and I see other professionals.”

Whitaker is often invited to make presentations at service clubs, community organizations and churches about her experiences.

“The degree seemed like a good fit and it has been,” Whitaker said. “I learned so much from everyone. The program was tough for me … but you find family and you work through it.”