Collegiate Times

Hikes walks out of Burruss Hall in the spring of 2008. From administrators to student leaders, Hikes was roundly admired for her energetic service.

"I thought of all the people who Dr. Hikes brought a souvenir back, what made her think to bring one to me?" Williams said. "It let me know very early on while I am two or three levels below her rank she never forgot the work those of us who work for the ground floor level of students do. That was always very special to me."

Her administrative colleagues agreed that Hikes derived her energy from her relationships with students. Hikes was often seen walking across the Drillfield, immersed in the student body, and cordially greeting many as she passed. Whenever she had the chance, she'd go out of her way for her student friends.

"Dr. Hikes was one of the greatest allies the LGBTA has on this campus and she was an outstanding woman. We were very proud to have her as a friend and we are much better for having known her," said Allison Wood, president of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Alliance. "She would come to Squires for meetings and always stop by our office and say 'Hello,' how were we doing, and ask if there were anything she could do for us. She was personally very caring about all of us."

Earlier in the year Hikes spoke at the freshmen pass in review parade, and honored the young cadet's progress with their cadre leaders in their transformation from civilian life to corps life.

"The corps of cadets and our alumni are profoundly saddened at the sudden loss of Dr. Hikes. She has been a strong advocate of our programs," Colonel Rock Roszak, director of Corps alumni relations said. "Cadets were her students... and she was concerned about the professional growth development and achievement of all of our students. We'll miss her a great deal."

To Bray, she represented everything a female in a high position of leadership could be.

"I was honestly amazed at the way she was so professional, yet personable at the same time," Gordon-Bray said. "I've never encountered someone that had that dynamic personality."

Hikes' influential impression on the university has left an enormous role to be replaced. Students and members of the Tech community left messages inside two books in the lobby of Squires Student Center, and placed flowers at an impromptu memorial above the April 16th stones.

Hikes is survived by her two daughters, Amber, a spring 2008 University of Pennsylvania Masters graduate, and Brittany, a college student in Georgia.

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