Piedmont Profile: Steve McNerney

Steve McNerney admits he has “a heart for the marginalized” that drives much of his life’s work. While he is quick to add that he considers himself far from perfect in his pursuit of the common good, many of his roles personally and professionally demonstrate a desire to provide support and opportunity for others.

McNerney came to PVCC in 1978, he was an instructor of physical education at the time; today, he serves as an Assistant Professor of Physical Education, Coordinator of Student Activities and Faculty Advisor to the Student Government Association (SGA). He also manages the PVCC fitness center. Each of his roles are united by the overarching goal of “expanding offerings for students,” he said.

The increase in student population over the years has come with an increase in the number of clubs and extra-curricular opportunities for students. As Coordinator of Student Activities,  he supports club faculty advisors and helps students who seek to create new clubs.

“When students come to me with an idea for a club they want to create, I do my utmost to say yes,” he said. That way, students who might otherwise “have trouble finding a place” at PVCC can begin to find community, he explained.

McNerney also serves as faculty advisor to the SGA. “SGA continues to amaze me,” he said. “Each year, the leadership seems to outdo the previous year. Which is really amazing, because from the very beginning it was excellent. How do you improve on that much excellence?”

He also oversees the PVCC fitness center. “Gyms have a strong social component,” he explained. “We have the greatest small gym in the universe.” PVCC’s fitness center receives faithful financial support from the school and is “so appreciated by the students who use it,” he said. That “sense of ownership means the gym is respected and well taken care of.”

McNerney received a bachelor’s degree in history and later a masters in education from the University of Virginia focusing on physical education.

Today, his PE classes allow students to pursue their love of a sport or to branch out and try something new. “On the first day of class, I have the students name their level of enthusiasm from one to ten,” he said. “I get most excited about students who say zero or one, because it’s my goal to change their minds.”

Outside of PVCC, McNerney spends a great deal of time reading. “I read all the time—I probably read too much,” he joked.  Some of his reading relates to his job as an instructor, but other current reads, such as Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few by Robert B. Reich and Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People by Nadia Bolz-Weber.

McNerney is also Chairman of the Board of The Haven, a multi-purpose community space in Charlottesville that offers a variety of services for the homeless. He acts in an advisory capacity to the executive director of The Harlem Wellness Center in New York, which provides “social, economic and generational reconciliation” in the context of a lifestyle wellness space, according to its website.

Asked why he has chosen to remain at PVCC for nearly 38 years, McNerney replied, “a conflation of Charlottesville, friends, and PVCC students and colleagues has made it easy to remain here.”