Coastal Carolina University

I spent Wednesday/Thursday (1-24/25-07) at Coastal Carolina University introducing them to the concepts of Deeper Learning in Leadership. I had a full day of meetings on Thursday during which I met with students, faculty, and staff. Besides assisting campuses, I intend to use these trips like this to help me refine and to actually test the ideas I've proposed in Deeper Learning in Leadership.

The meetings with staff and faculty all included lively exchanges. Each new group presented new challenges and questions about how to create a campus environment that would foster leadership. The campus has primarily relied on cocurricular experiences and involvement to provide leadership opportunity. There was not much in relation to programs and specific leadership-focused events or services. However, there was broad enthusiasm for leadership which could stimulate a shared commitment among a broad number of people. There were some discussions about student affairs staff feeling that they were not respected and appreciated for what they did. This was accepted as just the way it is at most campuses. This realization is sadly true when I think of the many colleagues with whom I've talked and the campuses I've visited over the years. It is a very sad commentary about the status of student affairs in most of higher education - it is more or less assumed that student affairs staff will be treated as 2nd-class citizens in the academy.

Coastal Carolina looked as if it was a relatively diverse campus but, when I asked, I was informed that it isn't quite representative of the population statistics of the state of Carolina. Students of culture came out in large numbers and reported having great experiences at Coastal. Staff shared with me that the graduataion rate among African American students is higher than that of white students - an incredible accomplishment compared to the lack of parity in graduation rates at most colleges and universities. I asked why students of culture were more successful and the immediate response was that these students are proud to be at Coastal and seek to succeed in order to have the chance to advance in life and to make their families proud. This is contrasted with some other students who come from privileged families in the northeast corridor. Evidently, these students come to Coastal for the beach, for the abundant nightlife, shopping, golfing, and good weather. What a contrast? I don't want to make judgments but I find it very interesting that students from more modest socio-economic backgrounds succeed at higher levels than more privileged students, a factor of motivation and aspiration rather than ability. What does that mean for the future of both sets of students and many more?

I found that I had prepared too much material for the formal presentation which will require that I cut down the content in future presentations. I also began to wonder if the thrust of my presentation - helping students discover their leadership potential - might not be inverted to start with the leadership journey of staff and faculty. In some ways, how can our institutions serve students and help them develop their leadership potential to the fullest if they, themselves, have not done the work to create a good environment for all faculty and staff who work and contribute so much to these campuses? I haven't come to a conclusion that my presentations should be reoriented but some of the points I make about organizational barriers and paradigns certainly have an important place in Deeper Learning in Leadership.

One of the most moving moments during the visit to Coastal was with a large group of students in the last of my major meetings. It was a very diverse gathering. One African American first-year woman sat to the right of me. She had asked a couple of questions during the earlier part of our meeting but just as we were about to close, she asked, "What's the most important thing I can do to become a leader?" I paused a moment and then said that the most important thing was to cultivate authenticity in everything that she did. I explained a little more what I meant and I embellished authenticity with a few other attributes but she seemed very satisfied with the notion that authenticity was at the core. It was also interesting that her question stimulated an outpouring of advice from other students around the circle. And, another student assured her that she would have the experiences that she needed at Coastal to do whatever she wished to do. What a nice way to end a visit at a campus seeking to dig deeper to cultivate leadership in its students...

Legacy

One of the things many of us hope for is to establish some type of legacy during our life's experiences. Those with humility do not set out to form a legacy but it certainly is a wonderful achievement if we are so luck to make a mark that will be remembered.

I had the opportunity to attend a memorial service for William L. "Bud" Thomas, Jr., on Wednesday, 1-17-07, at the University of Maryland. There were probably 300 people who attended from all over the U.S.A. and from every age, race, and experience. These people came together to honor Bud who served as the Vice President for Student Affairs during the years I was at Maryland. He continued to serve Maryland as Vice President for over 20 years, he taught graduate seminars, he mentored young professionals, and he helped shape the movement to establish standards of student affairs practice. He did these things while maintaining balance, energy, and perspective in all that he did. He died as the result of two back-to-back strokes that began on an evening when he had just attended a lecture by Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat. The wonderful part of that is that Bud enjoyed nothing more than exploring a provocative topic with colleagues and getting into a deeply analytical and engaging debate.

As I saw the many colleagues Bud nurtured over the years, I was overwhelmed by the influence of his life. He shaped generations of educators by simply paying attention to those around him and caring enough to question and challenge conventional thinking. Bud laid a lifetime of possibility in my lap when he, along with Dru Bagwell, invited me to begin the University of Maryland's leadership program in 1974. My lifetime love affair with leadership and constant striving to know what it is and how to cultivate it in others is a gift I will never forget.

Bud was a mentor to many - myself included. He did not provide the answers but sought always to pose the important questions and then never to be satisfied with the answers. Somehow, this fits with the model of a mentor that truly has a transformative impact on others. I was blessed to have the opportunity to encounter Bud and I hope a little of him remains in me today.

Campaign for Community - WHY?

I returned from the annual Scholar Leader "Plunge" late on last Saturday night. We were gone for four days - delving into the history, culture, and aspiration of Memphis, TN. It was a great trip with 24 of us participating.

One of the best parts of the "Plunge" is the fact that it is a great bonding time for the Scholar Leaders. It's odd that a group that lives together doesn't really take the time to bond on a regular basis unless they are taken away from campus and placed in an environment where they have nothing to concentrate on but each other. In additon to the bonding, we saw and experienced so many terrific things in Memphis. We met with representatives from their SmartCity initiative - an organization in Memphis and in select other cities that is focused on improving the community environment for "creatives" - young people who are educated, interesting, and bring many resources to urban communities. We visited the National Civil Rights Museum and experienced the evolution of the civil rights movement in the U.S.A. This museum culminates in a visit to the room where Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in 1968. We worked with sick children at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, visited Graceland to learn of Elvis' legacy, and we made a visit to the Rock and Soul Museum. We had a couple visits to Rhodes College, once to meet with the CODA Scholars, a group dedicated to advocating for the arts and the other visit was for a campus tour and the chance to learn about the way Rhodes connects faith journey and service.

You may have been trying to figure out how any of what you just read relates to the topic of this post - "Campaign for Community - Why?" It's because of two very powerful and connected perspectives that we encountered. Our group meal for Plunge was a visit to BB King's on Beal Street for a little BBQ. We did this with some of our Miami alum contacts before going to a live theater production of "Exonerated," a play about unjustly accused death row inmates. It wasn't the meal that was so great - it was the company - and unexpected company at that. While we were having dinner, four guys from the University of Minnesota (Brian, James, Drew, and Eric) wearing t-shirts that said "Campaign for Community" dropped by our table. I couldn't help but ask about their t-shirts... They said their t-shirts captured the essence of their 11-day trip over winter break. Their campaign involved following a path they had not planned. They were simply taking the path suggested by the people they encountered along the way. It took them to Iowa, Tennessee, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, and Ohio. This was their way of understanding, engaging in, and building community. Having connected with us, we had the pleasure of hosting them and learning more about their terrific work when they visited Oxford last night and today.


The other part of the post title is "Why?" The picture above was on one of the bulletin boards in the Faith and Service center at Rhodes College. I was so struck by the power of this poster, the others that were in the room, and the message that Rhodes sought to give about caring about community and those around us. I've sometimes heard the current generation of students referred to as the "Why?" generation. Maybe this is the reason - Whose hands will you be? Why care? Why believe? Why bother? Our friends from Minnesota were seeking the "Why?" The historic figures of Memphis were seeking the "Why?" And those of us who will ultimately make a difference in the world will unceasingly seek the "Why?" It's nice to know that we have company for the road.

Inconvenient truth

I'm back at work for the new year and getting ready to go on a learning and service trip with the Miami Scholar Leaders tomorrow. We are going to Memphis to do a variety of things including service at St. Jude Children's Hospital, visiting the National Civil Rights Museum, dropping by Graceland, and meeting with participants in the SmartCity movement that is underway. I'll post on the trip later but I had to offer a post on a film I saw during the holiday break - "Inconvenient Truth."

"Inconvenient Truth" is a documentary of Al Gore's lecture about global warming. It is an extremely sobering and jolting analysis of indicators that the Earth is in a very dangerous downward spiral of environmental conditions. The evidence Gore provides is difficult to dispute, even though some will interpret the film as politically motivated. I bought a copy of the film because I hope to encourage everyone I encounter to view it. We owe it to ourselves to become informed, affirm or dispute the evidence, and then take action. If the film is correct, the advance of global warming is faster than scientists expected and, while many of us thought the effects would not be seen until later generations, there is some evidence that global conditions are already showing the signs.

For more information, go to Inconvenient Truth for specifics, reviews, etc. There are lots of reasons why the U.S.A. doesn't want to recognize the possibility that Al Gore is correct. The U.S.A. and Australia are the only two developed countries who have been unwilling to adopt the Kyoto Accord, an initiative that would require more stringent greenhouse gas emissions controls. The oil producers and auto industry in the U.S.A. would be effected if the U.S.A. signed on to Kyoto. Signing would require them to begin exploring alternative fuels and it would require probably more fuel efficient and smaller autos and trucks. Requiring our U.S.A. manufacturers to face the reality that our industrial ignorance and arrogance only achieve short-sighted economic gain while selling future generations down the drain is one possibility. What other views about emissions control and global warming are available to us?

I would love to hear others' thoughts about "Inconvenient Truth" and the questions it raises. I do not claim expertise in this area but the film certainly got my attention.