Ave atque vale
My goal for 2007 is to get back on track with this and try to update it at least once a week. I might start including my running diary as well, but we'll see.
In the interim, I wanted to write a short remembrance of two college presidents who died this year well before their time--Kermit Hall of SUNY-Albany and Father Jim Loughran of St. Peter's College. I didn't know either one well, but got to go beyond generic interviews with both of them when I worked for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Kermit was one of the most thoughtful people I ever met. From all I could tell, he was a capable administrator and leader. But he also remained a scholar even after moving to the dark side of administration, continuing to publish on the history of the Supreme Court and other topics. In terms of college sports, he was willing to criticize the current system ruled by the conferences and the NCAA, but he was no bombthrower. He and Scott Cowan of Tulane were the leaders of the effort to convince the Bowl Championship Series leaders to share the wealth with lower-profile colleges and conferences.
Few people know this, but Father Jim was a member of The Drake Group. He also was realistic about his ability to change the system of Division I sports, even within his own college. But he saw first-hand the politics and pressure that athletics brings to an institution through his tenure at Loyola Marymount, Brooklyn College of CUNY, and St. Peter's.
As I move into the academy and yea unto the valley of the shadow of administration, the message I carry from both these men is the combination of idealism and realism. You have to understand politics and be committed to incrementalism if you're going to survive at a college or a university. But you also have to leave your office, see your students and faculty as they grow and teach and learn, and recognize that your job is to help them achieve all of those things. It is not an easy balancing act, but Kermit and Father Jim seemed to do it better than most.
In the interim, I wanted to write a short remembrance of two college presidents who died this year well before their time--Kermit Hall of SUNY-Albany and Father Jim Loughran of St. Peter's College. I didn't know either one well, but got to go beyond generic interviews with both of them when I worked for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Kermit was one of the most thoughtful people I ever met. From all I could tell, he was a capable administrator and leader. But he also remained a scholar even after moving to the dark side of administration, continuing to publish on the history of the Supreme Court and other topics. In terms of college sports, he was willing to criticize the current system ruled by the conferences and the NCAA, but he was no bombthrower. He and Scott Cowan of Tulane were the leaders of the effort to convince the Bowl Championship Series leaders to share the wealth with lower-profile colleges and conferences.
Few people know this, but Father Jim was a member of The Drake Group. He also was realistic about his ability to change the system of Division I sports, even within his own college. But he saw first-hand the politics and pressure that athletics brings to an institution through his tenure at Loyola Marymount, Brooklyn College of CUNY, and St. Peter's.
As I move into the academy and yea unto the valley of the shadow of administration, the message I carry from both these men is the combination of idealism and realism. You have to understand politics and be committed to incrementalism if you're going to survive at a college or a university. But you also have to leave your office, see your students and faculty as they grow and teach and learn, and recognize that your job is to help them achieve all of those things. It is not an easy balancing act, but Kermit and Father Jim seemed to do it better than most.
posted by welch at 1:02 PM
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