INSERVICE 2016: THE STATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESS
#Lane CommUNITY
Photo Loop w/music
Cell phone cartoon
MUSIC CLIP – David Bowie CHANGES
Mary enters
SLIDE OF GILDA RADNER – (delicious ambiguity)
As Gilda Radner said:
________________________________________
"I wanted a perfect ending...
Now, I've learned the hard way that some poems
don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear
beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing,
having to change, taking the moment and
making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen
next.
Delicious ambiguity."
Gilda Radner, 1946-1989
FILLER SLIDE
SLIDE WITH COLLEGE IMAGES
As you can imagine, I have been thinking a lot about beginnings and endings – both personal and professional, in the past few months.
SCOTLAND SLIDE
On a personal level, I’ve been thinking about end of life issues as my mother approaches 100 years old next month. She has been such an influence on me - her humility, her enduring faith in doing the right thing and trusting that things will come out okay in the end.
Picture of Mom
Picture of Granddaughter
And the beginning of a new life – my granddaughter Sloane, born in February, who has already stolen a chunk of my heart -her whole life before her. And that is the way of the life cycle isn’t it?
On a professional level, the end of another school year in June and the beginning of this academic year - the end of 21 amazing years at Lane, 37 years in Oregon community colleges, and the beginning of my next adventure - the end of 365/24/7 on call responsibility and the beginning of choosing the projects I want to work on and the number of days I want to devote to them. The end of being a public employee, limited to what I can say of a political nature, and the beginning of being an engaged community member, PERS retiree. The end of spending time over the summer writing this state of the college speech and the beginning of actually being able to take a vacation without having to worry about emails, calls, crises. I can’t say that I am not excited about this ending and beginning. Of course it is tinged with sadness. Every time I have had an opportunity to leave Lane in the past few years, I have chosen to stay. What has kept me here? Well, you have. For me, it always came back to the people who are here – all of you – who share a commitment to student learning and the community college mission. Lane is blessed with so many good, talented and dedicated faculty and staff. We may have our quirks, quirky people and outright junkyard dogs, but, hey, they are our junkyard dogs, and we love them all.
These state of the college speeches have unleashed some really cheesy humor, so let’s take a trip down memory lane and look back to our staff video mash-up.
VIDEO MASHUP
FILLER SLIDE
So this is my 16th and last state of the college address. I’m excited about it in two ways – excited to share all the great things that have been happening at Lane, the challenging work ahead, and excited because I will never have to do this again. Next year, I trust that your new president will develop a new tradition that reflects her or his style. As for me, there is a rich calling awaiting me in this last year, but there is life beyond Lane and when the time comes I will fully embrace it. I can’t say I won’t look back, because I will. I love this place that has been such a huge part of my life for so long, but to quote Seamus Heaney:
SLIDE
“Since when," he asked,
"Are the first line and last line of any poem
Where the poem begins and ends?”
Yes, there’s a lot more out there for me, and you, and it will be awesome.
SECTION 2
Gratitudes and Welcome
I want to express my appreciation to everyone who worked over the summer to close out last year and prepare for the new academic year. That takes a lot of work! Our classified staff and managers, in particular, work year-round to assure that summer school happens and that we are ready to go for fall term. I also want to thank the faculty, many of whom may have been off campus but were still engaged in reviewing curriculum and practice and getting ready for the new year.
FILLER SLIDE
A special welcome to all of you who are with us for the first time. Could everyone who has joined the college since this time last year please stand? Let’s welcome them. We are so glad you are here, and we wish you a long and successful relationship with the college. Please reach out to them over the next weeks and months to introduce yourself and make them feel at home.
Our elected board does a great job on behalf of the community and provides solid and stable leadership for all of us. I especially want to thank Sharon Stiles for stepping up to be chair, and Rosie Pryor for her warm welcome and leadership as vice chair.
And thanks to our in service team of Jessica Braun, an amazingly talented graduate of our multi-media program, Joan Aschim, and Donna Zmolek. I would like to thank Lynn Nakamura, Tami Hill, and Stephanie Wicks for handling the logistics of inservice this year. I’d also like to thank the Classified Professional Development Team for their work to arrange a number of great offerings tomorrow and members of the Cultural Competence Professional Development Team. I’d also like to honor and recognize our Executive Team. These individuals are passionate about our mission and committed to our students and employees. In 37 years, this is the best group of executive leaders I have ever worked with. Please stand when I call your name, and let’s give them all a hand. And of course, for the last time, I must thank my fashion consultant….Rodney Brown.
SECTION 3 – KUDOS
But before we look forward, let’s take just a few minutes to look back at last year. It is important to take some time to celebrate what is right with Lane and to recognize the many people that have contributed to these accomplishments. I’d like you, for at least today, to reflect on your own best work. For it is all these individual and collective acts that make up the fabric of Lane Community College.
Even if what you were thinking about is not reflected in these upcoming slides, what is important is that you recognize that you accomplished something and made a real difference. It may have been in a quiet way, unobserved by most, but that doesn’t make it any less important. So let’s dive in and take a look at all the accomplishments that you made happen last year.
RUN HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO
Absolutely amazing! Let me just reflect on a couple of things. October 1 and UCC are still very much on my mind.
UCC SLIDE
That day, I was at a League for Innovation board meeting in Toronto when my Twitter feed started to go crazy. I immediately left and got as far as Los Angeles and got stuck there. I began to get calls from faculty and staff at UCC, and two days later the chair of the board called and asked me to bring a team of Lane people down to help get the college reopened one week later. Everyone I called to ask to help agreed immediately. In all, 37 Lane faculty and staff provided assistance for UCC from Public Safety Officers to Financial Aid advisors. It was difficult work dealing with the trauma; it was also awe inspiring – the exact right piece of work to be doing. I am grateful to everyone who said yes to UCC; I am also grateful to all of you who just kept doing the work here at Lane. It says a lot about our collective team. Remember that UCC is still in recovery. Let’s think about them as they start another academic year and mark the first anniversary of this tragedy. This picture was taken on one of the weekends I was down there. Some faculty and staff went for a hike, and we built this cairn, which is Scottish Gaelic for a burial monument, on the North Umpqua – one rock for every life lost. And this picture reflects a gift from the student body at UCC. Some of you were in the board room last January when the UCC student body vice president came to Lane to thank us for what we did. Here’s a young man of 18 years, who never should have had to do what he was doing, eloquently thanking Lane for our help. SLIDE We will hang this in the board room in memory of the Umpqua Nine and in gratitude for everyone who helped.
I do want to give an additional shout out to the winners of the Faculty Recognition Awards and would ask that you stand if you are here.
SLIDES OF WINNERS
Robert Estill – Math (Florence Center)
Sandy Jensen - LLC
Claire Dannenbaum – Library
Alla Burton – Mathematics
Norm Johnson – ESL
Tom Madison – Art & Applied Design
Denise Miller – Health Professions
Let's give them another round of applause.
I always want to honor the winners of our classified employee recognition program. Our classified staff, individually and collectively, make this place hum, and let's recognize our awardees again.
If you could please stand at your place as I say your name.
SLIDES – PICTURES OF CLASSIFIED STAFF OF MONTH
Michael Levick – Information Technology
Denise Bennett – Food Services
Andy McClure – Facilities Management and Planning
Heidi Morales – Human Resources
Raymond Bailey - Library
Kathy Calise – Continuing Education
Don Patton – Workforce Development
Paul Bunch – Information Technology
Von Young – Science
Claudia Riumallo – Counseling
Christine Marshall – International Program
Toni Timmers – Social Science
Please join me in giving a round of applause for these recipients.
FILLER SLIDE
As notable as those achievements are, each year we identify that one individual to be the Classified Employee of the Year. It is my great pleasure this year to name the 2016 Classified Employee of the Year. SLIDE OF ANDY McCLURE. Andy, would you please join me at the podium to receive this well-deserved award while I share a bit about you with your colleagues?
Here are some quotes from the nominations:
“Andy is witty, creative, and a problem solver. His work is evidenced not just in FMP, but everywhere on campus. He always steps us when there’s an issue, is an excellent worker, and has a kind word for everybody. He will help anyone at any time with anything. He is ALWAYS moving. He works efficiently, knows the staff well, and can read people’s minds—that is, the task they need him to complete!”
Andy, your mother Jackie, former faculty member here at Lane would have been proud. Congratulations
Please join me in honoring the 2016 Classified Employee of the Year, Andy McClure.
FILLER SLIDE
Finally, we don't have any formal recognition for managers, but they also pulled their weight last year, so I would like to recognize them for everything they did.
MEMORIAL SLIDES
I want to take just a moment to acknowledge the passing of some of our own:
(On staff)
BARBARA BAKER, Florence Continuing Education
DEBBI TALLMAN, Adult Basic & Secondary Education
(Former faculty and staff)
REBA MORRISON, Disability Services
BILL MCNAIR, Specialized Support Services
HERMAN WELA, Specialized Support Services
SHIRLEY PERRY, Job Placement Office
FRAN ROSS, Media Arts
TRISH HAMER, Printing & Graphics
JULIE BAKER, Institutional Advancement
FILLER SLIDE
MOMENT SLIDE OF ALL MOMENTS
One of the great things that Lane does is publish the faculty-led Community College Moment. We’d like to share some of it with you. Please welcome Aryn Bartley to introduce our writers, Jen Ferro, Reference Librarian, and Sandy Brown Jensen, English instructor.
(Jen and Sandy read excerpts from writings.)
COVER OF MOMENT
DOLL SLIDE
OLYMPICS MASHUP
Finally, it was inspiring to watch some great athletes in the Olympics. I was taking care of my mum when they were on so I had this conflict going on: the United States versus Great Britain. Here are some of my favorite moments.
So that’s a look back. What a year! To all of you: bravo, and thanks for continuing to go above and beyond to serve our students and the community.
SECTION 4
Okay, you have been sitting for a while now, so it’s almost time for a stretch break.
STRETCH SLIDE
Once we start to look ahead at what’s on the plate for this year, you will get exhausted pretty quickly. Sometimes it feels too hard and we feel too weary. We all experience “stretches” during the school year, excuse the pun, when the grind of daily routines take their toll – working at a feverish pace, overwhelming demands, work never done, papers to grade, budgets to balance, contracts to settle, floors to be mopped. But we must remember that our students can be turned off so easily, and we need to be alive in this work so it is important that we each take care of our own health and wellness. A fun way to do that is with some easy dance moves. Here’s a look at some now.
COME DANCE WITH US CLIP
WENDY AND TARA DANCE TO THE STAGE and DO DANCE MOVES (MUSIC, then fade)
(Wendy shares the wellness/giving opportunities.)
WELLNESS SLIDES
FILLER SLIDE
Wendy mentioned the WE CARE campaign that faculty and staff participate in to support scholarships for our students. We launch this every fall, and I want to thank the many of you give generously so that our students have access to a quality education.
FILLER SLIDE
So let’s take a moment to look at what’s on the plate at National and State Levels:
It’s impossible to avoid what is going on nationally on the political front. I was in Scotland twice this summer to take care of my mum and all my friends were asking me what are you thinking over here? I pointed out to them that, with the exception of Scotland and Ireland, we Celts stick together - the UK wasn’t much better with the Brexit vote. SLIDE Seriously though, we are seeing uncompromising divisiveness, hate, and racism played out on the national scene in front of our eyes. It has unleashed a sense of entitlement among some to marginalize certain populations, to think it’s okay to use the N word, to treat our immigrants as criminals. We must be careful, very, very careful that we do not let that narrative of hate and disrespect play out here at Lane.
If you don't know the kind of person I am
and I don't know the kind of person you are
a pattern that others made may prevail in the world
and following the wrong god home we may miss our star.
William Stafford’s admonition is timeless. There are countervailing forces here. Of all of the speeches we have heard in this political season, I was most moved by this
(Clip from Michelle Obama speech at the democratic conventions Minute 1:06 to 3:18)
FILLER SLIDE
Regardless of your politics, that was a powerful message which applies to us too. As educators we are creating the “foundation for who our students become,” “how well we manage this experience could make or break them,” “when someone is cruel when they go low, we go high.” Our words and actions, as educators, matter. It remains to be seen if as a college, and as a country, we can take the high road. It starts with a robust rejection of the calculated narrative of cynicism, division and despair. This road as Vice President Joe Biden so eloquently said is “malarkey,” and we must work against it and not buy into it. What is going on in the nation can leak into our narratives as well. I am betting on hope not fear, respect not hate, unity, as in community, not division. I hope you are too.
Also at the National level Heads Up America – [(heads up logo) picture of Martha Kanter speaking America’s Promise, Oregon Promise (photos from event)] is working to provide “free community college.
This is a movement that is taking hold through grass roots efforts and potentially in a new President’s platform. I am serving on the Educational Leadership Committee, working with Martha Kanter and Jill Biden (photo of Jill and me) on this effort and we are working with the Foundation to imagine what a Lane Promise would look like.
FILLER SLIDE
Accountability: Calls for account ability are still ringing loud and clear. Is a college education worth it? What results are we getting? This manifests in more pressure on accrediting bodies to prove themselves to the US Department of Education. We can expect a higher bar from NWCCU and across the country as they respond. Recently regional accreditors worked together to develop a framework that will provide additional review for colleges with low graduation rates. Lane, like many community colleges, is likely to fall into that category, so we will have to work on improvement in graduation rates. Fortunately, we have great work underway.
Reform Movements are alive and well. You can’t turn around without seeing some new national group that has taken it upon itself to tell us how we should be doing our work. Some have taken a “beat us over the head” approach; others better understand our work and are providing evidence-based support - one of these Achieving the Dream.
(ATD SLIDE)
I believe that fully engaging in the conversation about reform and studentsuccess is imperative. We can bring context and thoughtfulness and practice to it and assure that we are doing the right things for the right reasons just as we did to defeat efforts to impose performance based funding. For a number of reasons, including the increased scrutiny from accreditors and to integrate our many student success initiatives we decided to relaunch our Achieving the Dream work and use their seven capacities to organize our Student Success efforts. Faculty are engaging with this work, and I trust that there will be more engagement and we will see results.
State Level:
You will all be aware of Ballot Measure 97 (YES on 97 SLIDE) which has the potential to be a game changer for the state. Without it, the state will have a structural deficit of $1.5 billion per year in the next biennium. Last week, I was asked by the HECC to give examples of the impact if we got a 10-12% reduction of state funds. All told and given we used $5 million of one time money to plug this year’s budget which won’t be available next year, it’s about $10 million a year for us. Devastating. I am happy to say that on Tuesday night, the Board of Education approved a resolution in support of Ballot Measure 97. I simply ask that you inform yourselves of the pros and cons and get out and vote. There is information outside in the lobby.
HECC SLIDE
On the more hopeful side, the Higher Education Coordinating Commission is asking the Governor for an investment of $795 million for community colleges. This is a heavy lift but it is the minimum of what we need. It includes about $100 million above our current appropriation to cover increases in PERS and other mandated items and $145 million targeted to student success efforts. I expect there will be strings attached to those funds. For example, we must increase our graduation and transfer rates; we must increase our completion rate, but it would be a welcome respite for the 20 years of starvation budgets.
Accelerated Learning continues to be an issue. A strong desire and political pressure from the HECC and local school districts to provide additional opportunities for high school students to take college –level course work while in high school in a variety of accelerated learning options.
Lane has a long history of being a leader in providing dual-credit college courses in high schools. We offer a variety of innovative options for high school students to earn college credit and provide support for transitioning into college.
These options include the co-location of ECCO (Early College and Career Options) on Lane’s campus, enrolling high school students in regular college courses on campus, and (RTEC) career technical courses.
Even with all of these options, there continues to be a large disparity in access and opportunity for high school students to earn college credit, especially in rural areas throughout Lane County. And especially for core academic classes that set students on their educational pathway to a degree or certificate.
We said no to possible funding options in the past that would support significant and important collaborations between faculty and high school teachers to work closely together to teach college course in high school, we said no in some cases to accepting credentials that didn’t quite meet our certification standards. I think that’s the right decision, but there is a price to pay for this.
School districts have options and are turning to the “promise” models that will provide the access to desired college credit courses. If this happens, it will have an impact on our enrollment at Lane.
Accelerated learning shouldn’t just focus on acquiring college credit – any credit. It should follow an educational pathway that ensures that they are prepared to succeed in college and are taking courses that progress them toward completion of a degree or certificate.
I am not suggesting we lower our standards but we also need to be open and look for innovative ways to approach accelerated learning, as it will remain an important and critical issue for Lane and for the state in the future.
FILLER SLIDE
Looking Forward:
So what’s on the plate for this year at Lane?
There is no question that reform, resetting, redesigning will be part of community college life into the future. As David Bowie said, Ch-ch-ch-changes are happening whether we like it or not. It is radical change, disruptive change. Change will either happen to us or we can be the change. The external pressures on higher education are growing whether it is questioning the value of higher education, doubting our ability get the job done of educating for a complex, global environment, or demanding better results. We cannot ignore it. If we ignore what is going on we do it at our own peril. I hesitate to give a commercial example, but remember Blockbuster?
BLOCKBUSTER was a provider of home movie and video game rental. At its peak in 2004, Blockbuster consisted of nearly 60,000 employees and over 9,000 stores; Blockbuster lost significant revenue and filed for bankruptcy protection on September 23, 2010. In 2016 it has 13 stores. What happened? Lots of things, but primarily Netflix. Unlike Blockbuster, NETFLIX innovated and just kept right on innovating. We don’t want to be Blockbuster. We must prepare for a future that is already here. What got us to where we are today may not carry us into the future – we can’t sit still.
Fortunately, we are starting from a strong place because of you. We are on a journey together and I am glad to have been on that journey with you for the last 21 years but there is still a ways to go. One of the things I do to keep myself sane is yoga. In that practice you start in mountain pose and then after some exertions in other poses you come back to MOUNTAIN POSE and see how long it takes for your mind and heart to be calm. The time it takes to recovery is a sign of your fitness and mindfulness. It’s the same in dealing with change. After making change, what’s the timeline to recovery? In a resilient organization, if we were hooked up to an EKG for example, it would not be crazy because we recognize that change is happening all the time.
KEEP YOUR COINS I WANT CHANGE
So change is the first thing we need to contend with –constant change.
What else?
Last year we completed our new Strategic Plan which was approved by the board in July.
STRATEGIC PLAN SLIDE
This plan was created by you and your best thinking. We will be working on implementation plans for each strategic direction over the course of the year, but the board asked us to develop a focus, a shortlist, for the coming year, which was approved on Tuesday.
STRATEGIC PLAN PRIORITIES
Let me just comment on these.
Commitment to Student Learning and Success: Every single person who works at this college has a role in providing access for students to the college and keeping them here once they arrive. Who knows what interaction can send a student running back to the parking lot never to be seen again? That’s a lost opportunity, perhaps a life-changing moment for the student and a lost opportunity for each one of us to fulfill the mission of the college. The moment we lose sight of why we are here – to serve students – is the moment that we signal to students that they are unimportant to us. Think about it. Think about if you were that first generation, poor student, perhaps dipping a toe in the water of higher education after an unsuccessful experience in high school or the work place. What would you want for yourself? To be welcomed, to feel that someone actually cares about you being here, to know that their success is important to us and that we will do what it takes to assist and support that student, every student.
That is why this year there will be a focus on the strategic direction of Commitment to Student Learning and Success and particularly enrollment and retention. ALI SLIDE One of the goals is to develop a service mindset that will surround each and every student with care and processes that work for them, not just for us. BACK TO
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
Under the strategic direction of a Culture of Teaching, Learning and Innovation we have created a Center for Teaching and Learning. This will be a partnership between administration and faculty. Still in the nascent stages, we have identified and equipped a space – Center 430 – Caroline Lundquist in Social Science has been leading this work with other faculty over the summer. We look forward to this Center being a nexus for faculty scholarship and innovation. Also, related to this strategic direction, we will focus on Program Review and Student Learning Outcomes. Why do we do these things? To improve student learning and the student experience, but it also so happens that our accrediting body cares a lot about these things too. In terms of the seven recommendations we got in February of 2015, we are now substantially in compliance with five of them. However, these two - Program Review and Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes - need significant attention in the next nine months.
The 2015-2016 was the inaugural year for the faculty-led academic program review process, with eight programs participating. As these eight programs move into implementing recommendations for improvement, another nine programs will start their reviews this fall. The Academic Program Review Oversight Committee, chaired by Anne McGrail, will be working this year to continue to develop support structures and resources and to map out a five- year schedule for all academic programs to participate in this work. From some conversation I’ve had with NWCCU, it appears they do not think we are moving fast enough with this.
Assessment of Student Learning is faculty work though administration is a partner is providing infrastructure and support.
The Assessment Team, chaired by Kate Sullivan, will work closely with ASA administration to implement a collaborative plan for scaling up assessment of student learning into the new strategic directions, program review and the college planning framework,
The plan includes developing technology infrastructure and support, continued professional development for faculty and deans, and the identification of support structures and resources to support faculty in this work.
In addition to the A-Team and ASA, this work will be the focus of Tammy Salman, Coordinator of Student Learning Assessment and Curriculum Coordinator as well as a focus for the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Assessment of student learning will be the exclusive focus of the three -year mid-cycle NWCCU accreditation visit in fall term 2017.
Student Services Redesign. We will be implementing an organizational redesign of student services, based on the student’s journey. Start Right, Momentum and Engagement, and Completion. Throughout winter and spring terms, the student affairs group collaboratively explored how we might be organized to facilitate student success.
Feedback from these discussions yielded several central themes:
- Need for increased consistent communication,
- Need for cross team discussions and collaboration, and
- Teams with focused, shared goals and clear direction.
This information was utilized to build a model to transform student affairs around increasing outcomes for our students: increased enrollment, persistence and retention and successful completion. Three new divisions will be created to align with our Strategic Enrollment Management Goals, our new Strategic Directions, and Core Themes.
This transformation will be going on throughout the year while we continue to support our students and the vital services and programs provided in Student Affairs.
If you want to hear more about the redesign effort and great work of the Student Affairs group has been engaged in, Kerry Levett is facilitating a breakout session entitled, “Student Affairs 2.0”.
Related to the Access, Equity and Inclusion for Social Justice direction, we will focus on developing an equity lens.
Lane remains committed to the values and principles of social justice as we strive to meet the needs of the students we serve.
Social justice at Lane means that we recognize, understand, and address the adverse impacts of privilege, oppression and discrimination on members of our most vulnerable populations-the underrepresented and underserved.
Lane will embark on the development of an “Equity Lens Toolkit” which will be shaped and molded by our faculty, classified staff, managers, administrators and - most important - our students.
The “Equity Lens Toolkit” will craft a common vocabulary, process and procedures for evaluating policies, practices and decision making for a more equitable, accessible and inclusive college for our students, employees and community.
Meanwhile we will continue to move forward with professional development around cultural competence.
What else is going on? Oh yeah, we are looking for a new president.
PRES SEARCH SLIDE
Applications will be reviewed starting around October 15, interviews of semi-finalists will be completed by the board by the end of the year, and finalists will come to campus to meet with everyone after the first of the year. The job of recruiting the next president is everyone’s job. There are hundreds of open positions and the pools are small. Candidates from out of state have to get over the fact that we are 46th in the nation for the funding of higher education, that salaries in Oregon are lower, that we are administratively lean, for example, compared with other League colleges. So what do we have to offer to attract the very best candidates? I believe we have much to offer and I will do my best to be a resource to interested applicants. However, he or she will be looking past me and looking at you and looking at our culture. They will be assessing what kind of place this would be to lead. Most will already have the job and may have multiple offers. So it behooves all of us to think and share about all that is good about Lane – not to cover over our challenges but neither to only focus on problems. Meanwhile,
MAXINE SLIDE
I’ll be looking ahead to this! Jealous yet?
BOND SLIDE
Finally, last fall we went through a process to identify new projects to for a new Bond measure. For a variety of reasons we did not think it wise to put it on the November ballot. The board will consider whether to place it on the May ballot. It would take every one of us working to support it. If the board decides to delay, either way, I’ll do my part as president or citizen to pass a bond for the college.
Women in Transitions
SLIDE
Let’s not forget an anniversary we are celebrating this year, the 30th anniversary of our award winning Women’s Program. Also, there will be great athletics, visual and performing arts, and lectures. For example, the Peace Center is hosting Vandana Shiva on November 21; Arun Gandhi returns to Lane on February 15, and Geshe Dorji Dandul, translator for his holiness the Dalai Lama will be here in April.
So how are we going to get all this done in this year of transition?
FILLER SLIDE
First, I think we need to focus on our mission. We are in the business of developing minds and imaginations, creating workforce in a global environment, building a healthy community. I can’t think of more noble work – transforming lives through learning. We can do this for our students and we can do this for ourselves. But we must be vigilant.
Second, we must create a respectful and welcoming environment for our students and each other. I can’t change what students bring with them but WE can change how we respond. It starts with each and every one of us asking ourselves the question Michael Rose asks: if you landed here every day how would you want to be treated if a student and what are you individually doing to assure that the student standing in front of you is successful? Everyone has an impact. Everyone has an impact on creating the kind of place we want to create for students and the kind of place we want to work. What if we studied our students to see what we might learn from them just as the Wright Brothers studied birds to understand flight. They understood that there would be obstacles along the way but that those seemingly intractable obstacles could be learning moments. I know it’s hard for us sometimes to focus on why we are here –students and community-building –when we see so many challenges whether it’s budget or bargaining. Sometimes it feels like this I know. VIDEO of kid with balls But in spite of this, we can soar and bring our students with us. This is their moment, perhaps their only moment to give higher education and the better life that goes with it, a shot. Let’s make sure we do our best to create conditions for them to do their best. We know this isn’t easy in our resource-starved environment, but we have $90 million and each other, so hey, we can do it.
SLIDE
“A damp day is unfavorable for soaring unless there is a high wind. No bird soars in a calm.”
Third, we have plans but more importantly we have each other. We have the heart, intellect and courage in the moment to face the future boldly and radically. The real magic lies within each one of us - creativity, curiosity, adaptability and courage. Am I wrong? Or are these the attributes that will take us through?
It’s important to always listen to your heart- I fully realize that a very few of you don’t have one – a heart that is, but for those of you who do, listen to what it is telling you. I don’t believe it is saying let’s kick somebody around one more time. No, it’s saying be real, be kind, reach out so that we can have a Lane that promotes flourishing in our students.
Collectively, we have the intellectual integrity, the moral courage, and the radical imagination. In this raucous, reeling world we can increase our capacity for compassion. I have great hope in human capacity. To paraphrase William Stafford, let’s stand at that intersection between the most ordinary daily experience and the most extraordinary imagination. Stafford’s approach to writing was to start with little things. Relating to our students, perhaps that’s a smile, an acknowledgement, calling our students by name. In this communal stewardship of the college the future is the story of our students, not the story of the institution.
Again, a little bit of humor helps.
WORRY ABOUT YOURSELF
FILLER SLIDE
Fourth, we have hope.
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
Those are the words Emily Dickinson wrote to forge an image of possibility. Congressman John Lewis shares a formative experience that kept him going through the bleakest of times. An act of communal faith that not one alone could have accomplished.
He tells of “one day when I was about four, I was at his Aunt Seneva’s house with about fourteen other children playing in the dirt yard. The sky clouded over and a storm was brewing. Aunt Seneva herded us inside the tiny house, it was crowded especially with fifteen children inside.
STOCK PHOTO OF KIDS
The wind was howling and the house was beginning to shake. Everyone was scared. It got worse with the house swaying and then a corner of the room started lifting up. The storm was pulling the house toward the sky with the children inside it. That was when Aunt Seneva told us to hold hands. Then she had us walk as a group toward the corner of the room that was rising. We walked to the front of the house and then to the back as another end of the house began to lift. And so it went, back and forth, fifteen children walking with the wind, holding that house down with the weight of our small bodies.
Over the fifty years that have passed since that day it has struck me that our society is not unlike the children in that house, rocked again and again by the winds of one storm or another, the walls seeming that they might fly apart. It seemed like that during the fight for Civil Rights, which by the way is not over, the people of conscience never left the house. They stayed, they came together and they did the best they could, clasping hands and moving toward the corner of the house that was the weakest. And inevitably the storm would settle and the house would still stand, But we knew other storms would come and we would have to do it all over again. And we did. And we still do. That path involves nothing less than the pursuit that has guided me like a beacon ever since, the concept of Beloved Community.”
So we may not live in an old wooden house and our winds may not be literal, but we have endured real challenges in the past and will again. What will sustain us, what has always sustained us is working together, being in community.
HONEYCOMB SLIDE
Antonio Machado
Last night as I was sleeping
I dreamt – marvelous error!-
That a spring was breaking
Out in my heart
I said: Along which secret aqueduct
Oh water, are you coming to me
Water of a new life
That I have never drunk?
Last night as I was sleeping
I dreamt – marvelous error!-
That I had a beehive
Here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
We’re making white combs
And sweet honey
From my old failures.
FILLER SLIDE
“Imagination creates an expansive vision of what’s possible and helps us recognize the fundamental bonds that exist between us. It frees us from what might be a bleak present to give us a glimpse of what the future could be.” (Loeb)
Machado’s poem embodies this generous outlook,
Similarly, playwright Tony Kushner recognizes that if we don’t do battle with human destructiveness, evil really will, as he said in another context, “waltz into our living room, eating pretzels and seduce us into distracted complacency.” He tells the story if being in a cab when the driver said “if there’s a supernova sixty light years away from here, the world will be totally wiped out. We don’t stand a chance.” Kushner began to ponder on that. As he thought about it he realized that “despair is a lie we tell ourselves.” He exhorts us to work together.” When the supernova comes to get us, we don’t want to be disappointed in ourselves. We should hope to be able to say proudly to the SUPERNOVA: Hello supernova, we have been expecting you. We know all about you because in our schools we teach science and not creationism, and so we have been expecting you, everywhere, everyone has been expecting you, except Texas. And we would like to say, supernova, in the moment before we are returned to clouds on incandescent vapor, we’d like to declare that we have tried our best and worked hard to make a good and just and free and peaceful world, a world that is better for our having been here, at least we believe it is.”
So, if we bring that same spirit of John Lewis and Antonio Machado and Tony Kushner to our work here at Lane, if we make the choice to work together and not buy into the lie of despair and cynicism, we can create the kind of place that we, each and every one of us deserve.
RAINBOW SLIDE
So Lewis Carroll said “Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” It’s time for me to stop. It’s time for us to get on with the new academic year.
INSPIRATIONAL VIDEO
I trust that you will have an amazing year; that you will do amazing things; that you will walk on air against your better judgment; that you will make a choice to engage in the vibrant life of Lane Community College and you will make a choice to make a difference.
That’s a wrap!
Prince - LET’S GO CRAZY