Leaving on a High Note - Austin Peay State University

From the President
Often, I tell Dennie Burke that she can “turn
a sow’s ear into a silk purse,” and that may be
what happened in the article she wrote about
me for this publication. I often get credit for
many accomplishments for which others have
been responsible. I am an idea person and I’m
known to push, but it takes many people to turn
a vision into reality.
A number of people have expressed concern
about what will happen at APSU after I leave—
the answer is relatively simple: The same people
who worked to move this University to the
next level will continue that forward progress
under new leadership. An anonymous story
about geese illustrates this truth: Geese going
south for the winter fly in V formations, and as
each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for
the bird immediately following. By flying in V
formation, the whole flock adds at least 71 percent
greater flying range than if each bird flew
on its own. Similarly, people who share a common
direction and sense of community can get
where they are going more quickly and easily
because they are traveling on the thrust of one
another. That is what has happened at The Peay
for the past seven years.
The story continues: When a goose falls out of
formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance
of trying to go it alone and quickly gets
back into formation to take advantage of the lifting
power of the bird in front. Undoubtedly,
Austin Peay faculty and staff will stay in formation
with those who are headed the same way.
And the story concludes: When the head
goose gets tired, it rotates back in the wing and
another goose flies the point. It is sensible to
take turns doing demanding jobs with people or
with geese flying south. As hard as it is for me to
“let go” of Austin Peay, I know it is time for me
to give someone else a turn as president. I can
leave with confidence that our faculty and staff
care about this very special University and will
continue the work we began together. Like huge
redwood trees that gain strength and nutrition
from a common root system that feeds one and
all, our faculty and staff will find their strength
in the joining of their roots—their common
sense of mission and purpose.
Presidents come and go, but the universities
they serve linger long. Tennessee poet Will
Allen Dromgoole once penned a question to an
old man who was building a bridge across a
chasm he had just crossed: “You will never
again pass this way. . .Why build you this
bridge at eventide?” The builder lifted his grey
head and responded, “Good friend, in the path I
have come there followeth after me today a
youth whose feet must pass this way.” The poet
goes on to say that the chasm that was “nought
to me” might be a pitfall to the youth. And so,
he says, “Good friend, I am building this bridge
for him.” As I near the end of my tenure at
APSU, my hope is that I have been a bridge
builder—that I built a bridge from the past to
the future for Austin Peay.
I challenge each of our alumni and supporters
to join the other bridge builders at Austin Peay.
You are a part of the powerful V formation that
propels this University, and your ongoing support
is absolutely critical to the continued
progress of Austin Peay. How can you help?
First, you can get behind the next APSU
president in the same way you did for me. I
must admit most of the time I was invigorated
by the unexpected problems I faced at The
Peay, but at other times the tremendous support
I felt from the community, the campus and
especially our alumni strengthened me.
Second, you can help recruit students—send
us prospect names, bring prospective students
to visit campus and just spread the word about
your alma mater.
Lastly, you can provide financial support.
State dollars will never be adequate to make
this University the best it can be—that will take
generous and ongoing contributions from those
whose lives are indelibly linked to Austin Peay.
You once crossed a bridge to Austin Peay and
crossed once again as you left the University to
a successful career and a prosperous life. I
encourage you to build bridges to Austin Peay
for others, even though you may never need to
cross those same bridges again yourself. You
are safe on the other side with your degree, but
others still need a bridge to span the chasm that
separates them from a college education and a
better life. Support your new president. Send
The Peay new students. Make a generous contribution.
Be a bridge builder.
2 Austin Peay