First Ever Cougar Homecoming Hits Big

We had a magnificent Homecoming Week! My sincere thanks to our terrific Logistics and Student Affairs teams for their extraordinary work on our first ever fall homecoming.  Parents Weekend was terrific, but matched by Cougar Lacrosse, Women's Soccer and Volleyball and the outdoor family movie, Finding Nemo in Woodruff Park. I was so very proud of our Club Football Team, coaches, and student-athletes for their victory at Doughboy Stadium. What a great evening. Major General Miller and his staff were so very gracious, and we had our largest attendance ever at the game. It was a grand event!

The Homecoming Parade was exceptional. This year, our Equestrian Team rode in the parade! How very proud I was of the number of floats, student participation and the great outpouring of support from the Columbus community. Mayor Tomlinson rode in the lead Mercedes, and we do so appreciate her support, attendance and advocacy.

Provost Hackett, AVP Spence Sealy, and I ran in the Cougar Madness ROTC 5K on Saturday morning. It was cold and fun. Kudos to our Cougar Battalion, Col. Feret, and cadets for a great event.

Our CSU Alumni Association dinner, dancing and fireworks in Uptown was spectacular. Dillingham Bridge was closed, and the fireworks provided a great exclamation mark on our Homecoming festivities. In all, a fantastic team effort. I am so proud of my colleagues.

USG Presidents Grace CSU's Campus

We have been so very fortunate to host so many terrific visitors from across the University System of Georgia (USG). Last week, the Board of Regents' Jim Hull and Sachin Shailendra spent the better part of a day on campus meeting with students, faculty and staff and touring our campuses. They were incredibly complimentary and engaged, and it was a wonderful opportunity to show off our many assets to these System leaders. Yesterday, Chancellor Hank Huckaby and Vice Chancellor Tom Daniel were on campus. They, too, visited with individual groups of students, faculty, staff, and our Cabinet. The meetings were interactive, filled with questions, and the Chancellor was very responsive to the various meetings. Last night, Lauren and I hosted the USG presidents and guests at our home for dinner. Today and tomorrow, the presidents are meeting at our university. I am so proud of our logistics, UITS, Cunningham Center and transportation teams for their support of this important meeting. We are honored to serve as host, and you should be very proud of the many kind things these colleagues are saying about Columbus State University.

Garbology Author Challenges Students to Go Green

Pulitzer Prize winning author Ed Humes was on campus this week sharing his insights on the trash and recycling challenges we face. The author of Garbology, Mr. Humes related that at death we would not only occupy our own grave site, but over our lives have generated enough garbage to fill up another 1100 grave sites, a daunting picture. He excited our students and challenged them to be greener. Our own Byron Harris directs our campus green initiatives and works closely with a faculty/staff/student committee deeply devoted to environmental stewardship.  Mr. Humes was invited by our colleague Dr. Terry Irvin, who has done an exceptional job over the past six years launching and managing our First Year Experience (FYE) program. Upon his return to California, Mr. Humes shared the following letter with Dr. Irvin:

Dear Terry,

You are so welcome. I loved visiting Columbus State, loved the great questions posed by the Enviro Sciences students, and the engaged audience at the lecture. President Mescon’s introduction was so gracious and thoughtful. Being part of such an event doesn’t even feel like work to me: it’s energizing and rewarding. Plus your hospitality was the best!

I will forward the PP slides to Steven, happily. And please let me know how I can support your faculty in their use of Garbology in class. I am at your (pun intended) disposal.

With Warmest Regards,

Ed

Riding the Zip Line

Last Friday, I had the wonderful opportunity (though I was decidedly overdressed) to ride the new zip line going from GA to AL over the whitewater course on the Chattahoochee River. What a treat! Dan Gilbert and his extraordinary team at Whitewater Express have done a great job with the zip line as well as with the two high ropes courses on the Alabama shore and the second zip line ride, running parallel to the river on the Alabama side. When you're done, you are transported back to the Whitewater Express outfitter store via power boat. Bundle these activities with one or more rafting rides down the Chattahoochee and you have an incredible set of experiences. What a wonderful opportunity for Columbus State University students and what a grand addition to our RiverPark Campus.

The Importance of Greek Life at Columbus State University

Over the years, many universities have run hot and cold in their treatment and support of Greek Life, fraternities and sororities. Thanks to the great work by our Division of Student Affairs and my colleague Britney Kelly, director of Greek Life, Columbus State University is seeing a surge of student interest in this wonderful co-curricular option. This week, some brothers from the Eta Theta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, including Reuben Riley who is also in the GA National Guard, came to visit me in my office. Some of these brothers now live in the designated CSU Greek Housing on Maryland Circle, but all want to know how they can help advocate for CSU. It was a great visit and to meet majors in business, psychology and criminal justice gives me great confidence in our collective future.

Key Elementary Stuffed with School Supplies

What a pleasure it was for me to join Mayor Teresa Tomlinson, Gina Sheeks, Columbus State's VP for Student Affairs, Chip Reese, Dean of Students and AVP, and Dana Larkin, Asst. Dean of Students, at Key Elementary School on Friday.

Special thanks to Rachel Green, Vice President-Scholastic Affairs in the Columbus State University Student Government Association. Rachel is a hyper-involved student leader majoring in early childhood education in the Servant Leadership Program; she is a mentor at Big Brothers Big Sisters and active in the AKA Sorority. Rachel galvanized a wonderful group of students who managed to secure over 400 book bags, stuff each with assorted school supplies and distribute them to every student and teacher at Key Elementary for the start of this school year. 

What a great morning it was! I am so very proud of these students and this important outreach into the community. This is Servant Leadership at work. This is what makes Columbus State University such a very special place.

Spirit of Suffrage Movement Captured During Women's Equality Day

My sincere thanks to Dr. Larry Dooley, Chair of Columbus State University's Department of Theatre, and six great theater majors (Natalie Brock, Allison Bennett, Brandon Mitchell, Rylee Bunton, Tate LeClair, and Devin Shaw) for their wonderful performance during Women's Equality Day at Ft. Benning. Commanding General Miller and his team orchestrated a fantastic event, keynoted by City of Columbus Deputy City Manager Lisa Goodwin. The students captured the spirit of the suffrage movement in period costume and set a wonderful tone for the event. What a fitting follow-up to great speeches by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (author of Lean In) and Spanx founder Sara Blakely at our Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum. Today's event was one more reflection of Columbus State University reaching into this wonderful community.