Columbus State's support of Fort Benning reflected in Doughboy Stadium game

Thursday, October 28 was one more fantastic day at Columbus State University. That evening, our Cougar Club Football Team competed in an incredible game vs. the 3rd Infantry Division Team at Fort Benning's historic Doughboy Stadium. (While in the Army, Dwight Eisenhower coached a team at Doughboy, built in 1925.) The Army team tried out while on active duty in Iraq and, for the first time since 1983, competed in this fantastic, renovated venue. Thousands packed the stadium while thousands of others enjoyed food, festivities and fun outside the stadium. The game, broadcast over the Armed Forces Network reinforced the exceptional partnership between Columbus State University and Fort Benning. Our team coached by Bruce Hubbard (who played valiantly, as well, as a starting defensive end!) looked terrific and, although bested 29-13, kept the contest close until the very end. Special thanks to Phi Mu sorority for a great turnout and section and, as always, to our mascot, Cody, who never misses any events. All food provided by vendors was gratis, including the 10,000 pizzas, 10,000 hot dogs and tens of thousands of soft drinks distributed. Special thanks also go to our Annual Fund chair, John Hargrove, who orchestrated the event, and to Major General Mike Ferriter and Colonel Pete Jones for their enthusiastic support. Hopefully, this will become an annual event.

Campus talent impressive in concert, with visitors; come see game Thursday

Monday brought a wonderful first-time experience. I attended a Bass Ensemble Concert conducted by Dr. Alex Pershounin. The music performed by this ensemble of five of our exceptional CSU Schwob School of Music students ranged from classical (Handel, Mozart, Brahms and Bizet) to funk (Pershounin). It was an amazing display of exceptional talent. One of the students, Jack Meisburg, just received word that he has been selected to perform for the LaGrange Symphony. The Schwob School of Music level of talent is extraordinary, and its concerts are so very impressive. My thanks to our Enrollment Management team and all other participants, faculty, staff and students for a great Parents Weekend this past weekend, as well as our earliest-ever Visitation Day on Saturday. We had exceptional weather and a great tour of the Student Recreation Center. This was a wonderful team effort. Finally, our club football team plays a team from the U.S. Army's 3rd Brigade at Doughboy Stadium on Thursday. This gives us great connectivity to the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning and offers a great platform for our student-athletes to compete.

Fall highlights include concerts, soccer, lectures, art and more!

The last few weeks have represented a whirlwind of activities that are clearly reflective of a busy, engaged university.

I had the great pleasure of attending two exceptional concerts at our world-class Legacy Hall in the RiverCenter. Professor Paul Hostetter, our new Foley Distinguished Chair of Orchestral Activities, led an incredibly spirited performance by our CSU Philharmonic Orchestra. This grand evening was followed by an exceptional concert led by Dr. Jamie Nix, the new Director of Wind Ensemble Activities. This too was a wonderful evening.

Other recent events: I rode with our women’s soccer team to Savannah as they continued their stellar season. Jim Morpeth, a truly classic entrepreneur and founder of Country’s Barbecue, spoke to a packed house in Davidson Auditorium in a program sponsored by the Turner College of Business and Computer Science. Colonel (ret.) Conrad Crane, a Distinguished Professor at the Army War College, delivered our fall Hallock Lecture. Our Center for International Education organized a campus event featuring a wonderful range of study abroad options, staffed by faculty, students and staff who all encouraged our students to GO! A terrific exhibit has opened at our Ilges Gallery, an Exhibition of Drawings from the Kentler Flatfiles, and the opening night had a terrific turnout.

Looking ahead: This weekend is our first-ever fall Parents Weekend, and we look forward to hosting both prospective students and families of current students on our campus. In all, a great run for a great U.

Day of Service demonstrates spirit of Columbus State

This weekend was truly what keeps all of us inspired, committed and amazed at the service focus of Columbus State University students, faculty and staff. For our second annual Day of Service, we again partnered with United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley, which is one of the nation's top 100 such organizations among 1,200 in the U.S. Well before 9 a.m., hundreds of students, faculty and staff gathered and began to load buses, ably driven by our transportation team, and we fanned out to a dozen different United Way projects on both sides of the Chattahoochee River. My wife, Lauren, and I joined a great group at the Russell County Child Advocacy Center, where we went to work. Around 12:30, we gathered back at the CSU intramural complex for a cookout and thank you. We have a giving university community, in both treasure and talent, and this was a fantastic event coordinated by CSU's Center for Career Development.

Columbus State bike ride inaugurates `rails-to-trails' project

Tuesday evening, August 24, offered a chance for spectacular reflection on the connectivity across groups on the Columbus State University campus. At 6 p.m., about 100 students, faculty and staff gathered at our Woodruff Park on the RiverPark campus, participated in bicycle safety training and, behind a City of Columbus police escort, rode the 6-plus miles to main campus. This was the inaugural CSU ride on the new fault line trail, a "rails-to-trails" project that connects our Uptown Columbus campus with the main campus. Ride On Bikes was so kind to loan bikes and helmets to all who needed them, and we took a leisurely ride behind flashing blue police lights on this beautiful trail. Once on campus, we were met by thousands of students and faculty and staff who joined us in a campus cookout, music and games. Dr. Kimberly Mullen and Mr. Steve Morse, both great colleagues, receive kudos for their exceptional logistical and support work for this evening. My wife, Lauren, and I had a great time, meeting new students and are so very grateful to community leadership to have constructed over 20 miles of paved bike trails (more to come) throughout our community.

More reasons to be proud of the students, staff and faculty at Columbus State

Heard some great news in the past week about members of the Columbus State University family. These are just a few examples of why I continue to be inspired here.

First, communications major Hayley Henderson was notified that she is one of only seven young women in the state to receive a $1,000 scholarship from the Georgia Woman of the Year Inc. Scholarship Committee. Hayley is a member of Student Government Association and a very active member of our campus. She is just the latest example of the quality that we see in so many of our students every day.

Secondly, it was exciting to hear that Columbus State University's College of Education & Health Professions streaming television channel, COEHP.TV on the web was featured on Apple's iTunes Podcast site. Thousands of viewers saw a training series Dr. Mike Baltimore did about the iPad when it was featured on iTunes in the "New and Noteworthy" section for podcasts. Viewers from around the world visit this site every day to download video and other content for viewing. CSU's iPad Training series features six video training episodes for the new user entitled: iPad Fundamentals

Lastly, I would like to congratulate Brett Muller, director of Cougar Dining Services at Columbus State University. He was recently named outstanding manager of Aramark's Southern Region. Brett oversees all the outstanding dining options we now have on this campus. Their latest project is the Burger Studio, coming this fall in the Davidson Student Center. It will be next to Popeye's, on the other side of the cafeteria from the new bookstore (which looks fantastic, by the way!)

Tim

Whitewater and rock-climbing will soon be options for our students!

Columbus State University is so very proud to play a key partnership role in the ongoing transformation of Uptown Columbus along and near the riverfront. The latest announcement by a team led by businessman John Turner and Mayors Jim Wetherington
 ( Columbus) and Sonny Coulter (Phenix City) precedes the summer 2010 construction/engineering on the Chattahoochee River that will create 2.5 miles of whitewater. The whitewater course will begin around 35th street and end near 11th street and will be the southernmost whitewater course in the eastern U.S. The "ready2raft 2012" project will attract whitewater kayaking, canoeing, rafting and freshwater surfers to Uptown Columbus on the shores of CSU's RiverPark Campus. Whitewater venues in Ocoee, TN, Charlotte, NC and Reno, NV attract hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. This incredibly exciting enhancement of the river coupled with completion of our new 103,000 sq.ft. Student Recreation Center which brings world-class rock climbing and bouldering to campus creates a great combination of extreme sports options for all.