Week of Fun Offers a Great Launch for Fall Semester

A great day on campus today capped a wonderful first-week festival.

On Wednesday, students, faculty and staff gathered for our main campus welcome back picnic, featuring exceptional Southern barbecue. There was also an incredible mix of displays from student and community organizations and academic departments covering the main campus quad around the Whitley clock tower.

Along with our mascot Cody, I had the chance to ride a Ferris wheel with a great panoramic view of main campus. My thanks go to the entire Student Affairs team, who orchestrated this great, engaging event for thousands of our students. In the midst of all the excitement, I ran to my entrepreneurship class for day two of our new venture creation odyssey.

Finally, late in the day, I visited with Tom Ingram  a third-year reporter for our terrific student newspaper, The Saber. The first fall issue is out, and I am so very proud of the efforts of so many of our students, resulting in wonderful and insightful coverage of campus issues.

Today, weather permitting, we hope 120-plus students will ride the rapids on Columbus' world class urban whitewater course. Our own aquatics coordinator, Koby Garick will help orchestrate this terrific event on the Class 3 and Class 4 rapids that run along the west side of our RiverPark campus.

CSU Opening Weekend Reflects Promise of 2013-2014 School Year

What a great run-up we've enjoyed leading up to today's opening of the university for fall semester classes. A wonderful cookout on Saturday at our RiverPark campus followed a smooth opening of residence halls on the main and RiverPark campuses

Sunday was also terrific, Organ professor Joseph Golden of CSU's Schwob School of Music organized, with the American Guild of Organists, two great concerts in Legacy Hall. On Sunday evening, Assistant Athletic Director Jimbo Davis and Athletic Director Jay Sparks hosted and orchestrated with the help of our friends at Country's  a huge welcome dinner for almost 300 student athletes.

How very special it was that I could introduce three Serbian student athletes -- in women's tennis, volleyball and rifle -- to each other!  This is one more great reflection of what university life is all about.

Graduation Reflects Lots of Outstanding Work by Many

Graduation represents what Columbus State is all about, and our 106th commencement on Monday was no exception. It’s also rewarding to get good reviews for a ceremony that, by its nature, must exceed two hours.

One local VIP noted Monday’s graduation was his first at CSU. He and others enjoyed stories of a few graduates we shared – from one older student who got help from our faculty returning to college after a disastrous academic start years earlier, finally realizing his dream of following in his parents’ footsteps as a teacher, to the biology major who won national recognition for her research in Alaska, helping her earn a full ride assistantship for a University of Hawaii Ph.D. program.

“The program was outstanding, and we enjoyed every moment,” the VIP wrote in an email. “The personal stories done at the beginning of the program added a personal touch to the graduation experience. We are so proud of you and your fine institution. Kudos on a job well done!”

Another email, from a parent, mentioned music provided by CSU’s Trumpet Ensemble and our graduation speaker, Dink NeSmith, chair of our state Board of Regents.

”I just wanted to take a brief moment to tell you how much my husband and I enjoyed the ceremony last evening,” the parent wrote. “The speaker was delightful and `right on’ with his remarks, the music was wonderful, and the faculty comments were brief and appropriate. My husband and I especially enjoyed your `spotlight' section on selected students. Thank you for your commitment to excellence in education and for ensuring my daughter gets a great education. She is starting grad school next week, and I look forward to her next graduation at CSU, when she earns her master’s degree.”

Another writer summed up his thoughts succinctly as a graduate student’s parent, supporter and volunteer: “You were on your `A’ game last night. Great job and thanks for your leadership!!!”

We appreciate those kind words, but I have to share credit for commencement –- from faculty who plan the ceremony to behind-the-scenes logistics staff handling audio, video and other technical details. We had one person on our staff who spent Monday morning setting up chairs for the students awarded more than 960 degrees. On Monday night, that staffer was able to fill a couple of those chairs as she got her associate’s degree and her son got his bachelor’s degree. Now she’s got her sights set on a bachelor’s degree, too.

My thanks go to everyone at Columbus State and beyond who makes such happy endings possible.

Happy 10th Anniversary to CSU Servant Leadership

I just had the wonderful opportunity to attend the 10th anniversary celebration of the Columbus State University's Servant Leadership program.

Dr. Stuart Rayfield, CSU's Frank Brown Distinguished Chair in Servant Leadership, directs an extraordinary program in a city named by the Greenleaf Center as the first Servant Leadership City in the U.S. At today's celebration, the 24 graduating seniors in the CSU program discussed their experiences and their yearlong project, yielding 1,500 volunteer hours. The celebration also revisited annual projects from the first nine years of the program.

This special program, now includes both the baccalaureate scholars as well as an M.S. program that focuses on servant leadership as well. My sincere thanks go to all involved in this wonderful initiative.

Rocking the House with 360 Degrees of Music

Congratulations to the Columbus State University Choral Union, the Trumpet Ensemble, the Trombone Octet and the Trombone Choir for their exceptionally powerful concert, Surround Sound: 360 Degrees of Music.

Special thanks to professors Constantina Tsolainou, Robert Murray and Bradley Palmer for their teaching and conducting on behalf of this event at our own Legacy Hall. The hall was packed with patrons of all ages, and the music was wonderful.

Berlin Study Abroad Program Offers Powerful Lessons

A special shout-out goes to professors Mariko Izumi (Communication) and Carmen Skaggs (English) for their exceptional work in orchestrating an incredibly powerful study abroad experience, a Berlin-based course focused on "Memorializing the Holocaust." Last night I attended a series of incredible presentations by our talented students who recently returned from a spring break trip to Germany. The poetry readings, digital storytelling and counter-monument presentations were exceptional. I remain most impressed by the power of what takes place in our classrooms and the enormous benefits of study abroad.

Hunter Lecturer Astronaut Enlightens, Helps CSU Celebrate Center Donation

This year's Hunter Lecture featured Dr. Bernard A. Harris Jr., the first African American astronaut to walk in space. The lecture coincided with an incredibly powerful conference, NeXtGen STEM: Innovative Solutions for Tomorrow's Emerging Workforce.

As a special bonus, Dr. Harris appeared at our Coca-Cola Space Science Center, where Dr. Shawn Cruzen and team announced a $250,000 gift from MeadWestvaco to support continued expansion of the center, as well as to honor its unveiling of the NASA space shuttle nozzle. On campus, Dr. Harris spoke to close to 1,000 high school students from Columbus to Atlanta and mesmerized them with his epic stories of space, including traveling over 7 million miles!