Fall Convocation - Wednesday, Aug 15, 2007

Faculty, Staff, Honorable Guests, Fellow Board Members, friends and alumni of EKU:

Although I've had a few opportunities to address EKU students at commencement, I have never had the opportunity to directly address the faculty and staff.

Having sat through many lectures over the course of 4 ½ years, I must say that it is quite tempting to want to return the favor and lecture you. If I thought I knew anything that you didn't, then I probably would. But, I don't. So, I won't.

As a proud alumnus of this university, I must say that this is a tremendous honor to stand before you. In fact, a few of my professors – from two decades ago – are in this room today. Let me quickly add, that those professors who taught me in 1985 were very, very young then – and you really haven't aged any more than I have.

I do want to take a moment of personal privilege before introducing our new president. I want to tell all of you how much I appreciate what you do for this fine university and for her students.

I recall sitting in English class in the Wallace Building and hearing Dr. Sweet tell us over and over and over again that the tools are here at EKU to build the house of our mind. And we get to decide what kind of a house we want to build.

There were days back then when I wasn't sure whether I wanted to build a mansion or shack. But, the faculty and the administration and the opportunities continued to challenge me.

I vividly recall, as a junior at EKU, I got my first job working in Washington, D.C., as a summer intern back in 1988. At lunch one day that summer, a Harvard student turned to one of my fellow interns and commented on the dialect of all of us kids from Kentucky. He said, "My goodness, how can you stand to listen to those people talk?"

Well, three years later, I enrolled in Harvard Law School. And, you can probably imagine, what a great irony it was when my Harvard Law School classmates chose the kid from EKU to be the class marshal and to speak at graduation in the summer of 1994.

Delivering the commencement address at Harvard and sharing the day with speakers like then-Vice President Al Gore and Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun was a great honor for a boy from Whitley County. But the real satisfaction for me came, on that hot graduation day in 1994, when I gave the student commencement address and every student at Harvard Law School was forced to listen to how we talk!

(In full disclosure, I might add that I did spend some one-on-one time with Dr. Benson in the Speech Department working on voice and diction.)

Before I introduce our new president for the interim period, I want to take a minute to thank President Glasser and all of the faculty and staff for the tremendous work of the past six years.

Six years ago, we were in a terrible mess. A huge financial hole. No comprehensive approach or campaign to fundraising and alumni outreach. No formal strategic plan for the future.

Today, we find ourselves far better off than those dark days of budget cuts, low morale and limited vision.

We have a bold, new Strategic Plan …

a successful SACS review that we expect will lead to reaffirmation of our accreditation later this year …

… an exciting Quality Enhancement Plan that looks like something we bought from outside consultants for a couple of million dollars …

… national accreditations of key academic programs and the establishment of new academic programs …

… numerous new facilities and more on the way in the construction and planning phases …

… an endowment that has more than doubled in size …

… financial stability … rising enrollment … NCAA recertification … greater national visibility …

… and a re-energized alumni base, to name a few.

So, let me thank President Glasser and all of you for the extremely significant strides we've made by working hard and by working together.

But, the best announcement I have to make today is: the best is yet to come.

I had an EKU professor who started each semester by walking into the classroom wearing sunglasses and blaring the song: "The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades."

We stopped just short of handing out sunglasses today, but I can tell you that your Board of Regents is very encouraged by where this university has come from over the past six years and is incredibly optimistic about where we are headed in the future.

I am here with you today to introduce a man who needs no introduction on this campus or in this town.

When the university community learned of President Glasser's resignation last Tuesday morning, you began sending emails and making phone calls to the Board suggesting various men and women who could step into the breach. Who could confidently and capably lead this university forward while we search for a permanent president over the next 9-12 months.

I want to thank you for sending us a very strong list of candidates. We could have conducted a national search for an interim president and not had a better pool of qualified candidates.

The Board is especially indebted to the candidates who accepted our invitation to interview on very short notice. All five finalists poignantly shared their experience, their credentials, their insight, their advice and their vision for this university in such a passionate and compelling way.

We had a difficult choice. But the Board ultimately united and chose unanimously Dr. Charles Douglas Whitlock as president for this critically important interim period.

Dr. Whitlock served EKU in various leadership roles from 1968 to 2003, including serving as the Executive Assistant to three different EKU presidents and serving the final five years as Vice President for Administrative Affairs. He has also served the University as Director of Publications and as Director of Public Information. In addition, he has taught communications and computer science courses as a member of the faculty.

Just as a sports team names an interim coach who knows the players and is intimately familiar with the team philosophy, dynamics and history, the Board has chosen an interim president who has a deep knowledge of all aspects of the University.

In fact, the Board had a difficult time finding a job on campus that Dr. Whitlock had not done, or at least one that he had not told someone else how to do better!

Dr. Whitlock is a two-time EKU graduate, having earned a bachelor's degree in history and social science from Eastern in 1965 and a master's degree in history in 1966. He added a doctoral degree in higher education from the University of Kentucky in 1981.

In addition, Dr. Whitlock is well known in the Richmond community, well versed in the legislative and budgetary world of Frankfort and widely respected by the University community for his service to EKU under five different presidents spanning parts of five decades – and spanning parts of two centuries. Just how old are you, Dr. Whitlock?!

The Board will embark upon a national search over the next several months. We will take our time and do it right. That task is made so much easier because we will be led during this interim by the seasoned, steady and accomplished hands of Dr. Whitlock. The Board made clear to Dr. Whitlock that he will have all of the powers, responsibilities and duties of the office of the President.

I also want to add that Dr. Whitlock has graciously and selflessly agreed not to compete for the permanent position in order to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest and to be able to help unify our campus for the next 11 months and beyond.

I know this is convocation, not chapel. But, many of you have indicated that today is as much spiritual as it is physical.

As I left Louisville this morning with the sun rising on my way to Richmond, I sought strength for the day. And, then I received an email that one of you sent to Dr. Whitlock that summed up the moment far better than I can:

"EKU needs Doug Whitlock's leadership, friendship, compassion, and gentle but effective management style at this time in EKU's history."

Doug Whitlock has been called a man for all seasons. I can't speak for all seasons. But, on behalf of the Board of Regents, I can confidently say you are truly the man for this season in the life of this great university.

We are honored to have you and grateful for your willingness to serve.

And we are grateful for Doug's wife, Joanne, who has so graciously loaned you to this university for so many years, and is now giving you back to us again for the next 11 months.

Dr. Whitlock, thank you for your lifetime of leadership, accomplishment and excellence that has equipped you for such a time as this.

I present to you President Charles Douglas Whitlock.