"Celebrating Community"

First, a very special thank-you to friends, colleagues, guests and my family. Thank you for taking the time to share this event with me. I appreciate the representatives of the institutions of higher learning who have sacrificed a precious Saturday to share in this ceremony. You honor Ripon College with your presence. I want to especially thank (and perhaps slightly embarrass) my wife, Lynne, and my daughter, Anna, for their patience and forbearance for my chosen profession. This is a life work that involves the entire family. My wife is truly my life partner as she invests her time, expertise and passion into the service of this campus and higher education. In fact, this is her birthday, so the day is doubly special.

Water has always been an important aspect of our family life. Many of our hobbies incorporate water. We know that we are composed of at least 70 percent water. Perhaps this is why we, as humans, are drawn to water. We remember our earliest days with fondness when we recall playing in mud puddles, ponds or streams. We had a home in the mountains of North Carolina with a small stream behind it. Anna could always be found in or near that stream.

But it is not just our family which loves water. Our author for this year’s common reading experience in the “first-year studies,” Bill Kloefkorn, in his book, "This Death by Drowning," makes the connection to water as he traces his own life journey growing up near wonderful bodies of water. Kloefkorn quotes Loren Eiseley in chapter two of the book when he writes, “If there is magic on the planet, it is contained in water.”

Water, by its nature is alive. It has movement, current. It moves over and around its obstacles. It seeks the lowest point and moves in that direction. And, it will not be forever contained. It is life-giving. It is cleansing.

Norman Maclean writes in his book, "A River Runs Through It": Eventually all things merge into one and a River Runs Through It. The river was cut by the world’s big flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. Some of the rocks are timeless raindrops, under the rocks are words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.

I like to fish. I really like to fish. I particularly enjoy fly-fishing. Like everyone where hobbies are concerned, I wish I had more time to play. Fly-fishing is an interesting hobby. Actually, it is more than a hobby. It is almost a way of life. Those who fly-fish have their own uniform and invest in or craft highly specialized equipment. Even with all of the equipment, such as vest, hat, rod, reel, creel and waders, it is not just about catching fish, it is about knowing the fish. It is about knowing the stream. It is about becoming connected to something bigger than yourself. Often, it is not about catching fish at all. In fact, many if not most times, a fly-fisher will release whatever is caught. After all, there are much more effective methods for harvesting fish. One could use worms, corn … even dynamite. Rather, it is the science of the sport, the art of the sport. For some it can even become a religion. It is a metaphor for life.

If one is to catch a trout, one has to think like a trout. One has to know the water, its clarity, its acidity, its temperature and what grows in it. One has to know the trout, its habits, its habitat, its preferences. One has to know oneself, our capabilities, our potential, our goals and desires… not to mention a little hand and eye coordination.

When you observe a fly-fisher, you can see the art of the cast … be it a roll cast, a double haul cast, a serpent cast, shooting-line cast or even a long-distance cast. The art within the sport as the fly-fisher seeks perfection. The fly-fisher throws the line, not the lure. Everything must be done with rhythm, balance, and sequence. Some would say it is a dance.

Interestingly, what appears to be an individual sport is, in reality, rooted in community. Rather than hide their craft, fly-fishers are wont to share their craft. They are eager to teach others. They embrace the sport with a spirit of lifelong learning. They read voraciously, the books and articles about fishing. Within this aspect of this sport lies the metaphor for life and especially life in higher education.

You see, fly-fishers constantly seek out opportunities to learn about and experience new things, new bodies of water, new techniques for the dance of the angler. Wherever they go, there is a new community in which to learn and to teach. They love to talk about streamers, poppers, dry flies, wet flies, hackle, fingerlings, cutthroats, creel, steelheads, brookies, and spook, Adams (not necessarily named for a former Ripon president), nymph, terrestrial, and (my favorite) the Wooly Buggers. Like the fly-fisher, I have found a new community in which I can learn, live, teach, share and grow. When I first visited Ripon last February, I recognized characteristics of a learning community. Lynne and I had decided that if we were to make a move we would want to be a part of a community that embraced learning in this way. Everyday, Ripon College encourages its community to embrace and be embraced by learning. Here, we have a passionate community of learners.

While fly-fishing may be a good metaphor for life, it is certainly a great metaphor for liberal education.

But as the brook trout is threatened by the encroachment of urbanization, the liberal arts are threatened by a consumer mentality. You see, it is not pragmatic. It is not necessarily efficient. It is not a job-training program. There are no guarantees of a well-paying career. Sometimes graduates are as likely to travel to a foreign land as to seek employment. At Ripon, most immediately or eventually pursue an advanced degree. Postponing a life of gainful employment? Or is it a means to expand one’s educational horizon?. In a world of ROI (return on investment), why do we bother? In education, like in fly-fishing, there are more efficient and productive means to harvest fish. Then why do we bother with a teaching/learning model that is grounded in community?

Because we matter. It is not about just you … or just me. It is about we. And we also includes the elusive trout.

While in a stream fishing one morning, it occurred to me, we are but a small part of this universe. I am truly humbled by nature. I am even humbled by the trout. No matter how we see ourselves in the scheme of things, superior intellect, advanced equipment, scientific advances, etc. A cold-blooded fish, the trout, will still humble us. It is nature’s reminder that we are not the center of the universe. A lesson that often has to be taught over and over again. Even though we don’t live on the fish we catch, we continue to wade into the stream. Once you start to learn about all of these things, you want to learn even MORE about those things—our unending curiosity.

Again, Maclean writes, "My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. To him, all good things, trout as well as eternal salvation, came by grace and grace comes by art, and art does not come easy."

It is not always about the most efficient way to accomplish an end.

Talking about fly-fishing is not to distract us from the point, it is the point. Every endeavor can be representative of the core mission we are gathered to celebrate: higher learning. At Ripon College, like many of the institutions represented here this morning, it is a distinctive approach to higher learning. One that is rooted in the classic residential environment. One that is thoroughly grounded in the liberal arts. One that engages students in inquiry, research and learning within a relationship with faculty mentors. Ours is one in which students are expected to undertake opportunities for leadership. One where campus governance involves every constituency. Ours is one where communication is integrated throughout the curriculum.

Is Ripon’s way to fish the only way? Of course not.
Is Ripon’s way to fish the best way to fish? To assert such would be arrogant.
However, it is the way we fish. It has its distinction. It has context. And that distinction and that context are in its community.

In our community of learning, students are given opportunities to grow. Our faculty is passionate about facilitating the movement of our students along the pedagogical continuum. Our faculty is passionate about student success.

Here the words of one of our alumnae who sent me an e-mail shortly after I accepted the position of president at Ripon:

“You inherit a sacred legacy and trust. I do not use the word 'inherit' lightly. I speak solely for myself and directly to you. . … I expect you to earn that inheritance — to strengthen our legacy and solidify our trust.”

This is not a charge we, as college presidents, accept lightly when we assume the leadership of our institutions. We are charged with fulfilling the missions of our schools by living within our college’s stated and unstated values. We are charged with articulating a vision, a tangible picture of our school’s mission. Do not be misled, as presidents we have a great deal of influence on the fulfillment of that vision. We cannot be so arrogant as to believe that it is our personal vision. It has to be compilation of our inherent campus community. We simply have the daunting task to converge the divergent ideas, dreams and aspirations of our all our constituencies … past and present. Not something for those who are faint of heart, bereft of spirit, short of energy, and without a great capacity for humor.

Remember, we are about the business of fly-fishing when we are constantly pressured to go trawling. I would contend that we should continue to look for better ways to fly fish. Is this because fly-fishing is better than trawling or even bass fishing? No. It is simply the context from which we can best practice our craft. For that is our mission.

Within this context:

• We will clarify our mission in a succinct and straightforward manner.
• We will elucidate our core values, those principles that under gird our policies, practices and behaviors.
• We will articulate a clear and compelling vision of what it looks like when that mission is fulfilled.
• We will then pursue that vision with great deliberation, passion and energy.

I would suggest that we create this vision within the context of Ripon College’s distinctive learning community.

Innovative curriculum includes leadership development, expansion of one’s cultural orientation, and understanding of one’s spiritual and ethical formation.

• Help students develop their personal mission.
• Help students understand the difference between getting a job and getting a life.
• Help students recognize that service to community is the logical extension of learning within a community.
  • James Schmitt, a Wisconsin high school physics teacher told our 2003 graduates that “No one cares what you know until they know how much you care.”
  • Our congressman, Tom Petri, reiterated this concept when he also told our graduates, “Service cannot be isolated from learning or our work life.”
  • Mahatma Gandhi challenges us “to be the change you hope to see in the world.”
  • Learning does not take place in isolation. It takes place in community and in community service.
• We must see technology as a means, not an end. We will develop a long-range plan for our technology as a means to improve the teaching/learning interaction.
• We need to find all opportunities to develop leaders, especially ethical leaders, for lives of service.
• We will extend and expand our study abroad programs, including our domestic opportunities for cultural expansion.
• We will establish ourselves as a distinctive residential arts college. Our success will continue to be centered in the community of learning. The heart of any institution of learning is its faculty.
• We will demonstrate our commitment to excellence by supporting our faculty and staff in pay and benefits. We will continue to recruit the best and brightest faculty and students and we will make sure that we invest in them.
  

I appreciate the opportunity and challenge to serve this very fine institution of higher learning. This is not a charge to take lightly, and I assure you that I recognize and accept this responsibility. I will endeavor to fulfill the confidence you have placed in me and I will do so with integrity and passion. With the continuing support and help from my family, this promise will be possible.

When we wade into the stream in search of the illusive trout, we are connected to all those who have gone before us and to those who will follow us. Our craft is difficult to fully comprehend, even to ourselves… on occasion. We continue to cast our line, to practice our art, to perfect the sport because it brings us closer to ourselves and to others. There may be more efficient ways to fish, but I challenge you to find a more beautiful way to fish. We are part of a great legacy and we are expected to pass it along. It is more than the sum of its parts. It is an art. The payoff is the process as much as it is the result. Occasionally, on that very special occurrence, you may even be fortunate enough to catch, keep, cook and eat that elusive trout… to enjoy one of the world’s most wonderful of delicacies. At that point, you will really understand the value of the art of fly-fishing.

Again, thank you for honoring Ripon College. I look forward to this next chapter of our magnificent history.