But this was Whitlock's day.
A string of dignitaries described the various aspects of his service to the Commonwealth, including his service on the Madison County Board of Education. He seemed to wipe a tear during Cowgill's praise for his ability to bring people together.
Whitlock had a wonderful message for the EKU faithful. Literate, expressive and rich with history; he revealed his head and his heart.
This from EKU:
Adopting as his theme the motto of Eastern Kentucky State Normal School many years ago, Dr. Doug Whitlock declared “The Best Is Hardly Good Enough” at ceremonies inaugurating him as Eastern Kentucky University’s 11th President on Friday, April 25.
“They are words that resonate with a challenge to all who seek to advance this great university,” Whitlock said. “At first blush there is an apparent incongruity in that statement. After all, what can be better than the best? On reflection, I think the answer lies in something I once heard said by Robert R. Martin. ‘Greatness,’ he said, ‘is a moving target. It is fleeting and is not something that once achieved is forever.’ Or, in my less eloquent words, today’s best will be hardly good enough for tomorrow.”
Whitlock comes to the presidency intimately familiar with EKU’s legacy, having earned two degrees from the institution and serving it for almost 40 years in various
administrative and teaching roles. From 1976 until 1998, he served Presidents J.C. Powell and Hanly Funderburk as Executive Assistant. He was Vice President for Administrative Affairs from 1998 until what turned out to be a temporary retirement in 2003. EKU’s Board of Regents appointed Whitlock as Interim President in August, 2007, and 10 weeks later removed the interim label.
“Since 1906 to this very day, Eastern has been a great institution,” Whitlock said. “In many respects we are the best at what we do. But remember ‘The Best Is Hardly Good Enough.’ The Eastern I attended was great, but it is not the same institution when I graduated as it was when I began as a freshman.The Eastern I returned to from the Army in 1968 was different still, as was the one from which I retired, as was the Eastern I found when I returned to work last August.”
One constant throughout EKU’s 102-year history has been its ability to change lives, Whitlock said.
“Our real mission is the business of building better lives,” he said, noting the prevalence at EKU of first-generation college students. “That’s true to some extent for all universities, but I still think it is a basis for part of Eastern’s specialness. When our graduates talk of Eastern’s impact on their lives they are speaking of a profound change. Our record as a school of opportunity makes Eastern special.”
Whitlock also spoke of a willingness of the University community to change through the years to meet the needs of its students, its service region and the Commonwealth.
“There is on this campus a heritage of flexibility, entrepreneurship and educated risk taking that is a part of what makes Eastern special,” he said. “Without it there would be no College of Health Sciences and no College of Justice and Safety. Without it there would not be campuses at Corbin, Danville, Lancaster and Manchester. Without it we would not be developing the Studio for Academic Creativity in the Library, and without it we would not be admitting our first class of doctoral students this coming
fall.”
Eastern’s 11th President asked his listeners to join him in meeting the challenges that lie ahead. Among other desires, he cited in particular the need to:
• preserve and protect Eastern’s heritage as a school of opportunity, while maintaining high quality and adding significant value.
• maintain and enhance an educational and living experience that, in the words of Dr. Williard Daggett, features rigor, relevance and relationships.
• avoid falling into a spiral of diminishing returns on the University community’s effort when process becomes product and form usurps function.
• measure the efficacy of teaching, scholarship and service by student achievement.
• protect the University’s liberal arts-based general education core.
• strengthen ties to the K-12 community and emphasize intervention over remediation.
• strengthen the University’s commitment to regional stewardship.
• build deeper relationships with community and technical colleges and independent institutions.
• play a
leadership role in the statewide effort to increase graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
• reach out to those adults who stopped just short of completing their college degree.
• celebrate diversity for its educational value.
• increase the University’s global focus and involvement and broaden relationships with foreign institutions and enroll more international students.
• increase efforts to secure private support.
Others speaking at the ceremonies were emcee Hunter Bates, chair, EKU Board of Regents; Gov. Steve Beshear; Dr. Brad Cowgill, president, Council on Postsecondary Education; Dr. Jon Draud, commissioner, Kentucky Department of Education; Dr. David Eakin, chair, EKU Faculty Senate; Dr. Malcolm Frisbie, faculty Regent; Steven Fulkerson, staff Regent; David Fifer, student Regent; Bill Jones, president, EKU National Alumni Association; Richmond Mayor Connie Lawson; Madison County Judge-Executive Kent Clark; and EKU President Emeritus Hanly Funderburk, who was presented a Presidential Award of Merit.
SOURCE: EKU press release
