December 2007 Archives

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Southern Miss.  See you in 2008!

Golden Eagle fans are on their way to Birmingham for the papajohn.com bowl.  Bowl Games are all about the players and provide priceless memories for them.  A few tickets are still available and would provide a great holiday outing for you and your families.

Today is the last day of work before we close for the holidays.  Needless to say, our spirits are bright.

Yesterday's Change of Command ceremony at Stennis was really nice.  The Navy has some great traditions.  When a member of the platform party arrived at the stage, they blew a whistle, announced his arrival,  and the band played a really lively tune. The more important the person, the longer they played.   I think that would be a great greeting for one's arrival at work everyday but it might take too long.  The band would play for hours for Polly and Jewel.

I'll be attending the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Change of Command Ceremony at Stennis Space Center today.  I love pomp and ritual and this promises to have plenty of both.  After a few other appointments I'll have coffee  with some of our local legislators about Southern Miss and higher ed. needs for the coming year.

At this busy time of year I find myself grateful for small blessings.  Yesterday's included getting home just as the pizza delivery man arrived (thanks to my husband's impeccable timing) AND a hairstylist who stayed late to work me in.

Katherine Nugent, Director of USM Nursing, and I provided assistance as Lady Eagle guest coaches.

I think it's safe to say it has been quite a week.  Mine began Sunday with a trip to the SACS-COC annual meeting. 

More conference meetings on Monday, ending with a lovely dinner with enthusiastic supporters of Southern Miss...busy people who love us and want good things for their alma mater.

On Tuesday I was elected to the Commission on Colleges.  That's the group that oversees the accreditation process. 

Wednesday, we welcomed a new head coach.  Larry Fedora will take over the reins as the 18th coach of the Golden Eagles.  (Bit of trivia:  Did you know that Southern Miss football will be 100 years old in 2012)?  That evening I had dinner on the coast with more enthusiastic alumni.  I'm blown away by the passion of the people who want to help our university move to the next level of greatness.

Thursday included day-long interviews with a candidate for our Vice President for Advancement  position and a reception at our house for the Foundation Board and commencement speaker.

Friday morning I attended a heartwarming commissioning ceremony for 4 ROTC graduates, then shook about 1200 hands at our two commencement ceremonies.  David Fine, our commencement speaker, gave a great speech.  He received an honorary doctorate, only the 4th ever given by Southern Miss.

Saturday, I attended a breakfast with some prospective football recruits and watched Coach Fedora in action as he persuaded the guys to give us a closer look.  I worked in my office until time to serve as Guest Coach at the Lady Eagles game.  (They won.)  Made it home in time to see my former team (the University of Wisconsin -Whitewater Warhawks) win the national D3 championship.  That was particularly satisfying because I hired the coach last year amid an intensely public search.  Sound familiar? 

I think I'll take the rest of the week off. 

When Southern Miss alum, Bruce Aust, was on campus in the fall, he invited us to visit him in New York.  (Bruce is a VP for NASDAQ).  Emile Dieth, Interim Executive Director for the Foundation, took him up on his offer and the result is in the photograph above.  I like seeing our name in big, bold letters on one of the busiest streets in America.

My favorite day of the semester is here.  Today we celebrate what we're all about at Southern Miss  -- producing quality college graduates.  We'll be holding two ceremonies, one at 1:30 for the College of Health, College of Arts & Letters, and University Libraries.  The second one is at 6:30 for the College of Business, the College of Education & Psychology, and the College of Science & Technology.

The events will be held in Reed Green Coliseum.  I can't wait!

I heard some incredibly inspiring speakers at the SACS-COC conference.  One was Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon whose career highlights include the first separation of Siamese twins joined at the back of the head.  Carson grew up in a tough neighborhood in Detroit in a single-parent home.  His mother, who only had a third grade education, worked three jobs to keep the family off welfare.  Carson said she worked for affluent families and noticed a lot of books in the homes, so she limited her sons to only two television programs a week and made them go to the public library instead.  They prepared two book reports a week for their mother...reports she couldn't read (but her kids didn't know that.)

Carson has used his success to help others.  He and his wife established the Carson Fund to reward young people for academic and humanitarian accomplishments. 

It is said that whenever Carson operates, he takes the time to visit with the family of the patient.  He tells them, "Pray, but don't worry.  Worry never cured anybody." 

The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is the recognized regional accrediting body in the eleven U.S. Southern states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia) and in Latin America for those institutions of higher education that award associate, baccalaureate, master's or doctoral degrees. The Commission on Colleges is the representative body of the College Delegate Assembly and is charged with carrying out the accreditation process.

I'm looking forward to my first meeting since returning to SACS Country.

Coach Joye Lee-McNelis doesn't ask for much -- just a conference championship and a few other things.

The cars lined up along Jamestown Road last night were those of area honor students and their parents who came to a party at our house. What a bright and convivial group of young people...all with impeccable manners and spirit.  Although some of them may be planning to go away to school, quite a few are considering the relative merits of their hometown university -- Southern Miss.  They know that by joining our honors program they will enjoy the benefits of a small liberal arts education in a larger, major school setting.  They also know, as VP Joe Paul said, "You can get there from here!"  (Sometimes you even get to come back.) 

The IHL Board Gulf Coast committee is meeting today at our Gulf Park campus.  I'll be presenting a report on planned programming for the new campus at Cross Creek.  This is starting to feel very, very real.