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.