Monday, August 23, 1999
10:00 a.m.
Grand Ball Room
Bowling Green State University 

Good Morning!

Well, it’s another Opening Day. When I came into the ballroom this morning I was talking to a few people in the back. There was someone who I might allow to remain unnamed — Deanne Snavely, who said to me, "You’re pretty casual today" and I said, "Yeah, yeah, it’s my thing this year — I dress according to how I feel." And she said, "Well, next year if you come in your pajamas, we’ll know it worked. Right?" So I will not let Deanne remain unnamed. Where is she anyway? Where is Dr. Snavely?

But it’s good to be back. It was a very busy summer, a very productive summer, but it was a summer that allowed me to reflect on the past four years. This is my fifth Opening Day at Bowling Green State University. I was "but a child" when I started here a few years ago! And in this short period of time — the gray hair here and a few pounds there — have changed me somewhat. But, in many ways, internally, who I am as a person, has changed for the better.

I had an opportunity to meet with a number of faculty and staff members at the end of last year, and we talked about Opening Day and what we wanted to do for this program. And they said, you know, one of our core values is creative imaginings, yet we still do some things the same old way, and Opening Day is one of them. So they suggested we use Opening Day to do something different. Today that is, in fact, what we are going to do.

But before I begin, I want to thank the Jazz ensemble for their participation in this morning’s festivities. I have a few more acknowledgments to make and then we will get to the program.

First of all we need to welcome our colleagues from the Firelands campus. They are with us today via new technologies. We are always pleased that they are here with us on the main campus or electronically connected to us. We have a new Dean, Bill Blazer who is at the Firelands College and we are looking forward to a very exciting and productive year. There are a number of initiatives that are related to Firelands that are important to the future of Bowling Green State University. So under the leadership of Dean Bill Balzer, we are looking forward to a very exciting year with Firelands.

In addition, I have a few more introductions. I would like to, of course, acknowledge the people who made this possible. You will have an opportunity today to see a lot of technology utilized. This technology was really developed for this program by our very own staff members here at Bowling Green State University. In particular, the staff at WBGU. There were a number of people who worked as a team to bring this program together, but Denise Kisabeth has truly led this team’s efforts and has been just a gem. She has really made all this come together for us. Also, she was assisted by the learning services division, Information Technology Services, Instructional Media Services, and the Center for Teaching and Learning and Technology.

What you are going to see today in today’s presentations will really be about 18 minutes worth of video clips and other fused technologies. But what you’re looking at is well over hundreds of hours worth of work to actually make this happen. I think we often times get confused by the technology because if it comes across so clear and in such a compelling way, we think it’s, in fact, easy. It’s not easy. And when faculty members and staff members utilize or develop technology in support of our instructional programs, or in support of research in a variety of ways, there is a lot of time and energy behind the scenes that we never really see. We have some extraordinary professionals here that have assisted in preparing today’s program and in so doing, they have made it look "easy".

I would like to take just a moment to acknowledge many of our new faculty and staff members. If you are a new faculty or staff member, would you please stand up? Let’s acknowledge our new faculty and staff. There are so many new faculty and staff. That is something that is very good. There was a time at this University, that, if I would have asked for new faculty and staff members to stand, all in attendance would have remained seated. Because of budgetary constraints, there really weren’t any new faculty or staff. Those days are behind us and we look forward to future opportunities to bring additional people who will bring new expertise and new perspectives to the BGSU community. So welcome to all the new faculty and staff members. I hope to have an opportunity to meet each of you, if not today, sometime this semester.

There is a picnic tomorrow and I need to make sure that I mention that the picnic has been moved inside because they anticipate rain. There are a number of events tomorrow and throughout the week. I hope you participate in some of these events as they provide us with a great opportunity to come together as a community celebrating the start of a new academic year.

I would like to take one more moment to introduce the people that work with me and do their best to make me look good. Now these are people who work long hours, trying to best prepare me when I present to the general assembly or speak at a professional association or try to make decisions regarding academic programs at Bowling Green State University. I will call all their names and ask them to stand. Please hold your applause and lets give them a round of applause: Linda Dobb, our Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Chris Dalton, our Senior Vice President; Ed Whipple, our Vice President for Student Affairs; Mr. Doug Smith, our Vice President for University Advancement; Nancy Footer, our General Counsel; Dr. Eileen Sullivan, my Executive Assistant, in the front here. She has coordinated today’s opening day program… Deb Magrum, the Secretary to the Board of Trustees; Mary Grant and Judy Amend, my secretaries in the President’s Office and; Nancy Coy, Special Events Coordinator for the President’s Office. Let’s give them all a round of applause.

Thanks. You can’t say it enough in an organization as large as this with over 2,200 full-time faculty and staff members. Nothing gets done individually. If we do something and it’s good, it’s done collectively. It’s done by the commitment and the hard work of a number of individuals and the people I just introduced play an essential role in trying to create an environment where the faculty can teach and engage in scholarly activity, the staff can provide excellent service and pursue their professional interests, and the students can succeed, persist through their academic career here and ultimately graduate. We’re very grateful for all the work these people do and to the faculty and staff for creating such a true learning community at BGSU.

In my office, we are assisted by some very talented graduate students. Our Doctoral Interns in the President’s Office include: Jodi Devine, Melody Bennet, Rena Murphy, and Carrol Arnold. These people do a lot to assist our professional staff. They are so important to our work and I am grateful to them for their many efforts. There is one other person I’d like to recognize: MaryAnn Russell, an undergraduate intern in the President’s Office. MaryAnn, along with our Doctoral students, represent a valuable resource that we don’t always fully utilize in a university community. There are a lot of things that we have talked about in the last four years. One is the sense of being a learning community. And one of the components of a learning community is that everybody is a learner, as well as a teacher. And our students have a lot to learn but also have a lot to share with us as they sojourn through their experience at Bowling Green State University. And now for our program today. Let’s begin with the first slide.

It seems like just yesterday that we embarked upon a very ambitious endeavor and that was to conceptualize the institution that we are, and the institution we might become. With that in mind, we developed a vision statement. The vision statement was the product of about 1,500 individuals coming together in focus groups, writing email messages, meeting in caucuses, trying to talk about the institution and envision the future of our BGSU. What came out of that iterative process was the "Building Community Report" which included a vision statement. It’s very important to come back and briefly reposition ourselves where we started with the vision statement. Because any strong institution, any strong family, has to acknowledge its foundation. When we examine our vision statement and revisit the Community Building Project, we realize that many of the people who embarked upon that task are no longer with us. Some of the faculty members have retired, some of the staff members have retired, some of the administrators are no longer here. But together with all of us, they took a lot of time, put in a lot of energy to construct a foundation that would help us grow as an institution. In essence, it all began with our vision statement.

There were a number of indicators that suggest that we have made a great deal of progress in coming closer to becoming the premier learning community in Ohio, one of the best in the nation. And each year our priorities take us one step closer to "declaring victory" and achieving that vision. But I am not going to talk about the priorities today. What I am going to talk about today, if we can move to the next slide, are… our core values.

Let me just stop for a minute and kind of paint a picture for you. We are an institution with over 18,000 students and over 3,000 full and part-time faculty and staff members representing a variety of disciplines, departments and units.

What holds this all together? It’s clearly not the President. She or he doesn’t have the ability, the intellect, or the expertise to hold together and move forward an institution of this size, scope and magnitude. So it’s not that. It’s not the distinguished research scientist in her lab, although she’s a very important ingredient in the mix. She alone can’t hold this institution together, as it becomes the premier learning community in Ohio, one of the best in the nation. We all have a role to play, but clearly, there is no one individual who holds the institution together. Nor can a group of individuals hold the University together. The football team can’t do it. The forensics program can’t do it. The French club can’t do it. But all these programs and areas assist the University as it moves forward and closer to achieving our vision.

What I suggest to you today is that undergirding all of those individual activities — undergirding what the Development Office does and what the Chemistry, English, History or Sociology programs do is to promote and a set of beliefs or assumptions about the world… what is right or wrong, and what is, in fact, important. And what I would say also is that in your own personal lives, when you decide what car to buy, what school your kid goes to, whether or not you have a curfew for your child, and what time that curfew is, there is a set of principles that you draw upon to make those decisions. It is those principles and values that will really define the character of your family, your community, your state and, in fact, your nation.

There are a number of things that are happening in the world today. I was glancing at the newspaper this morning and I was talking with some people coming in about some of our students that have not arrived because of the earth quake in Turkey and the hurricane effects in Texas.

This week I was talking with a student from Turkey. He said that fortunately his family was not personally impacted by the earthquake, as they were a good distance from it; however, what they are saying now, because he is in communication with his family there that they expect the total deaths to run as high as 14,000. He said that the numbers that we see now are very conservative. There are things that are happening all around us, things that are tragic realities that we try to grapple with and we try to make sense of. I mean 14,000 people’s lives taken — just like that. Tragedies in Georgia and in Colorado and in school districts where we see actions being taken and lives being lost in a seemingly senseless way.

Well, the only way that one, I think, can make sense of any of those things is to have a values perspective that allows you to refocus on the things in life that are important. There are some things that are worth living for and struggling for. And there are things that can, in fact, in the midst of what seems to be chaos, make a difference in this world and in the lives of our families, friends and others. They are indeed our values. They are what support this institution and at their best, they are the things that enrich any state or nation.

I realize that our core values at Bowling Green State University are principles or standards that many people are unaware of. Some people do understand and are aware of our core values. But the feeling may be that these values are so far removed from what we do in the political science classroom, or they are so far removed from what we do in judicial affairs or the development office. But just because you can’t see air, doesn’t mean you don’t need it to breathe. Just because you can’t see the values that define who you are and what you stand for doesn’t mean that they are not important in determining the quality of your life, and the kind of family you create, what you stand for, and what you give to this world. So you don’t have to see the core values to understand that they do indeed impact who we are and what we stand for as an institution. These values are critically important to our present and certainly the future of our learning community.

When I met with a group of faculty members and the constituent group leadership earlier this year they said, you know Sid, maybe what we should do this year is actually revisit the core values... even talk a little bit about how those things are being manifested in our University environment. So that is, in fact, what we are going to do today, talk about visible signs of our values "in practice". Now there are probably only ten or twelve examples of the hundreds of programs or services that one might identify in all areas of the university, as exemplifying the core values. An although the examples today are few in number, they are visible manifestations of how people have internalized the values of this institution and expressed them in very significant kinds of ways. So that is what we are going to do today. We are going to talk a little bit about the core values of the University and how those core values have really begun to shape and direct us as an institution.

Before I go to the next slide however, I want you to take a moment to turn around and look at those banners that are behind you. Aren’t they wonderful? Those are new. They are the core values visually depicted in compelling kinds of ways.

One of our core values is Creative Imaginings, and this is something that I am trying to share with the Board of Trustees. I am trying to share with the Cabinet members and will share with the Legions group, which is our cross-functional leadership team for the University. Creative Imaginings can mean many things but one thing it means is that you don’t have to continue doing things the same way all the time, just because you’ve always done them that way. Some things you want to maintain because they are traditions that work and they serve you well. Other things might be working but they need to be revisited, they need to be reconsidered, just like we are revisiting or reconsidering Opening Day. Some things we need to revisit and we need to rethink but with a clear end in mind, … that end being, the enhancement or the improvement of whatever the endeavor might be. If it’s a research project, a research paper, a lab experiment, if it’s working in the facilities area, if it’s a function in the food services area, whatever that might be, don’t be afraid to draw upon creative imaginings or think about something in a way that might be a little different, that might be a little unique. (Let’s go to the next slide.)

(Creative Imaginings — video narrative)

Society, tradition and self imposed limitations build barriers to developing a creative spirit. Sometimes challenging the established way of doing something is necessary to awaken our creativity. This sentiment is certainly true on today’s college campus. Modeling creative imaginings as a value is visible when faculty members create and disseminate new knowledge but they do it in a way that is innovative. One example of creative imaginings is found in the Chapman Learning Community. In this unique learning and living environment, first year students expand the boundaries of a traditional college education to create a positive first year experience.

(Dr. Thomas Klein, Director, Chapman Living Learning Center Opportunity — interview clip)

"Chapman Learning Community is an inter-disciplinary liberal arts program, primarily for first year students. We do that in the form of a residential learning community. Learning communities are places where students have common experiences and support each other through their learning. Seventeen faculty members have offices right in the residence hall so that we can try to promote students’ own creativity, as students become original creators of knowledge in our two core courses one in the social sciences and one in the arts. Throughout the hall, during the year you can see the products of students’ work displayed as we put the students’ course work up in the halls as permanent exhibits and displays that are there all the time."

(Creative Imaginings — narrative)

At its best the University is a place where students through creative teaching and innovative thinking are encouraged to become intellectually engaged. Students will learn most in an environment where they are provided the opportunity to question, to challenge, to explore their doubts, introduce new assumptions, and assess their own skill development. Creativity is evident in programs in which the underlying philosophy is that learning takes place not only within the classroom but outside of it as well. Creative Imaginings has led to the establishment of programs that view the teaching learning process through a broader lens. One such program is Springboard.

"Springboard itself is a creative imagining. It’s a unique program built around six skills that are hallmarks of an educated person. First, the ability to analyze and think critically about situations. Second, the ability to solve problems. Third, make sound judgments. It’s always good to be able to communicate the results of that analysis, judgment, and problem solving. And if you can provide some leadership along the way and do it with some self assurance — the fifth and sixth skills that are aimed at, well that’s just a great package to be able to have. Most people remember when they started college and the uncertainties and the questions, and wondering about whether they could compete at this level and if they can be effective and so on. And Springboard is designed in a way that helps students make that transition to college. Each student works closely with a coach, a volunteer coach, who provides feedback on a series of hands-on activities. There’s a lot of active learning involved that gets recorded on video tape or recorded on paper and then is discussed with the coach afterwards." (Dr. Milt Hakel, Eminent Scholar in Psychology and Main Spring, Springboard- interview clip)

"Springboard helped me find a lot within myself. I found that I was very sociable on my own. I’ve become very easy to make friends with. I speak out a lot. I found out that I am a leader. If I would never have gotten involved in that program, I wouldn’t have found myself. Springboard has helped me a lot. It’s helped me raise my GPA. It’s given me a more positive attitude toward college life, and with out this program, I don’t feel I would be where I am at today." (Maurice Allen, Student — interview clip)

(President Ribeau Resumes)

That is one core value. And those are just two examples, out of hundreds we could have selected, that show that creativity and creative imaginings are really prospering at Bowling Green State University.

Let me go back Springboard and just tell you a story about Springboard and it would apply to Chapman, Springboard and anything else. Where the idea for Springboard really came from is Professor Milt Hakel. He’s here and he can confirm this if I get off track. Springboard was the brainchild of Dr. Hakel, but it really took shape at Bowling Green State University on a racquetball court at the Student Recreation Center. When I first came to BGSU, I thought I was a racquetball player. (That is when I could move much faster.) So I was playing racquetball with Milt Hakel and one day after we finished, he just started talking about this idea. It was an idea that was based upon experiences at Alverno College and it really would allow students to find a sense of self-worth and self-esteem. It would better prepare them to do well in all courses, not just in this course. It would also provide them with a sense of who they were intellectually and personally. And that would carry over into their own academic program. Well, when we started we didn’t have any money. So we found some funding, and as a result, we now have over 300 students in this course. The personal testimonies are endless and moving. We have done research on, and surveys regarding these students. It’s qualitatively changed how they perform in the University but also it’s changed who they are as people. It was a program that didn’t exist four years ago at Bowling Green State University.

There are a number of initiatives that we could look at. What I suggest to you is that we need to rely on and trust our intuition and our creativity. We all have it, no matter what our discipline or what our role might be within the University. It is something that is very important and that’s what gives us the cutting edge that will define BGSU in the future. Let’s go to the next slide.

(Respect for One Another narrative)

As we look to the dawn of the 21st Century, we must reflect upon the struggle of so many to have their voices heard, not only in the academy but also in places like government, politics, and business. Today, college campuses, like the society in which we live are more diverse than ever before. Although the meaning of diversity varies by region and institution, it is undeniable that student populations are far from homogenous. As colleges and universities attempt to create campus climates that embrace diversity in its broadest definition, Bowling Green State University takes seriously its responsibility for developing in our students, faculty, and staff a deeply felt "respect for one another". An example of the outstanding efforts made in promoting respect for one another is documented in the program called, Breaking the Silence.

(Lorna Gonzalves — Pinto interview)

"The video, Breaking the Silence, outlines race initiatives implemented on our campus and in our city, aimed at enhancing racial awareness and building respect for the diverse individuals that make up our campus and city communities. Curricular offerings can serve as a powerful tool for critically analyzing the legacies of racism. In an experimental ethnic studies class, students enhanced their understanding of racial issues and worked as a team to address selected problems.

University students also organized the viewing and discussion of Starting Small, a film produced by Teaching Tolerance. Students worked with young children in a child development center to explore their perceptions of difference." (Dr. Lorna Gonsalves-Pinto, Associate Provost for Diversity Initiatives)

(Student interview)

"Working with the children was probably the best thing that we have done this semester. I got involved with the kids and when I was there, I felt like these little kids were learning a lot about racism because they really don’t know anything about that at such a young age. And I feel that we made an impression on them and they liked us being there. They had a good time with us but they still learned a lot." (Michael Hollingsed, Student)

(Back to Respect narrative)

At Bowling Green State University, we are guided by a vision that embraces learning in an environment grounded by rational discourse and civility. An April 1996 poll conducted by U.S. News and World Report revealed that 89% of Americans thought that the lack of civility is a serious problem. Colleges and universities are microcosms of the larger society and often reflect similar attitudes and perceptions. Bowling Green State University is no exception. As a result of the findings of a doctoral class’s research on civility and, in an effort to promote an environment where all persons are respected, the President’s Committee on Campus Civility was created.

(Craig Vickio interview)

"When President Ribeau first established our committee in the spring, we had the opportunity, as a committee, to meet with Carolyn Palmer’s doctoral class and to learn from them what their recommendations were for our committee, in terms of how we could accomplish the President’s charge, which specifically was to create a comprehensive program to increase and improve the environment for civility here at Bowling Green State University. And so what we have done is, we have taken some time to talk about the definition of that term and what’s very clear in that discussion is that by civility, we really mean respect. That if we want to make BGSU a civil place then we are going to have to create a climate in which respect is really paramount. It is really of the greatest importance. And when I say respect, I mean respect for oneself, respect for one another, and respect for the environment." (Dr. Craig Vickio, Associate Director, Counseling Center & Co-chair of the President’s Committee on Campus Civility)

(President Ribeau’s follow up remarks to Respect)

We have talked about this issue of respect for at least the last three years and I will continue to submit to you that it is one of the critical challenges we must meet if we are going to move forward and become the institution that we all want to be. You don’t always have to agree. It’s probably impossible to get 2,200 people to agree but, what is critically important is that you find ways to talk about things that are important. Ultimately in the institution, be it Bowling Green State University or any other place, when you have as many people as we have, you are not always going to agree on what is done and how it’s done. But the difference between the great organizations and institutions, and the ones that either don’t make it or just barely survive, is really whether or not you find ways to have those difficult dialogues and talk through important issues.

I don’t care if they are issues dealing with working conditions, intellectual properties, research agendas that are related to new technologies or bio-technology, or ethical issues. Whatever they might be you have to find ways of dealing with the esoteric and the mundane. The mundane might be something to do with working conditions and where your desk is located versus something that is very, very sophisticated about the newest technology and its application to life and cloning. Wherever you might fall on that continuum, it is important that you find ways of working through issues. And that after a decision is made, you find ways to support it, and make it work.

I remember distinctly when I was in California. It was back during a time when we were downsizing universities. Academic departments were being eliminated. Actually, it was that bad, because there were severe budget cuts and we lost almost, in some cases, 10 to 20% of our budgets. During that time, we were having meetings about what we should do as a university and how we should go about trying to maintain the quality of the institution (and its 3 missions of research, teaching, and service) while we’re minus 10% of our budget. So we got on the web page and we happened to pull up a re-engineering project from MIT University. And it was very, very interesting, because they were going through budget contractions, (not as severe as California because they had more resources, but contractions, none the less). And basically, what it said on the web page was that the faculty were coming together, and they were looking at academic programs and saying, we are MIT and we are going to be the best no matter what. So we will come together and make hard decisions. We are not going to do anything across the board, but we will make hard decisions, to assure that we remain MIT and we remain at the top of the list. People came together to consider difficult options, which allowed the institution to weather that storm. And that is what has to happen and you can only do that if there is respect … if there is respect for each individual who is part of that community. And I think those examples show how we are addressing some very difficult things. Diversity is probably one of the most challenging issues facing America today but I think we have started this difficult dialogue through the work of a number of individuals who have illuminated the value of Respect at BGSU. Let’s go to the next value.

(Videoclip)

(Cooperation narrative)

It has become a hallmark within our country that "we the people" care about collaborating and making a difference in the lives of others. Individual and group cooperation has become one of the most distinguishing features of American society. At BGSU there are many examples of accomplishing goals through cooperation. One such example is the University’s President’s Day Program.

(Interview with Monique Cotton, President’s Day Coordinator)

"President’s Day is a freshmen recruitment program. Basically, it started out about four years ago where we invite current seniors and rising juniors to the campus on President’s Day, because they don’t have school, so it’s a huge freshmen recruitment program. It’s inception came from the Admissions Office but, over the past four years, we’ve kind of involved the entire University. So even though the Admissions Office plans it, it truly is a University-wide event, because we get cooperation from every office on campus whether it’s a student-related service or whether it’s a college office.

When you have over 120 volunteers come every year and 3/4 of them are repeaters because they are so excited to actually be involved (because some people are in offices where they don’t deal directly with the actual recruitment of students). So President’s Day has just become this huge University-wide event. We don’t have one single aspect of this campus that is not shown or highlighted at some point during that day and it’s only that day. It’s a great day!" (Montique Cotton, President’s Day Coordinator)

(Cooperation narrative)

Today in America, one hundred million adults participate in service to others. The volunteers and the organizations they represent serve every imaginable human condition, and affect almost every public issue. At BGSU, the core value of cooperation undergirds the philosophy found within one of the largest student run philanthropies in the country — Dance Marathon, for the Children’s Miracle Network.

(Natalie — interview clip)

"For the Marathon to work, we have to have cooperation between the students and the volunteers that we work with to have the event be a success. Along with many other areas within the University, the staff members at the Rec Center and those in Residence Life and Student Life, all helped us anywhere from getting us set with our office to getting us the space for the 32-hour marathon." (Natalie Cowan, Dance Marathon Director)

(Narrative on Dance Marathon)

Planning for Dance Marathon begins in September with a 17-member steering committee that works closely with Mercy Children’s Hospital in Toledo. The hospital arranges for Miracle families to participate in the marathon, serving as inspiration for the more than fifty-two organizations and over 1,000 volunteers that make this philanthropic fundraiser a success.

(Natalie — interview clip)

"It helps you keep in focus what you can do for others and that a small group of people really can help to do something. Last year we raised $219,000 for northwest Ohio and when all the money is staying right here, we have the opportunity to see how our money is directly affecting those children. And to have those families, the people whom it’s affecting, come and share their stories and help inspire us to keep us going for the next year, is an incredible feeling." (Natalie Cowan, Dance Marathon Director)

(Final Cooperation narrative)

At BGSU, the result of our work, grounded in the core value of cooperation has benefited our institution but also our community, the state, and the world.

(President Ribeau’s follow up remarks to Cooperation)

You know, if somebody would have said five years ago that our students could raise over $200,000 in such an endeavor, I think many people would have been skeptical and perhaps some would have even laughed. But they did it! There was a cause that they believed in, they had staff members and faculty members and advisors who worked with them and the results are self-explanatory.

Let’s go to the next value.

(Intellectual & Spiritual Growth narrative)

Intellectual and spiritual growth means providing an environment for students to think for themselves, beyond the boundaries of academic conventionality. Derek Bok, former President of Harvard University stated, "The critical component of education attempts to expose students to multiple and conflicting perspectives on themselves and their society in order to test and challenge their previously unexamined assumptions." Previously unexamined assumptions are challenged and intellectual growth flourishes within the University’s various research centers and institutes. One such place is the Center for Policy Analysis and Public Service.

(Interview clip)

"The Center for Policy Analysis and Public Service is a resource for local officials, policy makers, and community organizations throughout northwest Ohio. We conduct studies that are practical, timely, objective, and relevant so that these individuals can make better decisions about environmental issues, economic development, local government issues, and so forth." (Dr. Beth Honadle, Director for the Center for Policy Analysis and Public Service)

(Intellectual & Spiritual Growth narrative)

Each day, students, faculty and staff, as well as visitors, walk by McFall Center, which years ago served as home to the main library. Of the many people casually passing this academic cornerstone, perhaps few have pondered the meaning of the words sculpted on the front façade: "Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted but to weigh and consider." This message scripted nearly one hundred years ago, when BGSU was founded as a teaching college, clearly speaks to our institutional focus on intellectual and spiritual growth, a core value we hold dear. Within our learning community, there are countless examples of faculty that teach in a way that challenges students to weigh and consider… to think critically and to utilize these skills to solve problems and make decisions. At BGSU, excellent teaching is paramount to our students’ intellectual growth.

The approach to developing in students, spiritual values is different in public institutions than in private ones. Any moral directives are filtered from assigned readings or lecture notes. Colleges and universities face the challenging task of educating faculty, staff, students and their external publics, to not view spirituality in the realm of formal religion, but rather within the framework of questioning the manner and meaning of their existence.

Each spring, BGSU students can challenge their spirituality by participating in a course that culminates in an experiential learning journey that takes them to New York where students spend one week in the South Bronx, the poorest congressional district in the U.S. There, the students experience first hand what it’s like to be poor and homeless. It’s a place where every day is a struggle to overcome the lack of resources and opportunities that some people take for granted.

(Interview clip, Jamie Mancino, Student)

"I would say that the South Bronx trip was one of the most important experiences I’ve had as far as my spiritual and intellectual growth is concerned. It made me realize that these people, in all their struggles, still have a good attitude and a strong spirit and they are still coming out on top. It makes it a lot easier to come back here and say I am going to make a difference and this is how I’m going to do it — I’m going to start right here. And I can do it because if these people can do it, so can I." (Jamie Mancino, Student)

(President Ribeau’s follow up remarks to Intellectual & Spiritual Growth)

This particular value is one that I think is deeply steeped in the traditions of the academy. I can think back on when I was a college student at Wayne State University and someone mentioned to me the possibilities of going on to graduate school and I remember saying, "Why?" No one had talked to me about anything like that before and I was on my way to law school because all my friends were going to law school. And then there was one faculty member who talked to me and said, "You know, there are very few professions in the world where you can have an opportunity to engage in a process in which you create new ways of thinking and feeling and believing." And I said, "Well, how do you do that if you’re a faculty member?" and he said, "That’s what faculty research really is. It’s discovery."

It’s intellectual discovery. It’s dreaming the undreamable and making it happen and the teaching component goes along with that. It’s sharing those discoveries with others, with students. And that’s, in fact, what an institution is really about. The excitement, the joy, the euphoria that can come from discovering a new idea is unmeasurable. But, in addition to that, sharing that idea with others, and seeing that idea come alive for them and seeing them take it to the South Bronx or to Toledo or to Maumee and affect changes in our communities and our world... now that’s something. It’s probably the highest compliment that one might pay a profession. So I think intellectual and spiritual growth, the questioning of existence, is what’s really important in life. Well, we have an opportunity to do that in a university community and I think often because of the demands for recognition and promotion and tenure and teaching and too many hours in the office and not enough staff, that we loose sight of that which is the life blood of an academic community, certainly a premier learning community.

Let’s go to the next value, which is, I believe, the final one.

(Narrative for "Pride in a job well done".)

Despite efforts across corporate America to increase employee participation and enhance the quality of work, tens of thousands of people still see their work as just a job. The work environment at Bowling Green State University enables employees to take pride in the fact that their contributions are valued and appreciated. At BGSU, this pride is visible on the lawn of University Hall, as well as within the beautiful gardens scattered across the campus during the summer months.

(Interview clip, Frank Schemenauer, Horticulturalist, Facilities Services)

"I think the appearance of the grounds speaks for itself in the pride we take in the job we do. It’s a lot of hard work to maintain this campus and trim all the bushes, plant the flowers, mow the grass, and it’s a continual process but we strive to do our best and to make it look good. The appearance of the campus is very important, especially to people visiting campus and the staff and the students. It’s number three on the list of things of why people come to the University. We take a lot of pride in the way it looks." (Frank Schemenauer, Horticulturalist, Facilities Services)

(Narrative for "Pride in a job well done" #2)

Whether it be readying the campus for the arrival of new students in the fall or clearing the walks for pedestrians after a terrible snow storm, the grounds crew has illustrated that extraordinary things can be accomplished when a dedicated group of individuals take pride in their work and what that work means for the University.

Teamwork requires the individuals involved to surrender their self-interest for the greater good. A successful team has to embrace a vision in which the group imperative takes precedence over individual glory… when the members trust each other enough to surrender the "me" for the "we." When area sports writers wrote off the possibility of the BGSU basketball team being a serious contender for the MAC title, they had no concept of the pride this team took in working together to overcome odds and to accomplish their collective goals. Their drive to the semi-final round of the conference tournament surprised many but least of all, the players, who had faith in their coaches and each other… and pride in the institution they represented.

(Interview clip, Dan Dakich, Head Coach, Men’s Basketball)

"I think a job well done is reflected by the basketball program in how hard it works. The team works exceptionally hard in basketball related things — weight lifting, running, practice times, individual work out times, but I think the team also works very hard to be a member of the academic community. No matter what the expectations are of other people, whether they are fans, whether they are media, we have our own set of expectations, our own standards. And our own standards are usually much higher, than what anybody else can place on us and those are the standards and expectations that we are striving to reach. And I think that when you work hard as a group — coaches, players, managers, secretarial staff or whoever it happens to be, at achieving standards and expectations that are exceptionally high and you do that every day, then I think you are a good reflection of what is a job well done." (Dan Dakich, Head Coach, Men’s Basketball)

(President Ribeau’s follow up remarks on "Pride in a job well done")

Now, when the grounds area was selected as an example of pride in a job well done, we didn’t have information that we have today. And I want to just read something to you. This was in the Chronicle of Higher Education. It’s not a definitive list but the American Society of Landscape Architects has named 362 of the most beautifully landscaped spots in the country, making the cut along with Disneyland, the U.S. Capital grounds, and New York Central Park were twenty-two college campuses. Out of those twenty-two college campuses identified nationally, (out of the 3,000 campuses across the nation,) Bowling Green State University was selected. (I knew the campus looked good to me but I didn’t know how good it really looked to everyone else!) They do an extraordinary job. Again now, these are merely two examples for each value out of many examples that could have been selected. Some of the decisions made had to do with the ability to get the video clips, and interview people. And there were some very practical considerations but there were also considerations that had to do with things that seemed to be recurring themes or motifs that were identified.

What I’m saying in trying to summarize all of this is that there are many things that we take for granted as individuals and as members of a professional community or as members of a family or neighborhood group. Those things are often the most important elements or ingredients in defining the quality of our lives.

I often think about why certain organizations are perceived to be more effective than other organizations. You have 3,000 colleges and universities across the country. Why do students who graduate from one talk about their experience in glowing terms and others say that they’re glad that it’s over?

There are a number of companies in the United States from automotive companies to hardware and software companies, to retail companies, but certain ones are continually identified as being the most effective in their field. The same applies to athletic teams and a variety of different venues we could identify, but what really constitutes excellence in a given environment?

What I’d like to say to you or challenge you to do today as we go forward into this new academic year, is to look at your units, your colleges, your schools, your departments, and your divisions. Whether you are in academic affairs, student affairs, university advancement, or finance and administration — I challenge you to stop and think, "What can we do to create that edge of excellence for our division and ultimately for our institution?"

I was having a discussion about a week ago with some of the Board of Trustee members. I was saying that one of the reasons we have been able to really have substantial gains in a number of areas in the last four or five years is that there is nobody in the administration who is really looking at "What’s in it for Sidney?" but, rather they’re looking at it more selflessly asking, "What’s in it for the institution?" The greatest gift I can give to Bowling Green State University during my tenure here is to create an environment where good things will continue to happen for and with this institution, long after I am gone.

University presidencies are pretty tenuous jobs these days. The career expectancy for presidents of doctoral granting institutions now is down to about four and a half years. I was recently at a conference this summer and they were lamenting the fact that it’s very difficult to get people to continue in these jobs. Some of you might know this, that after completing four years as President of BGSU, I’m number four or five in seniority among the thirteen state universities because there has been such great turnover. Just this past year we lost Central Michigan and Ball State. And Toledo, Akron, and Miami have turned over since I’ve been here.

If you look at the numbers for women presidents and presidents who are people of color at doctoral granting institutions, it’s a position expectancy of only two and a half years. But the reason why some are more successful than others is because they understand something that is very important. Our job is to serve. This institution does not exist for the largeness or whim or caprice of Sidney Ribeau. My job is to create an environment where difficult issues are resolved, where resources are discovered, where an environment is created so that teaching, learning, and growth and development for our students (both undergraduates and graduates) can take place. If I can put systems and structures in place to allow that to happen, and do it in a way in which I have the support of the majority and also the support of the people who might not agree but at least believe that we’re working in the best interest of the institution. If I can do that, then I’ve made a contribution to a very, very important endeavor.

Education was important before I came to Bowling Green. It was important before Bowling Green was founded in 1910 and it will continue to be important. Our job is to take this valuable gem and protect it and nourish it and see that it is cherished and then, it can continue to feed and sustain our society.

This concludes our Opening Day activities here at the Ballroom. You should have gotten a copy of this when you came in; this salmon sheet. This is the priority list for the year. These priorities were shaped by discussions with a number of individuals representing a number of University constituencies: the Cabinet, the Legions, and consultation with a number of faculty members and staff members. These are the priorities that will define many of our endeavors this year.

This concludes our program today. Thank you very much and I wish you all a wonderful academic year.