Post #300: Shut that guy up!

Me. So small.

In 2014 I wrote a post about My Life as a Blogger. In it, I very humbly highlighted what I thought were my Greatest Hits of blog posts.

So yes, there is of course some ego involved here. But more so, I just think my profession, and my University, serve up excellent material to write about. So here I am, 50 posts and three years later, taking a moment to look back at some of this material. Of course many of the posts are ones I want back. Maybe they aren't really spot on or not in-depth enough, but not every album has all hit songs. Except of course for Greatest Hits records. I enjoyed writing number 300, because it was about family, Trinity, and Higher Education. I know these topics well.

Over the last five years I have grown in terms of my understanding and empathy related to social justice issues, especially related to race. (This bathroom post took a lot of research but I grew from writing it.) I have many on this campus to thank for this, and two former colleagues in particular: Felicia Lee and Raphael Moffett. Of course there are always risks writing about race. I know some people feel that I can't be an effective spokesperson or ally because I am a white man. I simply have to accept that, because it's true. The alternative is to not take risks and stand silently, so I'll take my chances. I have more to say on this topic, so stay tuned in the future.

Of course in today's era, we have had to be very thoughtful and deliberative when our values for freedom of speech and providing a safe campus environment collide. Some of our students have pushed the envelope on this topic and they have kept us on our toes. I got a little push back on this post about our conservative students, with some (who don't know me well at all) thinking I lean more right than left. At the end of the day, I think the headline holds true.

In my work I deal with alcohol, a lot. Of course I have my personal story that I have become more comfortable sharing. I shared it again when Sarah Hepola came to campus. I wanted her to like me better than she did, by the way. But I am very committed to Trinity University having a harm-reduction model and I think we have put our money where our mouth is with the national award winning Optimal Buzz and B'Low Optimal programs.

And topically, I see now that I have done several posts about sexual assault, including two back-to-back. This is a serious campus issue and we work at serving our students with compassion, fairness, and transparency all the time.

There have been a couple posts that have stood up well over time, no matter how brief. I outlined how students can invest in their own experiences and show school spirit - challenging them to be more active than inert. My post on marijuana made the top ten. It was a hit.

But my favorite posts are not the ones about policy or issues. I love to write about people. Unfortunately, some of these posts are about tragedy. I am still haunted by the loss of our young student Corey Byrnes in a car accident a couple years ago. It prompted me to re-visit a fatal crash in 1987, with my own journey as a back drop. That was one of the most difficult, natural, and real posts I have ever written. So was the one on the passing of Dr. Mike Kearl. His death stirred something in me and the campus community. The post about Tiger football and Roy Hampton was rattling around in me for awhile. The TCU comeback laid it all out and it nearly wrote itself.

Of course, from tragedy we find stories of absolute inspiration. I have started writing posts for the holidays and they have features dome incredible stories. The first was about Jennifer Reese and her mom and it still gives me chills. And the story about Dr. Roberts and how he came to Trinity still inspires me.The fantastic attitude and light that is my former colleague Tony Salinas simply amazes.

Dr. Coleen Grissom used to talk about the absurdity we deal with in Student Affairs. I have used it as a mantra in talking about gravity, levity, and absurdity. I wrote about the gravity plenty. But there were a couple of posts that I still delight in for their silliness. When I ran into Dr. Aaron Delwiche at HEB he was in the right place at the right time as I was developing a post about Michael Buble. He was a great sport and the picture of us is perfect. And I enjoyed the post about Ben Gomez because of who he is, but mostly because it took four years to assemble.

Here's hoping I have a chance to write 50 more posts in the years ahead. I could do with a little less tragedy and a bit more joy. To that end, I will conclude with a link to a post about my own college experience and its timelessness.

Thanks for reading.

Inconvenient Truths

Student rights.

I was really pleased to receive an advance copy of John Croxton's op-ed piece in the Trinitonian this week. In it, he challenges the "creeping paternalism" of the University. I think he mostly means me, but that's fine. I love that John reached out to me and we have plans for continuing dialogue. He is being respectful, has some ideas, and we should welcome the exchange of differing opinions at a campus like ours.

Since he is legit, and not a troll, I thought I would give some counter-arguments to some of his points. He interprets the recent increased residence hall security changes as over-reach and cites two other examples to state his case. We did recently restrict access so off-campus students no longer have access to the Trinity University dorms. We learned, through an incident last spring, that upon purging students from the off-campus records, we were missing some when their status was in-between (on leave, for example). There was an incident with one such student led to us of a loophole that needed closing.

So we closed it. I don't feel too badly about it because typically students on campuses ONLY have access to their own dorms. This is because students can more easily identify who should and shouldn't be there so thieves, assailants, and vandals can be identified and dealt with. Because our halls are not traditional, with one main entrance in most cases, we were open, and quite benevolent, in allowing inter-dorm access when card-access was developed. Then, SGA (formerly ASR) wanted off campus students to have access, which was a ridiculous request. But I said to them "find me another school in the country that does this and we will do it too." Well they did. Dammit. So we did it, but I never liked it. (A survey of ACS schools this week confirms that few of these peers allow access by non-residents.)

Hodor

The other two examples cited are our tobacco-free campus and our prohibition on hard liquor. The University has embraced student health and wellness in its strategic plan and even backed that with the hiring of a Health and Wellness Coordinator. The Bell Athletic Center is currently undergoing a $14 million renovation. And there is a cool running group on campus too. Institutionally we are making statements about health and wellness. (We are in favor.) It is in-congruent to allow smoking and associated behaviors. So the ban makes perfect sense and is backed by science. The only compelling reason some students offer in opposition, is they don't want to be told what to do, which is not very scientific. Ironically, students lobbied for condoms in Health Services, the bookstore, and the convenience store because they felt the university needed to support safe sex. SGA is currently pushing for feminine hygiene products in the public area restrooms (which I support). Is this paternalism? Shouldn't individual students be responsible for their own products?

I have explained the hard liquor ban many times, including in this blog. That is a tougher call for me. While it may seem arbitrary, two of our values are pitted against one another: acknowledging students will drink vs. caring deeply about student health and safety. Sometimes you have to choose, and we picked health and safety this time. That John references the 2002 hard liquor ban (it was banned much earlier, but revisited then) puts a new spin on the term "creeping," incidentally.

How we are perceived matters to me. John points out that we do tout our Responsible Friend and B'Low Optimal programs as student friendly and progressive. I like that we are student-centered, and that includes an active SGA, and student boards for campus social and academic violations. We remain one of the few schools now that includes a student voice in Title IX hearings. Students matter here and we take their input all the time.

Students can't have it both ways, however, as noted in the earlier condom example. Nearly all of our decisions begin with campus safety and health. When things go wrong, students (and their parents and their attorneys) will look at Trinity, its policies, and its enforcement of policies to see if we fell short in our obligations. Just this week several parents on the Parent Facebook page raised legitimate concerns about a car theft on campus. They mused about increasing patrols and adding more lighting. They seem in favor of paternalism. There was an expectation, as well, across campus, that we provide crossing guards up at City Vista as we have awaited the activation of the cross-walk. Indeed, the University staff and parents are probably more aligned on these topics than both groups are with students. Students will often view things based on immediate and short-term impact, such as whether or not they have to wait outside of a door of a building they don't live in.

What is more, parents contact us all the time for things their students should, or could, handle on their own. We don't mind, because we like that partnership. And we know that moving from adolescence to adulthood is a process. So we can back off, I suppose, when parents do.

But we have the long view and are unapologetic, because we are not values free. We don't sell pornography or tobacco in the bookstore. We don't allow guns on campus. We don't allow pot regardless of what Colorado permits. We make people live on campus for three years because this matters to us as an institution. We don't allow hazing. We intervene on behalf of campus neighbors when living next to our students becomes unbearable. We recycle. We put nets between the baseball field and the pool deck so sun-bathers don't get hit by home runs from our national championship baseball team. We send students to the drunk tank with cab fare to get back to campus safely. (We are just the WORST.)

Mostly what we do, is try to keep our students safe and healthy. We don't want our students to do shots, or pollute their lungs, or let strangers into their dorms. It can be a lot of work protecting our students from themselves. And while most times we consult with students on most things, sometimes we just have to do what is right. And sometimes we have to say "no." Where some might nitpick and see "moralizing paternalism unfit for a modern university," I simply see us doing our job. Most reasonable people expect no less from us, regardless of how inconvenient that may be.

Fathers, sons, and holy ghosts

Nathan and David Tuttle, Steve and Michael Logan

In 1987 when I interviewed to be an Area Coordinator at Trinity, I was part of the second wave of this newly established position. The needs had evolved for more entry-level live-on positions in campus housing nationwide. As more students lived on campus and as their needs changed the requirement for oversight was increasing. The house-parent model was becoming extinct.

I was vying for a vacant position because two people from the first wave of Area Coordinators, including Steve Logan, were moving elsewhere. Steve was headed to Stanford. I was enamored with the Trinity position because I clicked with the people here and loved the campus and city. (That's a familiar story!) Fortunately I was hired and my life would never be the same. And yet...

Some 30 years later Steve and I have reconnected, though we had been in touch off and on over the years, running in the same professional circles. Steve has ascended through the housing profession at bigger schools, including SMU where he was the Senior Executive Director of Residential Life and Student Housing. He currently holds a similar position at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach, Florida. Poor Steve. I have persisted at Trinity, having had the good fortune to be hired twice and promoted twice by mentor and friend Coleen Grissom. Of course she hired Steve too, way back when.

My new bond with Steve is our sons. Last October young Nathan Tuttle was hired as a Residential Life Coordinator (the former Area Coordinator position) at Trinity. This summer, young Michael Logan joined the team in the same role. We are all the stars of our own movies. Until we have children. I think Steve would concur. The kids are the stars now, and we are both extremely proud of them (and all of our other kids) and are thrilled to have Nathan and Michael at Trinity right where we were three decades ago. (Nathan even lived in the same apartment I started out in.) Trinity was good to us and we have done okay too.

Of course Nathan grew up on this campus. Like me, he has seen the slow pace of change here. Steve got to take a 30 year break and upon his return he has seen the things that have remained constant and the significant changes. The culture here is largely unchanged: the education of our students remains  at the core of our mission. The hands on touch, a hallmark of the "Dean Coleen" era is part of the campus ethos. The campus remains beautiful and there is still a lot of red brick. Conversely, every residence hall has been renovated (at least once) since Steve roamed the halls. The Miller fountain is in a different place, the Bell Center is new and newly renovated, Northrup Hall has been torn down and been resurrected, like a phoenix. The Science Lecture Hall and Cobb-Racey has given way to the Center for Science and Innovation. We own apartments. And students no longer need building keys to gain dorm access, but use their Tiger Cards.

What is more, students no longer say "I pay $14,000 a year to go here, so I deserve..." (By the way, that was roughly my starting salary.) Those really were the days. The price tag now is $56,000 per year. Of course many students receive deep discounts and even full payers are paying roughly one half to two thirds of what it costs to be here.

The changes can be attributed to three things: technology, the arms war among campuses to deliver the best of everything, and human resources. In 1987 technology consisted of black and white TVs, huge stereos, calculators, and a clunky main-frame computer. Now millions go into hardware, software, and WiFi befitting a residential campus.

When prospective students tour campuses they make note of the BEST each school has to offer, and seek a place that combines all of those elements t the highest level. We may have great dorms and a superior science facility, but UT has a more elegant business school. Students and families pay a lot and want the best. Of course the best in academics is a given, and fortunately we deliver in that area across the board. But people want amenities and universities have fallen over themselves to deliver. This is how we ended up with the proverbial rock wall at some colleges -- a symbol of excess to many in an age where many struggle mightily to scrounge up tuition while working and raising kids.

One of the other drivers to higher costs are salaries and the increasing positions across campuses. When Coleen Grissom led a staff retreat in 1987 about 25 people attended. Today, that same area is comprises roughly 45 people. Perhaps we had ghosts doing the work of others back them. Or maybe it was a simpler time. Pete Neville led Student Activities. Now his job is split by a director, a coordinator for Greek Life, and a student organization staff member. One counselor handled a handful of accessibility-related requests. Now two full-time people do so. Likewise, Jeff Powell managed Career Services when I began here. Today roughly eight people do his work.

This is the same all across campus. We had one Athletic Director and several full-time coaches. There were a handful of people in the Alumni and Advancement area and now there re over 30. The same for Admissions. And, faculty salaries have increased and we continue to work feverishly to keep pace with the number of positions and equitable salary.

Of course we didn't have to add these positions. But they were demanded of us. Technology has brought shortcuts but added work (and staffing). Students come to us with needs for more counseling and academic support. The government regulations we face have required additional positions in order for us to be in compliance. And as we benchmark across other campuses we see where we fit in the escalating professionalism of services. Small schools feel it differently too. There are fixed costs to each department and position added.

None of this is a bad thing. But it is misunderstood. While many bemoan the rising costs on one hand, they demand increased services, better facilities, and more amenities. Compare campus food service operations from the two eras and student demand for more, more, and more as a perfect example. This is how we have gotten here. This is our reality. And this is why some schools are losing pace and folding and while others work to offer more to outlast the others.

At Trinity, the day-today working worlds of Michael Logan and Nathan Tuttle are not that different than when their dads were here. Our mission has always been to serve, support, and challenge our students. It is heart-warming to see our legacies continued, especially by our own flesh-and-blood.

But they probably don't notice our ghosts and the ghosts of our former colleagues walking the halls and filling our meeting rooms. Those ghosts... Today they are vastly out-numbered.