Faculty Convocation, September 1983

              FACULTY CONVOCATION
SEPTEMBER, 1983
Welcome back for the academic year to those who have been gone for
vacation or sabbatical leave. A particularly warm welcome to those who
join our staff for the first time; it is splendid to have you as part of
the college family.
As you know, I plan to retire as President at the end of the year.
There is a sense of expectation in new perspectives, but also a sense of
sadness in giving up the leadership of Berea with its high ideals and purposes.  
Like its graduates, we will keep the love of Berea in our hearts.
Anne and I plan to stay active in some kind of service to the society;
we would like to do a job together for a period if we can find one that
uses our talents. We will plan not to be in Berea next year, to give the
new President complete freedom.
To prevent us from becoming overly burdened with seriousness, let me
inject a note of levity with a statement on the University President by
Clark Kerr:
"The college president in the United States is
expected to be -
a friend of the students
a colleague of the faculty
a good fellow with the alumni
a sound administrator with the trustees
a good speaker with the public
an astute bargainer with the foundations
and the federal agencies
a politician with the state legislature 
a friend of industry, labor, and agriculture
a persuasive diplomat with donors
a champion of education generally
a supporter of the professions
(particularly law and medicine)
a spokesman to the press
a scholar in his own right
a public servant at the state and national
levels
a devotee of opera and football equally
a decent human being
a good husband and father