Washington and Lee University
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I was honored when President Ruscio asked me to speak on this occasion, but soon became a little worried when I heard that the audience would include first year students, students about to graduate, faculty, staff and administrators. What common thread could I possibly find that would resonate with such a varied lot of people? The one thing we do have in common today is the start of a new academic year. I have over 50 new academic years to my credit. Maybe I’m like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhogs Day—I have to keep re-doing it until I get it right. You students have probably experienced around 15-20 fall openings. Every new academic year offers a fresh start and we might be asking ourselves, what do I want to accomplish, to discover, to decide this year?
So I grabbed that common thread and titled my remarks “New Year Resolutions”. But, I will not just be speaking to the obvious meaning of resolution that is usually paired with January New Year’s. Of course I could talk about resolutions in that sense as a pledge to do or not do certain things, but what should those things be? The word ’resolution’ or its verb ‘resolve’, has meanings other than purposeful intent and I will offer several nuanced definitions as the basis for my remarks.
So first to the first year undergraduate and law students. The definition of resolution that I offer you is this: resolution is: “seeing clearly the distinct parts of a complex object that are otherwise blurred together.” This definition describes the power of a lens, like a microscope or a telescope, to resolve detail. For first-year students many things may seem a little blurry right now; you may not very sure about what to specialize in, what organizations to join, how hard you will have to work to meet the challenge of brilliant professors and talented peers, who will win the World Series? (That will be the Red Sox of course!) But the most important question is, what kind of a person do you want to be?
Your experience at Washington and Lee can serve as a powerful microscope for self-examination that will lead to resolution of personal values as foundation for a life of purpose and meaning. To realize the power of the Washington and Lee microscope you’ll need to decide which lenses to use and use them deliberately. One that is especially powerful is the purposeful engagement with professors and peers in conversations and experiences that add depth and significance to the formal curriculum. At risk of mixing my metaphors, your decision whether or not to be an active participant in shaping your own education reminds me of a friend who once explained why he wanted a standard transmission rather than automatic for the car he was about to buy. He said the car would get him where he was going either way, but he wanted to participate in the drive. So think about the difference between getting a Washington and Lee degree on autopilot, which might mean just doing enough to check off requirements,… and getting a deeper, self-examining education,… which means active participation in the intellectual opportunities available to you outside the classroom. The first way—checking off requirements—is basically transactional; you do this and that and we will give you a degree in exchange. It will certainly get you to graduation and no doubt a job too. The alternative—full engagement—has the power to be personally transformational, not merely transactional. You will have dozens of decision points every day that will affect the resolution of your most important questions. It is up to you to use your opportunities here as you would powerful lenses to resolve blurred distinctions in meaning, and to see the world and your own future more clearly.
Now to seniors and third year law students. The definition of the word resolution I offer you is: “resolution is the point in a play, music, or literature at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out.” Think about the stages of your life metaphorically as mini-dramas or operettas, in which the action and dialogue early-on are somewhat confusing but then.. all is cleared up in the last act. While you may see a clear resolution to some of the questions that you faced as first year students, this new year, your last act as a Washington and Lee student, no doubt carries a whole new batch of uncertainties that beg resolution. What will you be doing next year? How will you weigh the duty of public service that is the responsibility of educated persons, especially those that graduate from Washington and Lee, against a natural desire for a very comfortable life style? I leave it to you to resolve such futuristic questions, and will ask a more immediate one: What are the most important things to take advantage of in this last year before you graduate that won’t be available to you again? You can just coast and take those last few requirements, or you can write a script for the last act of your college drama that lets you take advantage of additional learning experiences with the amazing people that are here at Washington and Lee and nowhere else. Write a script for dialogue and action that leads to a resolution of the meaning of all that you have encountered here.
You heard in the introduction that I am new to Washington and Lee, having come in as Provost just this summer. So not only am I beginning a new academic year, like you new and graduating students, I am entering a new chapter of my life. I can fantasize that you might want to ask me what script I have written for myself, and what I hope to resolve in this role. But I know in my heart that you are probably thinking instead, “What is a Provost, why do we need one” ? I know this from experience. When I am asked where I work, and answer that I am Provost at a university, people say first “Wow, that sounds so impressive”. Then after a pensive pause and with furrowed brow they ask “What is a Provost anyway?”
Being in the mode of dictionary definitions this afternoon my favorite for Provost is “a keeper of a prison”. Actually the generic definition for Provost is “one in charge, a director” and the title is sometimes applied in religious and military organizations as well as to jailers and academic leaders. About 60 years ago as Presidents had to become increasingly focused on external relations, they began to appoint Provosts to oversee the academic mission. However the position at Washington and Lee was created just five years ago. The specific duties of a Provost have a lot of variability from one institution to the next, so one of my tasks is to bring more clarity, or shall we say resolution, to the role of Provost here.
In the American academy the Provost is nominally in charge of faculty and students, and the curriculum that connects them. I say ‘nominally in charge of faculty’ because no person in real life thinks that you can directly tell faculty what to do. Moreover, Provosts, like Presidents and Deans, usually start out as faculty themselves and have no training whatsoever as administrators. As I pointed out last fall at President Ruscio’s inauguration, that must mean we are the “Incompetent leading the ungovernable.” …….
Speaking of the President…. I heard him try to explain what a Provost is to some students on move-in day as he introduced me to them. He said the Provost is second to the president, and would be in charge if the President were ever incapacitated. But he said, fortunately that happens only three or four times a day.
Let me insert a serious word about President Ruscio, who is one of the main reasons I accepted this job: You know him as an alumnus, a former faculty member and dean, one of your own. He has set an ambitious course for Washington and Lee with a new strategic plan that reflects his deep understanding of the institution. But how do people outside the Washington and Lee community regard him? You need to know that he is esteemed by the national higher education community as one of the country’s most promising new college presidents, and as an eloquent spokesman for liberal education. Of course he is also my boss but that has nothing to do with this high praise.
Let’s see, where were we? Oh yes, resolving what a Provost is supposed to do at Washington and Lee. Like you, I have no problem keeping busy everyday; I could spend the whole day answering email. The challenge is to figure out what is most important for the institution in the long run, while still managing the rest of it. A Provost has to be aware of the way that our individual and collective actions affect the future of the institution; to lead in that context with academic goals and initiatives that are worthy of the faculty’s talent and time; and then to empower them to reach those goals.
Which brings to mind another definition of resolution, this one for the faculty and as I am one of you, this is close to my heart. Resolution means: “to move from dissonance into consonance.” From many discordant opinions and different options, we can, through civil discussion, resolve how to do what we do well even better. Finding consensus--- when we are after all trained to be critical and strong-minded--- is challenging. You know how easy it is to lose sight of the big picture and get bogged down in semantics, disciplinary interests, logistics, and such. As Provost, it will be my duty periodically to direct the focus back to the high calling that is our common enterprise which is… to bring our best professional effort and collective judgment to bear on the education and guidance of these talented students who have chosen to study with us.
The great potential of this faculty to develop a national paragon of the so-called teacher-scholar model is another big reason why I accepted this job. I was inspired by your determination to develop a seamless blend of outstanding teaching, mentoring, and scholarly accomplishment that results in rich personalized learning experiences for our students, the kind of experiences that alumni often cite as the most significant aspect of their education. Notice that I said ‘blend’, not ‘balance’, of teaching, mentoring, and scholarship; of all the faculties I know, you have the greatest potential for integrating these three into one great endeavor that is much more than their sum.
Easier said than done….How can we resolve the rhetoric of such lofty ideals into a clear plan of action at ground level? In the last few years you have been engaged in some lively debates on programs, curriculum and calendar. If you are like other faculties I have been a part of, I imagine that some of that discussion has seemed repetitious and even things that you thought were decided come back for reconsideration. Perhaps the word resolution could also be read as “re-solution” which reminds me of the old saying: “In academe, any decision worth making is worth making several times.” Debate is a good thing, but endless debate without resolving a decision that results in action is discouraging. I look forward to working with you this year to resolve our answers to questions such as: What is the best and highest use of the undergraduate spring term which we have decided to retain? How should we develop the law faculty’s innovative proposal for the third year? Can we align the necessary work of reaccreditation with the great privilege of self-examination and self-determination that our profession enjoys? Do we need more clarity in our tenure and promotion standards and processes? Let us aim for resolution of disparate opinions into democratic consensus on issues like these that are so essential to our mission and the institution’s future.
By the way, all this talk about striving for betterment is not about rankings or prestige or being better than someplace else. It is about an obligation to be the best we can be with the personal talents and institutional resources we are blessed with. To whom much is given much is expected. Few places in the world have the potential for the kind of transformational education we can offer here. We expect students to do their personal best with the great gifts they have, not merely to do what is comfortably good enough. We should expect no less of ourselves and for this institution.
There is one other definition of the word resolution and I offer this one to staff: it is “the reduction of a complex pattern into simpler forms; for example, to break down a major undertaking into discrete tasks that can be organized to achieve the maximum result.” Washington and Lee is an amazingly complex organization, more like a little independent village than a business. Resolution of the complex whole into its distinct and individual parts reveals that it is staff members, each one doing a specific job exceptionally well, that allows the educational enterprise to flourish in this village.
Now let me see if I can pull all of these definitions together into a conclusion: Suppose someone far away has trained a special kind of high resolution telescope on this thing called Washington and Lee to try to determine the stuff it is made of, what its qualities are. The buildings and grounds appear majestic to be sure, but the true nature of Washington and Lee can only be discerned in the character and accomplishments of the people who work and study here, and in the lives of alums whose conduct and achievements will be forever identified with Washington and Lee. The details resolved by that faraway observer would include the lingering influences of all who have come before us, including the oft-cited greats in our historical legacy, but the observer’s impression in real time would be dominated by the actions and qualities of us who are here now. Our sojourn here, however brief it might be in comparison to Washington and Lee’s long history, is our watch. As members of this community at this time, we bear a great responsibility for sustaining and passing on the greatness we inherited. Therefore as we enter the new year , let us all—students, faculty, staff, administration--join in the common purpose of seeking resolutions to those big questions that will make a difference in our own lives, in the lives of others, and in the future of Washington and Lee.
It is a privilege for me to be at Washington and Lee. Thank you for your attention.