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“‘Leadership’ is a concept we often resist. It seems immodest, even self-aggrandizing, to think of ourselves as leaders. But if it is true that we are made for community, then leadership is everyone’s vocation, and it can be an evasion to insist that it is not. When we live in the close-knit ecosystem called community,…

Things have changed since I left, but when I was at UTSA, we had five graduation ceremonies in the Convocation Center (the basketball arena). The processional order was students, faculty, then the platform party. I was in the platform party, usually seated front row, stage left. Our line of faculty and campus leaders was in position…

1986-87 was a busy year on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin – that’s what’s known as an understatement. I had told Sharon Justice the Dean of Students I was interested in the opportunity to learn new things in this position. We were only three weeks into the semester and I was…

Friends who’ve known me for any length of time might have been surprised to see that I listed reading time as one of my yearly goals. For most of my life, the challenge was to stop me from reading, reading, and more reading. But life gets complex, doesn’t it? And no matter how important something,…

When we first moved to San Marcos, we expected to join the “Y” as we had in Austin, but it turned out that there is no “Y” in town. Instead, there is the San Marcos Activity Center, so Peter went to sign up to be able to continue his swimming practice. The charge, he was…

When I teach, I try to challenge students to pay attention to the world around them and bring examples related to our subject to class each week. The examples can be from the headlines or their own experiences. I’m trying to help them get in the habit of understanding their experiences in multiple dimensions. In my…

One of my professors in graduate school had previously taught at the War College. I think it may have been from him that I learned the idea that even the best plan doesn’t survive beyond the first encounter with the enemy. I have no doubt that’s accurate, but I much prefer the quote from the poet Robert…

“Education – the knowledge and development resulting from the process of being educated.” “Transform – a: to change in composition or structure b: to change the outward form or appearance of c: to change in character or condition.” “Transaction: something transacted especially: an exchange or transfer of goods, services, or funds.” (All definitions from Merriam-Webster Online.) As most of you know, I spent much of my…

Here’s a bit of trivia for this week. Yesterday, Tuesday the 19th was the day of the vernal equinox, the first day of spring. If that sounds wrong because we always think of March 20th/21st as the first day of spring, it turns out that leap year matters. That little calendar correction we make every four years…