Presidential Investiture
October 16, 2004
Northern Michigan University

"Everybody Counts – Everybody Matters"
Dr. Leslie E. Wong

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us" --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Board Members, Faculty, Staff, Students, former NMU presidents, fellow presidents from Michigan Tech, Ferris and other Michigan colleges, NMU alums, citizens of the Upper Peninsula and to my dear friends and family: thank you for coming today. Northern Michigan University is celebrating my investiture, Homecoming, NMU’s 105 th year AND 100 years of Wildcat football. This ceremony is but one part of a special week for NMU, and an even more special weekend for me. Family and friends have come from Seattle, Tacoma, Northern and Southern California, Colorado, Chihuahua ( Mexico), North Dakota, Texas, New York and Seoul, Korea. Phyllis and I, here in our new home, start what we hope to be a long friendship with the NMU family, our new friends from the U.P., downstate and a horde of Wildcat supporters. You honor me in a way that will not be forgotten and if I can give these comments without choking up I will have met my goal for the day.

Before my comments, I would like to introduce some very, very special people. My bride and life partner, Phyllis Wong, is an essential part of this and all adventures. We have seen much together and there is still much more to experience. From her springs my optimism and my hope, my sense of what is right about this life.

You have been introduced to three tall young, good looking men on stage with me, two of them accompanied by their future wives seated in the audience. With great honor, I’d like to introduce each one of them because they share the spiritual center of my soul, along with Phyllis. I could talk for hours about them with unabashed fatherly pride. I hope you all take the time to meet them. They are quite special and more importantly, they are good young men. They are home, they are safe, they are nearby.

Isaac Wong is our oldest son. Named after the greatest of the Chinese conquerors, Temujin is engaged to Jean Wang. Isaac is a mathematician, software guru, he lives in New York City working for a medical software company. My future daughter-in-law, Jean is earning a Ph.D. from Columbia in Special Education with an earlier degree in Piano.

Our second son, Nathan Wong is a professional flutist, with a studio in Hayward, California. He and his flute have played in England, Rome and now the U.P. A baseball fan, soccer nut and marathon runner, he teaches and performs in the Bay Area. We may have to figure a way to keep him here longer.

Brian Wong is our youngest. A recent 2003 graduate of Seattle University in Physics, he is now, proudly, 2 nd Lt. U.S. Army. His soul mate and my other future daughter-in-law is Stephanie Fong, also an SU grad in medical sonography, who lives in Seattle. I do want to thank the U.S. Army for granting Brian a special five day leave to attend this event. He is currently stationed in Seoul, Korea. And I should mention that he also is a fine pianist.

You’ll notice I’m hesitating with the word daughter. It’s a word I’m not used to saying but I am becoming quite fond of it. These six are the most important people in my life.

A special recognition is due the alumni, former employees, and former Presidents who have contributed their energy and a good deal of their lives creating the legacy that is Northern Michigan University. These efforts have brought us to this moment, where, as the new and 13 th President, I hope to ensure that NMU remains a vibrant, growing and compassionate place. The NMU legacy is one responsibility which I hold especially important. My goal is to hopefully hand to the 14 th president the continuing spirit that is Northern Michigan University. Thank you, alums, retirees, former leaders.

Now, I would like to turn our thoughts to Northern Michigan University, this Presidency and our role and obligations to our students and our audience. And toward that end I would like to exploit some historical evidence of which I have become quite fond. My years in the Dakotas had a very profound effect on my sense of land and people. And there is a lot of land between people out there! But it was also during those years that the tragedy of 9-11 occurred. The dominant presence of fear and cynicism, whether provoked by actual terrorism or by our own imagination, was certainly crystallized by the events of 9-11. But this speech is not about terrorism.

In a missive, written in his typical Virginian eloquence, but also with what some historians view as considerable privilege (meaning he didn’t tell Congress right away what he did), Thomas Jefferson, 3 rd President, United States of America, delivered the following presidential charge to Captain Meriwether Lewis:

QUOTE: " Washington D.C., June 20, 1803 To Meriwether Lewis Esquire, Captain of the first regiment of Infantry of the United States of America.

The Object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river & such principal stream of it as by it's course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or any other river may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent for the purpose of commerce . "

And so begins the journey for Captain Lewis and the "Corps of Discovery" or as Meriwether Lewis put it, "the corps of volunteers for North Western Discovery," a journey that one historian offered, "... [ America’s] sense of limitless possibilities and unparalleled opportunities" (Fritz).

The events surrounding the famed Lewis and Clark expeditions as chronicled by historians and by Meriwether Lewis himself, are striking to me for many reasons.

"Limitless possibilities and unparalleled opportunities:" the very motive to go to college.

"Limitless possibilities and unparalleled opportunities:" perhaps the very motive of our immigrant ancestors to come to America.

These are interesting thoughts about the Lewis and Clark expeditions but there is something far more important found in the historical chronicles of this journey.

In the chronicles there is mention of the Corps crossing the Dakota prairie and seeing smoke trails on the horizon. Now imagine being there with a small group of white men, a Black man (and eventually one Native woman) on the vast prairie where little is known, period. Suppose we were part of the Corps of Discovery. How would you or I think of the humans connected to the smoke? With Fear and cynicism? Should we sneak up on them to find out more about them and not reveal our presence? Should we change our course and avoid them? What do we do if they hear us? see us? smell us? How should we proceed? What is our likely response to that wisp of smoke that signals another human being about whom we know little? What risks, big and small, come with contact? What is it about "US" that will determine our contact with "THEM"???? But as an explorer, an adventurer, there are options to what we do and that is the key to this historical metaphor. What do we DO? One is certainly to decide, right now, whether they will be friend or foe. That initial assessment defines all further moves. And all too often today, people, about whom we know so little, are presumed to be foe. Of course another option is through the lens of fear and cynicism. Let’s avoid them, steer clear, stay away. And the third option is to respond to the smoke with curiosity. Let’s just keep going and find out who’s there.

As I thought about my role as a University President, the old notion of knowledge resolving ignorance fell to the wayside. I have started to envision a university education as the proper and appropriate means of reaching across the unknown, engaging the unknown, the different and scary through the third option, that of curiosity. Because it seems as if our culture today, an American culture, has lost sight of "our limitless possibilities and unparalleled opportunity." We were and perhaps we are afraid.

What is it about an NMU education that contains our fear and minimizes our ignorance? How might an NMU education give our students the same curiosity and confidence held by the Corp of Discovery? That is, how can our response to the smoke be seen as an invitation to contact and optimism.

An education at NMU represents the best example of how to prepare to respond to the unknown. Foremost in my mind is the learning of skills and habits to reduce our fear of the unknown and the fear of people who may arise out of that unknown.

• Programs like the Student Leader Fellowship Program and the over 200 student groups on campus help students think outside of themselves. Here at NMU, we care for one another and we are willing to act in behalf of one another. Such value represents hope for human contact, a reaching across the vast plain of human differences that no other experience in a young life can offer. One cannot reach out in hope when you have no experience or success reaching out to others.

• In turn our students learn a lot about themselves through service to others. And this opportunity is available to every student whether in a two-year program, certificate or diploma program, baccalaureate program, graduate program. We don’t restrict the lesson of compassion to those that pass high admission standards. Like ubiquitous technology, people skills are expected of everyone.

• We incorporate the experiences from the outside world into the classroom so that your storehouse of knowledge is grounded in the real world.

• Quality guidance from your professors is present; all you need do is ask. Our faculty and staff know you as a person, care for you as an individual.
  
• We promote an understanding of who’s along with you on this journey. The more people you meet, well, the more tolerant and understanding you become.

So what’s the challenge? Am I saying that NMU is the best and does not need to change?

Hardly. The world to be explored is a dynamic one. Change just simply is and it occurs with and without us. What I see occurring so powerfully and subtly here is that a technology-driven, content-oriented curriculum is balanced with a challenging social environment in which our people skills are not forgotten. No wonder people in North Dakota and the U.P. are different from the rest of America: we depend on others. I truly imagine one of us next to Captain Lewis, saying, "Look there, smoke; let’s go see what they need." I can only imagine the look on Captain Lewis’s face.

But back to a university education and specifically an education at NMU: The future brings us challenges in many forms. And if our brand of education will compel our students to approach that distant smoke with confidence and compassion, with curiosity, we must strive to do a few more things as well as we are doing current things. Among them:

• Begin to recognize the value of the journey and not just the rewards of the outcome.

When will universities like NMU be rewarded for the path or journey every one of our students undertakes? Will we nurture every one of our students to become the best, the brightest and the most compassionate? I have heard more personal stories from students about how this university took a confused, underachieving, scared and misdirected young person and produced a good parent, good citizen, or good neighbor. There is much to be said for alums that become wealthy and well-known. But a month ago someone asked me if I had met some of our important graduates. And I politely left them a bit stunned by offering, "Yes, I met Mr. x who runs a scout camp, or Ms. Y who is running a program to help low income youth." All of you who contribute to community well-being are important people.

• NMU can challenge itself to put our students into the world and bring the world to NMU. Cultural understanding and the importance of a second language must become a priority. Similarly, we must begin to help our students understand other religions within a social and corporate context.

• NMU must continue to demonstrate Exemplary Teaching and Learning with technology-enhanced pedagogies. It is our edge, a key part of our brand.

• NMU must not move away from our high touch value system.

• NMU must continue to balance the vocational motivations of our students with a renewed sense of social and ethical values grounded in service to the community, to other students, and more importantly to those less fortunate.

• NMU must draw upon the wisdom of retirees, alumni and experts in the community to enhance the student experience. Your wisdom and life experience is essential.

• Alums: become a mentor, support a student, perhaps with a dollar or two, more importantly, stay close, join our journey to the 21 st century.

• To the U.P.: Do not change. Your hospitality supports our students, faculty and staff like no other place I’ve been. It takes a lot of effort and commitment and we, at NMU are grateful.

You’ll notice that my comments are value heavy, value driven and people oriented.

The point I am making is the value added, value laden education NMU provides to each and every student who chooses us is a requirement to be able to reach across the void and welcome the person who built the fire. A common fire to eliminate the cold welcomes new friends.

Let me close by returning to the journals of Lewis and Clark.

Lewis and Clark did not lose a single person to violent or hostile action. They met numerous tribes of Native people. The scope of their accomplishments, only now fully appreciated, arose from the curious and the prepared mind. Lewis and Clark chose option three. "Lewis and Clark certainly were the first to see the land and the people along the Missouri and Columbia rivers with the eyes and attitude of a new nation, grounded in science and philosophy of the Enlightenment." (Fritz, 2004). Their journal represents the triumph of a curious, positive engagement with the unknown. Everyone on the Corps of Discovery and everyone they met mattered.

And here I find myself, a new President, hoping to meet the standard of Meriwether Lewis, to help students and this community reach across the prairie without fear but in hope and curiosity. Hope that we will engage a world so wonderfully different from us, that an NMU education will "make a difference in the lives of people around you." That is why, "everybody counts, everybody matters." Among friends near a common fire, fear will have no place.

Let us carry forth at Northern Michigan University with the same spirit of

"Limitless possibilities and unparalleled opportunities."

Dr. Leslie E. Wong

President

Northern Michigan University