Tuesday, June 13, 2017

ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END…


Today I am sitting in Hunt's Valley, Md., waiting to go to breakfast. I am on a trip that I am happy to make and proud to be part of. My brother-in-law Kevin, is being honored for his wonderful service as President of Stevenson University.

Dedication is borne of necessity, it is the by-product of belief in oneself and the willingness to fulfill our dreams. Without dedication and self-discipline, we can't succeed. To endure a journey with love, and dedication to a dream is the most fulfilling thing I can imagine, I lived it myself and remember my years of hard work. Yet today, it stands out as the ultimate triumph for one man who took to task what he wanted out of life, something that seems so unachievable and delivered. His dream was to someday be a President of a college. That was the simple part, that is where he began, and along the way, despite constant turns off the path finally reached his goal and rested for but a brief moment and thought: This is not far enough.

Once he was on the mountain, as they say, he looked around and saw other mountains, mountains larger and more challenging, and continued to climb until he achieved what no one expected, but everyone benefitted from. Taking a small commuter college and turning it into a very prominent and respected university, he can today, walk away and say I did my best, I did it out of love for my profession, and although the burdens of these great achievements lean harder on me as I get older, I can now rest in the knowledge that I truly did my job and pass the challenges on to someone else.

From the Stevenson University website:
Kevin J. Manning, Ph.D., now in his 16th year as president of Stevenson University, was selected for the position after an extensive national search that involved the Board, students, faculty, and staff of Maryland's third-largest independent university. The institution changed its name to Stevenson University in June 2008.

Dr. Manning has more than 40 years of experience in higher education. Before coming to Stevenson, he was Vice President for Development and College Relations at Immaculata University in Pennsylvania. Prior to Immaculata University, Dr. Manning held key administrative positions at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, and at Washington University in St. Louis.

But this I only the surface of the real story.




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