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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