One year later, Whitlock finally inaugurated
Marty Finley
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: News
"He connects ideas with ideas; he connects people with people," Cowgill said.
Cowgill said thousands would be touched and changed under Whitlock's administration because he loves Eastern and the students who attend it.
"He lifts himself by lifting others," Cowgill said.
Student Body President David Fifer echoed Cowgill's sentiments.
"President Whitlock is committed to doing the right thing all the time, quite simply because it is the right thing to do," Fifer said.
Former Eastern President Hanly Funderburk also spoke. Funderburk, a mentor to Whitlock, joked he didn't have a speech prepared because Whitlock always wrote his speeches. He said he wasn't planning on being in attendance, but when Whitlock said he needed him there, he boarded a plane to honor his request.
Whitlock used the opportunity to award Funderburk with the Presidential Award of Merit, the highest honor bestowed by a president, and initiated him into the Society of Foundation Professors. Funderburk started the Foundation Professors program in 1987, which gives salary supplements to tenured faculty who meet the requirements for the two-year professorship.
After being sworn in, Whitlock addressed the audience with his usual brand of humor. He said he tried to be "The Great Synthesizer" by merging the last five inauguration speeches into one, but could not get it to work. He said people had mistaken his gratitude over the budget cuts for happiness. He said he was not happy about the budget cuts, or satisfied, but content that the additional three percent was the best the General Assembly could do under the current circumstances.
He said the university would prosper if its community worked smarter and used the resources available to it.
"We are not poor even if we don't have enough money," Whitlock said.
He also addressed his commitment to the 22-county region that Eastern serves, but said he didn't want that region to become a boundary for the university. Instead, he talked about a more global approach at the university. He said he wanted Eastern to work more closely with foreign organizations and try harder to create a more culturally diverse campus by attracting more international students.
He also said the university must work to adapt to the needs of students tomorrow by harnessing technology and resources as they improve. Today's best will not work for tomorrow, he added. And he said the university will not grow without teambuilding and a community effort, working not only with faculty, staff and students, but also with the city of Richmond, Madison County and the state.
Whitlock finished by reading the poem Ithaca by Konstantinus Kafavis, a Greek poet, which illustrates a person's ultimate goal to reach the city of Ithaca.
"I first found my Ithaca years ago," Whitlock said, "and her name is Eastern Kentucky University."
Cowgill said thousands would be touched and changed under Whitlock's administration because he loves Eastern and the students who attend it.
"He lifts himself by lifting others," Cowgill said.
Student Body President David Fifer echoed Cowgill's sentiments.
"President Whitlock is committed to doing the right thing all the time, quite simply because it is the right thing to do," Fifer said.
Former Eastern President Hanly Funderburk also spoke. Funderburk, a mentor to Whitlock, joked he didn't have a speech prepared because Whitlock always wrote his speeches. He said he wasn't planning on being in attendance, but when Whitlock said he needed him there, he boarded a plane to honor his request.
Whitlock used the opportunity to award Funderburk with the Presidential Award of Merit, the highest honor bestowed by a president, and initiated him into the Society of Foundation Professors. Funderburk started the Foundation Professors program in 1987, which gives salary supplements to tenured faculty who meet the requirements for the two-year professorship.
After being sworn in, Whitlock addressed the audience with his usual brand of humor. He said he tried to be "The Great Synthesizer" by merging the last five inauguration speeches into one, but could not get it to work. He said people had mistaken his gratitude over the budget cuts for happiness. He said he was not happy about the budget cuts, or satisfied, but content that the additional three percent was the best the General Assembly could do under the current circumstances.
He said the university would prosper if its community worked smarter and used the resources available to it.
"We are not poor even if we don't have enough money," Whitlock said.
He also addressed his commitment to the 22-county region that Eastern serves, but said he didn't want that region to become a boundary for the university. Instead, he talked about a more global approach at the university. He said he wanted Eastern to work more closely with foreign organizations and try harder to create a more culturally diverse campus by attracting more international students.
He also said the university must work to adapt to the needs of students tomorrow by harnessing technology and resources as they improve. Today's best will not work for tomorrow, he added. And he said the university will not grow without teambuilding and a community effort, working not only with faculty, staff and students, but also with the city of Richmond, Madison County and the state.
Whitlock finished by reading the poem Ithaca by Konstantinus Kafavis, a Greek poet, which illustrates a person's ultimate goal to reach the city of Ithaca.
"I first found my Ithaca years ago," Whitlock said, "and her name is Eastern Kentucky University."
