The Tripod

Over the past years, several prominent members of the administration have left the college. Whether it's Early Reese or Chaplain Heischman, Trinity has lost members to other institutions. How do you think Trinity will go on without these individuals? Do you think Trinity can find other people to replace them?

When individuals leave a school, for whatever reasons, and especially when they leave a small place like our College where we know each other far better than would be the case at large, sterile places like the huge "megaversities," to use Clark Kerr's now famous neologism, we all are aggrieved. But, I learned a very long time ago when chair of a very distinguished department at Washington University, now back more than twenty-five years, that when one tries to find excellence, one runs the risk of having other institutions look with envy upon one's colleagues. This unalterable fact of life came to the fore prominently last spring when Father Heischman, easily the best Chaplain of my long career, was lured away from his post at Trinity to assume the most prestigious position in the Episcopal arena in the United States. While I could understand why he would be sought out as the premier candidate for such an important position, I was saddened to think that he would have to leave all of us at Trinity. Yet, the fine work he had done during his stay with us made it all the more possible to hire someone of great distinction to replace him; as will be announced shortly to the campus community.

Such is the case with Early Reese. We all knew when we were fortunate enough to secure him for Trinity in the early winter of 2005 that bringing him to our College to serve as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer would mean that others, understandably, would look with envy upon us. And this is exactly what has transpired with the United Negro College organization: the umbrella organization in the United States for the more than thirty Black colleges and universities, the same organization to which Bill and Melinda Gates gave one billion dollars to underwrite tuition and fees for African-American students to attend America's colleges and universities. The decision to leave on Mr. Reese's part was difficult, both for him given his abundant talents and for all of us, given his unflagging dedication to Trinity. But it was, and is, the chance of a lifetime to effect enormous good on the part of African-American young people all across the country. Mr. Reese, in his initial conversations with me when he was again approached by the organization to leave Trinity, termed the job offer "a calling," a most fitting term to describe what it would mean, at his station in life, to be "called" to do such critically important work at this particular time in the country's history.

Having individuals of the stature of Father Dan and Vice President Reese on one's staff is a source of great pride for me as the guy in the front office in Williams Memorial. They, and their several colleagues, make it a privilege to serve at Trinity. And their contributions, vast that they are, allow the College an opportunity to try to find in their successors individuals of similar merit and accomplishment. This has already proved to be the case in our search for Father Heischman's successor. And we will do whatever is necessary to duplicate the feat with Vice President Reese's. We have hired the best firm we know of in the U.S. (Spencer Stuart), which provided the background work in the last search for a CFO in 2004-2005, and we will not rest until we have the best possible individual in place to continue the remarkable work Mr. Reese has done for our financial foundation in the past three years. This, or so it seems to me, is what we must do to secure Trinity's future for our students, faculty, and staff. Having the best is always a risk, but it is a risk that one needs always to take since excellence is hard to find and important to retain.

Please send any questions for President Jimmy Jones to

tripod@trincoll.edu

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