I Hope You and Your Student Have Adjusted to Your New Roles and Are Having a Great Break

12/21/2015

Parents,

I hope you and your student have adjusted to your new roles and are having a great break. I have students representing all of the world’s religions in my class. For those of you who are Christians, I wish you a Merry Christmas.

I have been thinking about my kindergarten teacher, Miss Jones. I remember an interview a reporter had with her. Miss Jones was in her 90’s. In her assisted living apartment, she was surrounded by drawings that she had made of her kindergarten classes over her 50 year career. She loved to remember her children.

Miss Jones was an artist. It had been her custom to draw a montage of each class. She explained her approach this way: “I try to capture more than just a likeness of each child. My drawings reflect my vision of them as individuals. The drawings reflect hope. You’ll see that I’m not specific in my caricatures. For example, I don’t picture them as firemen, teachers, or athletes. What I try to capture are the qualities that make each of them special. These are the qualities that they will have forever.”

“I try to reflect these qualities in their eyes, in the expressions on their face, in the positioning of their mouth, and in other ways that seem important to me. I don’t have a model for my drawings. I just draw what seems important to me. What I’m doing is drawing possibilities.”

I have long thought about her use of the word possibilities. Possibilities are about hope for the future. They are developed from thoughtful observations of what might be. They are not meant to be a “design” of what should be. They are not meant to be an accurate portrait of the way things are. Possibilities are subtle in their presentation. They are not meant to be a roadmap. But there is something real about them. Miss Jones’ drawings sprang from the hope she saw in each child. Over time possibilities will take shape, but for now they are simply developing.

Our role in higher education is developing possibilities. There are so many incredible possibilities in this year’s class. Only time will tell how the possibilities unfold.

This week I have two stories to share with you. The first one is about Neal. Neal was one of those students who had natural leadership qualities. When he graduated, he joined a small business doing software development for the fast food industry. Neal has been very successful in his career. When the internet was first established, he purchased the domain name for Northpole.com. As you might imagine, this is an incredibly valuable domain name. But Neal wanted to preserve the site as a fun place for children. The site is completely non-commercial and is visited by millions of young people. You might enjoy visiting it at www.northpole.com .

The second story is about Henry. When Henry was born, he suffered from a lack of oxygen in to his brain. As a result, he never developed the mental capacity to function as an adult. For much of his early life, he was institutionalized. When our Supreme Court decided that those with mental handicaps should no longer be housed in institutions, he was “freed”.

While Henry was in the institution, he listened to the radio. He became a huge Mountaineer fan. So when he was released, it was just inevitable that he would make his way to Morgantown.

You would see Henry at every Mountaineer game. He would generally be by himself with his small radio to his ear. He would repeat the words “Yup Yup” as his way of cheering on the Mountaineers. He became know as the “Yup Yup” man.

You may wonder how Henry supported himself. He was provided space in the back of one of the Morgantown theaters as a place to live. Whenever he entered a restaurant, he was seated and given a meal. There was never any charge. If you saw Henry walking along the road on game day you stopped and gave him a ride. When he got to the game, he was admitted without a ticket.

My personal memory of Henry was at a Mountaineer baseball game. He was pacing the bleachers right in front of me. A foul ball came over the screen and landed near Henry. As the ball clanked on the metal bench, Henry was frightened and dropped his radio. The radio went through the stands and fell on the concrete floor some 25 feet below Henry. Henry couldn’t figure out what happened to the radio so I went down and got it for him. I expected the cheap plastic radio to be busted, but it was in perfect shape. It was even still playing the Mountaineer game broadcast. When I returned the radio to Henry, he muttered the words “Thank You”. I had never heard him say anything other than Yup Yup.

I can’t begin to tell you how I felt at that moment. It was something that I’ll cherish forever.

Henry died a couple of years ago. When his death became known, callers to our local sports talk show started calling in to share their memories of Henry. I don’t think I have ever been so moved as I was for that hour. Henry’s story is one of unconditional giving. Henry had a full life because everyone took care of Henry. But he enriched our lives just as much by our memories of a man who lived for the Mountaineers.

It seems to me that unconditional giving of ourselves to others in need is the true message of all religions. This form of giving is not confined to any time of the year nor does it have a price tag. And best of all, there’s nothing expected in return other than a simple thank you, no matter if it is said or not or is just evident in a smile or a sigh of relief.

Dr. Byrd

The University will be closed on December 24, 2015 and will not open again until December 29, 2015.