Just the numbers, 9/11, conjure up memories of sadness and fear and devastation in my my mind.

I remember waking up to a beautiful day, with seemingly, not a cloud in the sky.

We had moved to our new home on March 10, 2001…and today it was Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

We had became semi-adjusted to having my mom live with us.  It is a challenge living with someone who really does not know who you are or where they are or who has no frame of reference as to your life together.

Mom, would often ask me, where in the world are we?

I was getting ready for work, at Southern Illinois University, and basically, listening to the Today Show, when I heard one of the Anchors of the Show say that it appears that there has been an explosion in one of the World Trade Center buildings…and that perhaps a small commuter plane had gotten off of it’s course and accidentally struck the building.

I was reminded of our our tour of World Trade Center II in June of 2000.

I had never felt such a feeling of unease as I did during this morning tour.  The occupants of the building seemed to have an aura of trepidation about them and there was a a heaviness or foreboding, at least to me, through out the building.

I recalled the terrorist attack of 1993 on the World Trade Center.

‘The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, carried out on February 26, 1993, when a truck bomb detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.  The 1,336 pounds (606 kg) urea nitrate-hydrogen gas enhanced device was intended to send the North Tower (Tower 1) crashing into the South Tower (Tower 2), bringing both towers down and killing tens of thousands of people.  It failed to do so but killed six people and injured over a thousand.’   Wikipedia

I wondered, after I heard of the Pentagon being hit by a plane and the White House being evacuated…if this was the beginning of World War III?

The courage of the first responders and so many citizens was inspiring.

The stopping of Flight 93 by several passengers and flight attendants…no doubt saved many lives by thwarting the hijackers intent of flying the plane into the Capitol Building.

‘Vice President Dick Cheney, in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center deep under the White House, upon learning of the premature crash, is reported to have said, ‘I think an act of heroism just took place on that plane.’    Wikipedia

My office was at the Physical Plant and it occurred to me that if this was a nationwide concerted War Effort that there might be plans to bomb the tremendous coal furnaces at the Plant that both heated and cooled the Campus.

I walked through the Student Center where students were huddled around television sets watching the unimaginable horror of that day.

I heard on student exclaim that he was just looking for a, ‘rag head to kick the shit out of.’

I thought, when I heard this angry and illogical assertion, that whoever was responsible for the inhuman devastation of our country…certainly there was not students in the Student Center that were a part of the plot.

I think that we must continue to seek out those who would do us harm and endeavor to prevent them from doing so….this is just.

However, we must also realize that there are countless members of humanity that are different than us and who have a different faith system from us…that are wonderful members of the human family and should be our allies and our friends.

Many of the terrorist attacks, since 9/11, have been perpetrated by American Citizens.

I sat in on a class, that my friend and former chancellor Jo Ann Argersinger, taught on 9/11.

She told the class…that the events of the day…would change many of the freedoms that we had been enjoying and taking for granted…out of the fear of the unknown and a reoccurrence of the horrors of the day.

She was right.

We must join hands with every friend and person of good will.  We must continue to be the land of opportunity.

‘Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand.

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles.  From her beaconed hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

‘Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!’ cries she

With silent lips.  ‘Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’

The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

We had the nicest young man service our furnace and air conditioning system today.    It was time for our annual furnace check-up from D and C Heating and Cooling.

His friendly attitude and well mannered disposition, made him a delight to do business with.

I also had the pleasure of speaking with my friend, Scott McClatchey, who recently moved to southern California.  Scott, is just a great person and a positive influence.  Southern California’s gain…was Southern Illinois’ loss.

People form the, ‘story of you’, by the narrative that you write for them.

If you are constantly down on yourself…or feel that you never get the good breaks…or if negative experiences begin to be your identity…then…others will form the same opinion that you illustrate and give voice to…of yourself.

Have you ever worked with someone that is so preoccupied with the problems in their life, that it is difficult for them to perform their job duties?

Have you ever been employed by an institution…that although the pay and benefits and working conditions are, for the most part good, and yet your colleagues complained and criticize the institution…from the beginning of the day…until it’s conclusion?

When I began working at Southern Illinois University…I could not believe my good fortune.  I began as a Building Service Worker…which is a janitor…and I was proud and thrilled to have the opportunity!

I determined that I was going to be a professional custodial employee and that those who encountered me or my work…would leave feeling that they had dealt with a courteous and friendly professional.

If you had told me that there would come a day that I would be the Superintendent of the department…I would have laughed heartily.

However, positive perception that is consistent…makes a difference.

Chancellors and Presidents of SIU asked my opinion regarding a wide range of University issues…and they were speaking to a housekeeping employee…that they respected.

SIU is turning a corner…if everyone in the University Community has the courage and determination…to do so.

If we present ourself in a positive and excellent manner to…the Southern Illinois Community…to the State of Illinois…to our Nation…and to the world…we will be an integral part of the Renaissance of Southern Illinois University!

It seems, for the past several years, we have been inundated with leaders who are full of hubris and narcissistic self worth.

We are subject to a daily dose of our senators and congressmen and our President…telling us of their numerous accomplishments and unfailing good judgment and our un-equivocated need for their leadership.

The Father of our Country, George Washington, was a reluctant leader.

‘ The Congressional delay in certifying George Washington’s election as president only allowed more time for doubts to fester as he considered the herculean task ahead.  He savored his wait as welcome reprieve, he told his former comrade in arms and future Secretary of War Henry Knox, adding that his ‘movements to the chair of government will be accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution.’   Ron Chernow – Smithsonian Magazine, February 2011

‘And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.’   Exodus  4:10   KJV

The Servant Leader…is hard to find.

I have often reflected on former Senator Paul Simon and his offer of assistance to Mary Jane, shortly after she obtained her Masters degree.

At a book signing, about two weeks prior to his untimely death, he asked Mary Jane how she was doing.  She told him of being proud that the had completed her Master’s Degree, at the age of 40, but that she was having no luck in her goal of teaching workforce education to prisoners.

The Senator told her to contact his assistant and set up a meeting with him and that he would do everything that he could to make calls of introduction on her behalf.  He went to say how much that the admired her goal and that he believed that she would achieve it.

Now, we had never worked for Senator Simon and he had been out of politics for several years.  Yet, his willingness to help Mary Jane…illustrated to me that he had a Servant’s Heart.

Senator Simon’s daughter, Shelia, wrote Mary Jane a note, several weeks after his death, and told her that as she was going through his papers in his office she found where he had dictated a letter from him to the Director of Prisons, on Mary Jane’s behalf.

When you encounter a leader with a servant’s heart…you will know so quickly.

Does the leader care more about your well being more than their political expediency?

There is a humility…and grace…and a valuing of all they encounter.

As I was walking through Morris Library, this morning, I heard a young woman, who was representing the University, exclaim, ‘Do you need a tutor or a planner?’

I can not tell you how much this impressed me.

Our wonderful students are just starting out on their adult journey…and there is a lot of decisions to make, on a daily basis, to just negotiate the fundamentals of daily life.

For SIU to take the time…and put someone in this very important position…of making crystal clear to our students, both new and returning, that there is academic assistance for them…and so early in the semester…was heartwarming.

Former interim chancellor, John Dunn, told me that many students get lost in the bureaucracy, while some are discovered to have never attended class.

What I observed today represented the proactive approach to assuring a successful SIU student.

When I returned to walking outside, I passed SIUC Chi Alpha Ministries where two students were speaking to another student…and they were having the best of conversations, replete with laughing and patting each other on the back.

Students, and all of us, connect with a, place, in a multitude of different ways and with a plethora of  different people.

Through out my life I have met people who like me…and people for whom…I am not their cup of tea.

Southern has so many organizations and groups to connect with, and to see one in action today was a real treat.

Outside the Student Center was yet another table staffed with people who could answer questions regarding financial aid.

These positive efforts, by the Campus, to reach students…where they are at…gives me hope for the future of our great School.

I saw on the news where new chancellor Montemagno said that if you have been hurt by SIU Carbondale…’come back and we will make it right.’

Now, that is something that I do not see often…a leader with a servant’s heart.

As with any organization…it is true…some have been hurt.

Let us make today…the first day of our renewed and revitalized and rejuvenated, dedication…to the Renaissance of Southern Illinois University!

Enrollment at our beloved University, SIU Carbondale, has declined once again.  The Fall Semester enrollment is 14,554 or a 8.96 decline from Fall Semester enrollment in 2016.

This issue has been on-going since the mid 1990’s…and is getting progressively worse each year.

I enjoyed what new chancellor Montemagno said, when he noted that reasons for enrollment decline must not be excuses.

I can recall my friend, chancellor Don Beggs, telling me, the first Fall Semester that he was chancellor, that enrollment had increased by nine students…and that, although, this was not many, at least it did not decline.

It might be time to think outside the box?

I have sat on, several,  University wide committees that were formed, expressly, to address the problem of declining enrollment.

I have watched more than one, ‘expert’ group of enrollment consultants, be hired by our University…to give the full proof plan on increasing students.

But, enough about the past…this is the first day of the rest of our lives.

Perhaps, we could expand the idea base of the University, when it comes to enrollment?

In the latter 90’s I was asked, by then chancellor, Jo Ann Argersinger, to be a apart of a group of SIU faculty, staff, and students, who would visit various schools in Southern Illinois and Paducah, Kentucky, and Cape Girardeau, Missouri…for the purpose of presenting the unique opportunities of Southern Illinois University.

There were wonderful and productive meetings.

The famous motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, once said, ‘I really do not care how much you know, until I know how much you care…about me.’

I have suggested, for more years than I like to admit, that University Administration, would do well…to include their wonderful civil service staff in these important enrollment discussions.

I read where our new chancellor has said that with all of the combined brain power …that is part of SIU and the surrounding region…we should be able to solve any problem.

During my career in Building Services, one of our foreman, Gerald Davis, started a Thanksgiving dinner for our over two hundred student staff…this went on for over twenty years…and there was a feeling of home…and family…and unity…that let these students know…that there was no place like their SIU Home!

Many of our student staff, in Building Services, was from countries from all over the globe.  If we say we are a diverse School…and we welcome all people’s…we must demonstrate that…person to person…over dinner and study and recreation…and life.  Actions speak louder than words.

When a student comes to SIU…we are certainly small enough now…that they should feel a part of the family.

I have been witness to chancellors and presidents that personally connected with students…and the connected students did not leave.

SIU…is just an emotionless group of buildings…until a student connects with a representative of the University…and then that caring person…becomes SIU to the student.

Our wonderful students come to us…missing mom and dad…and friends and community.  We have to become that Missing Community!

There is a bit of a Silo Mentality at our precious school.  I was a member of the Community…for over thirty two years.

At times, SIU is a bit like a city…with a bunch of neighborhoods.

University Leadership…should seek to bring everyone together…to break down the Silos…and seek those ideas that are Universalist…or those who seek the betterment of the entire School.

There was a popular book written that was entitled, It Takes a Village.  Laying politics aside…truly the Renaissance of SIU Carbondale…will take no less than the assistance and good will of the entire University Community and the surrounding Southern Illinois Region.

My son, Jonathon, so connected with and bonded with and became friends of…the students that used the Lentz Hall Cafeteria…that they formed a Fan Club for him…and they stay in touch with him…to this day.  He was SIU…to these students.

With just over 12,000 students on Campus…let it be everyone’s goal…to make each and every one of their University Experiences…unique and special and caring and family.

Students, that are now attending SIU, that feel loved and cared for and family and a part of the School…will tell their family and friends and neighbors…and SIU will not have an enrollment problem.

Search for people…who are looking for how much they can give….rather than how much they can make.

Let us believe in each other…and model our family for our precious students…and we will have enrollment success!

‘Labor Day in the United States is a public holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September.  It honors the American labor movement and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, laws and well-being of the country.  It is the Monday of the long weekend known as Labor Day Weekend and it is considered the unofficial end of summer in the United States.  The holiday is also a federal holiday.’    Wikipedia

The majority of people, around the world, are employed in the category of Labor.

Often this is hidden from us by popular media and the incessant ramblings of politicians.  There is also an extreme focus on the financial industry and the employees in that sector.

The praise and kudos seem to be lavished on those who have succeed as; sports stars or performers, or those who have learned to ‘game the system’ and become rich.

President Trump said that his not paying taxes…made him smart.

If we were all that ‘smart’ we would be a third world country.

I have said, numerous times, that the success of Unions has caused not only their members to live a middle class lifestyle but also has raised the pay of managers and professionals…as well.

So often our candidates for political office cater to who they perceive as the elites…or to politically correct groups…that play well on television.

Yet, there is a large, often silent, majority, that waits patiently for political leaders to recognize their needs and their importance and, really, their herculean contribution to the success of this nation.

I had a colleague once tell me that Labor was, ‘the great unwashed.’

On another occasion a member of the Board of Trustees for SIU said that those in the Civil Service category…should be grateful that they had a job.

I spent my life in the Housekeeping department…and from the first day I determined that I was going to be a a professional custodial employee.

I told, both, Chancellors and Presidents, that our staff, in Building Services, were the consummate professionals and that I believed that they were among the best in the nation.

The dignity of labor…and the value of it…indeed… can not be measured.  It is the driving force of the economies and the peoples of the Earth.

‘Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon?  and are not his sisters here with us?  And they were offended at him.’   Mark 6:3   KJV

‘Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.  Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.  Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.  Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.  Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.  Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.  Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.’   James 5:1-6   KJV

Earlier this week I read where a Pastor of a Mega-Church in Houston had, initially,

refused to open the doors for the thousands of displaced Texans from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.

Now this popular pastor preaches what is known as the Prosperity Doctrine…where if you are a christian you will become rich and full of health and happiness.

Certainly, there are multitudes of Christians…that have been devastated by Harvey?  Most assuredly their homes were destroyed and many are sick and grieving and many have died.

I have spent my life in the Christian faith.  During that time…I have been abjectly poor and have know countless people that lived as humbly and purely…the Christian Life… as it can be lived…that nevertheless…were poor from the cradle to the grave.

Jesus…was a carpenter…his mother and father could find no room in the Inn…and he was born in a stable.

Is the Christian life…emotion…and what can I get out of it…or is it a daily living of Christ’s principles…without concern for money…or fame…or power…or prestige?

I wonder…were the suffering and the hurting…not good enough…for the Prosperity Doctrine?

I have been privileged to work with many wonderful people during my career and in my joyful retirement.

A leader that I admired so, was former Chancellor Don Beggs, who not only always had time to say hello…but the unique ability to make the person he was speaking with…feel like the most important person in the world.

From time to time I would telephone Dr. Beggs, even after his departure to become the President of Wichita State University, where he would take my call immediately, if possible…or respond to me within an hour of my call.

Now, I had no special abilities or position…to cause Dr. Beggs to respond to me so quickly…but I was sure that this was how he treated everyone…including a member of the Housekeeping Staff.  

My custodial staff in the Wham building, where Dr. Beggs was the Dean for a number of years, loved him…for his demonstrated care and concern and value that he had for each of them.

Another Chancellor, who shall remain nameless, began with great promise of being a person who would listen to all of the University Community.

I served on a University Wide Committee, that the Chancellor chaired, and I was the only representative for almost 2,000 Civil Service Staff.

The Chancellor would ask for ideas and suggestions from us, as Committee members, but when I would email my thoughts…there was no response.

I thought, at first, that this must be a fluke.  But, being acquainted with both of her principal aids…I asked them if she was receiving my emails.  I was told that indeed she was…and had even discussed one of my emails with one of the aids.

The President of the University had asked me to set up a meeting with the non-responding Chancellor…to talk of my history and institutional knowledge regarding SIU.  I told the President that I had not bothered to endeavor to meet with the new Chancellor due to my numerous emails not being responded to.

One of my premier tests for a leader that cared about all of the University Community…was how they treated the janitor.

Signals are sent…and received so quickly…and often later…can not be overcome.

Twenty years ago today, Princess Diana was killed in an automobile accident in Paris.

August 30, 1997 – ‘Dodi has a plan.  Two cars will act as decoys leaving from the Ritz front entrance.  He and Diana will leave from the rear in a Mercedes S280.  Henri Paul, 41, the Ritz’s acting head of security, is given the task of driving the couple.  He has been called in while off duty and is seen drinking two measures of Ricard pastis in the bar while he waits.’   the guardian.com

August 31, 1997 – ‘Diana and Dodi leave the Ritz at 00.18 captured on CCTV waiting for their car.  A last picture shows them in the Mercedes: Paul at the wheel, Dodi’s bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, the sole survivor, in the front, and Diana in the back looking out of the rear windscreen.  As the car, chased by photographers, approaches Pont de l’Alma at speed, Paul clips a white Fiat Uno and looses control.  It hits the 13th pillar.  He has no time to brake.’   the guardian.com

I recall watching, on television, Diana and Charles wedding on July 29, 1981.  Her beauty was radiant and her personality was mesmerizing.

I seemed to me that Diana gave hope to the many hopeless that often do not have an advocate.

Her care for those with Aids and her spontaneous touching of them and hugging them…was a breath of fresh air in a very polarizing and frightening time.

Look at her eyes…they were lonely and sad.

Yet, her spirit lifted us all!

Note: All photos are from BBC News.

Last evening we were privileged to see the Southern Illinois Miners play the Grizzlies.  This was a great and relaxing experience and we had some outstanding seats…courtesy of Aaron.

This was the next to the last game of the season.  I heard the announcer state that the Miner’s Manager, Mike Pinto, was in his eleventh season, and so I believe that the Ballpark must have first opened about 2007.

The Miners are the winningest team in their league.

During the first years of the Team…we attended several of their home games.  I was reminded, last night, how relaxing and enjoyable a Miner’s Game can be.

We met Jonathon’s former colleague, Liz, and what a delight she was!  Jonathon spoke to me, almost daily, about how much of an interest that Liz took in him and what a pleasure she was to work with, when he began at SIU Key Control.

Liz took the above picture of the Brooks…and literally made our evening!

I was Wiener Wednesday…or Hot Dogs for $1.  We took advantage of the offer!

All it takes is a night out at the Ballpark…to bring out the Kid in all of us.