H. Martin Lancaster, President
The North Carolina Community College System
Johnston Community College Foundation Dinner
|
April 24, 2001
Thank you, President Reichard. Rudolph; members of your family; distinguished guests; and friends. I am honored to be part of this celebration of one of the most distinguished and generous members of North Carolina's community college family.
I say North Carolina's, not just Johnston County's, because Rudolph's wonderful gift of 2800 acres ranks as one of the largest donations ever made to any of the 59 institutions in the North Carolina Community College System. As far as I know, it is the largest gift from an individual, and an extraordinary vote of confidence in the value of the community college experience. It is a tribute to the generosity of the Howell family and to the strong traditions of service established by former President John Tart and continued by the present trustees, administration, faculty, staff and students.
I am particularly pleased that tonight we gratefully acknowledge this generous gift, but also honor the tremendous record of service of one of Johnston County's finest public servants. Though I always knew where Rudolph stood politically, I also always knew where he stood in support of this college and Johnston County. I am happy to call Rudolph my friend and to join others in honoring him tonight.
A few years ago, the Carnegie Commission called on our community colleges to strengthen their roles as conveners of civic life. This is a role Johnston Community College has filled eagerly and well since its founding. Your main campus is beautiful -- truly a place to point to with pride. I have been here often, and I can truly say that I look forward to each visit as a chance to see the best that community colleges have to offer. I was proud to bring senior education officials from Thailand here last month to offer them a model of what a community college serving a changing economy can be and should be. An important part of that visit was to Howell's Woods to see that incredible asset to this college and this state and to enjoy Johnston County hospitality at a pig pickin'. As they were saying goodbye, they told me that without a doubt, the lessons they had learned in North Carolina -- including those at Johnston Community College -- were those that would be the most help to them as they build their own system and the most fun they had had in a two-week visit to the US was at Howell's Woods.
Your Paul A. Johnston Auditorium serves college and community with special events and concerts that draw crowds from outside your borders; a number of people from the System Office are regulars at the concert series.
Howell Woods fits perfectly into that mission of service. In North Carolina, we use the "open doors" as the symbol of community colleges. Usually, we think of doors opening INWARD, into the classrooms and laboratories that offer lifelong training and education that lead to opportunities for all our citizens.
Howell Woods make the door swing the other way -- beckoning us into the natural world that has so much to offer. In those 2800 acres, you have a microcosm of what North Carolina's natural resources mean for our economy and for our own renewal.
There's the working farm acreage, which reminds us of the foundation of eastern North Carolina's economy. I understand it is a source of revenue for your continued good work, too.
There's the facility on the site, which hosts environmental education classes for your own curricula, programs for schoolchildren and community activities. That facility is staffed by a fine environmental educator who just happens to be my cousin.
And then there are the woods themselves. How easy it would be to take for granted a beautiful stand of trees, a quiet spot with trailing vines, a haven for wildflowers, rare wetlands and an incredible diversity of ordinary and extraordinary flora and fauna of every kind. And what a mistake that would be.
I grew up not far from here, on a tobacco farm in Wayne County. As do many of you, I remember when we could take the woods for granted. They had always been there, close by the fields. In fact, we had to work hard to keep them out of the fields! Surely they would always be there. In North Carolina, we are fortunate that in many places, the trees really are still there….if you travel often, as I do, you notice immediately that the flight into Raleigh-Durham is still largely over a carpet of greenery. It just isn't like that in many other places, where development has crowded out forest and open space, leaving only the barest fringes required by law.
Could it happen here? Indeed it could. Indeed, it already is happening. A staff member has a friend who is a pilot for American Airlines. He told her that just a few years ago, flying into Raleigh-Durham by night was easy, because he could see the glow of the airport lights at RDU as he passed over Richmond, Virginia. Literally, there was nothing of any size to light up the sky between here and there. Now, instead of a single glow in the distance, the view at night is a long scatter of sparkles, with new airports joining subdivisions, industrial parks and shopping centers.
Closer to home, I'll bet you weren't surprised when the census revealed that Johnston County is North Carolina's fastest-growing county, with 50 percent more people today than you had ten years ago. You weren't surprised because you see the industrial parks, and the houses, and the retail stores, and the houses, and the fast-food restaurants, and the houses, and the roads, and the houses! So much for your great weather, wonderful people and comfortable lifestyle being a well-kept secret!
Johnston County's explosive growth, particularly along the I-40 corridor, reminds me of a famous poem about trees. No, not the one by Joyce Kilmer that we all learned in grade school. I'm thinking of the one by Ogden Nash that goes like this:
I think that I shall never
see
A billboard lovely as a tree.
Indeed, unless the billboards fall,
I'll never see a tree at all!
Now, I have nothing against billboards…but you get the point! If we do not make plans now to protect our woods, and lakes, and wetlands and rivers, our children and grandchildren simply will not have the kind of opportunity that we had, to enjoy them and learn from them.
So should we stop growing? Of course not. One of the lessons from nature is that when an organism stops growing, it begins to die. The continued prosperity of our state depends upon continued growth and improvement in our industries, agriculture and our educational system. Community colleges in general and Johnston Community College in particular are critical to sustaining that growth, with positive results.
I mentioned the visitors from Thailand. As part of their tour of Johnston Community College, they started their day at Novo Nordisk and Bayer, seeing first-hand the growth of cutting-edge industrial technology in your community. That growth would not happen, without Johnston Community College and the committed citizens who support it as trustees, as advisers, as advocates…and yes, as donors.
Rudolph, you have set a perfect example for community college supporters across the state. Yes, you made a gift, and an incredibly generous one. But more than that, you made an investment in the growth of Johnston Community College; you made an investment in the improvement of its instruction; you made an investment in the livability of your community as a whole. We can put a dollar figure on the acreage….but as the charge card commercial says, the value of the rest of the investment is literally priceless.
Your individual gesture will, without question, inspire others who share your values, and we will all collect the dividends. Listen to the wisdom of Freeman Tilden, who championed interpretation and environmental education in our National Parks System: "Through interpretation comes appreciation. Through appreciation comes understanding. Through understanding comes the need or want to preserve and protect."
I understand that my assigned task for this evening is to "toast" your generosity, Mr. Howell, and the rest of the speakers get to do the "roasting." So let me end, literally, with a toast that is singularly appropriate in recognizing your gift of a walk in the woods.
Please rise and join me in North Carolina's official state toast.
Here's to the land of the longleaf pine
The summer land
Where the sun doth shine.
Where the weak grow strong,
And the strong grow great.
Here's to Down Home,|
The Old North State.
Thank you.
####
RETURN TO TOP OF CURRENT PAGE
Last modified: Monday, November 01, 2010 08:33:57 AM
This page maintained by Public Affairs.