The Big Dig

I took my first drive on the new loop road Tuesday afternoon. I think the trip took all of about 45 seconds, but it felt great to take my maiden voyage behind Alumni House. Visitors to campus won’t have a clue as to all that was involved in creating this new entryway to campus. However, those of us who have been watching the activity for months now have a different perspective on the project. Each day we’ve watched the progress, truck by truck, giant cement block by giant cement block. Along the way we’ve come to appreciate the amazing amount of effort, coordination, planning, construction, and sheer determination on the part of so many in order to make this first phase of the new student center a reality.

And now that the loop road is complete, our attention will turn to the next phases of the building and even more hard work, sweat, and occasional tears as fickle mother nature plays with schedules and toys with timelines for the overall construction.

It seems to me that there are lessons to be learned as we embark upon this next season of construction and chaos on campus. 

#1. Trust the process. Even when it looks like the workers are creating nothing but muddy holes and concrete piles, the mess is a necessary precursor to establishing a strong and solid foundation. And so it is with most of us and with our students. Experience has shown that some of the most significant growth in life often occurs after times of disruption and upheaval. As we watch the slow but steady progress on the student center, may we trust the slow but steady progress that is unfolding within each of us and within the students we are soon to welcome, though we may not always recognize it along the way.

#2. It takes a village. Countless people have been involved in bringing the new student center from a dream into a reality – students who have been asking for this facility for almost 20 years. Generous donors that have contributed to the cause.  Campus committees that dreamed and schemed and presented proposals.  Architects and engineers, construction workers and their supervisors that work together to implement the plans. Our own physical plant staff, groundskeepers, and other departments who adjust their work on a daily basis to accommodate the ever-changing structural landscape and all the offices that have found creative and strategic ways to maintain “Above and Beyond” services even in the midst of all the challenges of traffic flow, constant noise, and disruptions to routine. And of course, the bearded wonder, Dean Eccles, who somehow manages to keep a sense of humor as he oversees the entire adventure.

No matter how each of us fit into the village and no matter what role we may play in the ongoing process, may we strive to be especially patient and kind with one another in the months ahead, and most especially in the coming weeks as students and families return to campus or join us for the first time. We can’t control the mess or the mud, but we can control our manners and our messages. May all who come through our gates find the “Big Dig” surpassed in size by our loving largesse and our welcoming hospitality.

Peace, Anne