Preserving Culture.

The spring semester started and enrollment is strong. It’s very good to have students want to participate in the educational process and consume the product we offer. That product, of course, is our curriculum.

The curriculum is a unique product. From a philosophical stand, I deem the curriculum is essential to preserve culture. The content of the curriculum is the specific and intentional elements that are planned, delivered and assessed by our faculty.

The curriculum is where major events are studied and analyzed. In history, for example, students can look at the lives of change agents to see results. Too often history is passive. Too often we do not relate to history; yet, each year I’m glad we take time to reflect on the impact of a visionary leader who believed in a life that was free from conflict. The relentless work of Martin Luther King is now recognized as transformational.

“Let us rise up with a greater readiness – with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, in these days of challenge, to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation.” Those words were spoken in Memphis, TN on April 3, 1968, by Martin Luther King, in his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech. He was murdered the very next day.

I know this through the curriculum. Many others will know this through the curriculum that preserves culture and inspires us to remember heroes. The lesson is not just in remembering our history but learning from it.

We’re all about learning. Join us.

Happy New Dacade.

It’s 2010 and the beginning of a new decade. What will happen in the next 10 years? That’s a question that sparks excitement and all sorts of creative thinking. Looking ahead, setting goals, and asking what will we look like in 2019 is clearly an exercise we will undertake at the College. Some things won’t change. I pledge to all members of our community: TCL will remain responsive and focused on providing innovative workforce solutions now and long into the future. Conversely, some things will change. How we respond to challenge will be different.

Arnold Toynbee, the famous British historian and prolific writer, once described the rise and fall of nations in terms of challenge and response. A young nation, he said, is confronted with a challenge for which it finds a successful response. It then grows and prospers. But as time passes, the nature of the challenge changes, and if a nation continues to make the same, once-successful response to the new challenge, it inevitably suffers a decline and eventual failure.

Herein lies my New Year’s resolution: to innovatively and creatively face opportunities with a mindset to respond differently for the hope of long term prosperity. Clearly, that is what gives me hope.

I’m approaching the New Year and New Decade with expanded optimism as now is the time to step up and provide creative and innovative opportunities to changing the economic and social landscape for our region.

We are TCL. It’s our job to lead change. Let’s get started.