spring 2014 / 7
COMMUNITYNEWS
Gen. Krulak featured innational publication
“Weneed to remember
that our role is not just to
prepare studentsmentally,
but also todevelop their
strengthof character, for
that’swhatwill sustain
themwhen they’re in the
‘realworld.’”
BSCPresidentGen. CharlesC. Krulakwas recently
featured in a leadershipQ&A in themagazineDiverse:
Issues inHigher Education
in February. Here are some
of the thoughts he shared:
Whydid you chooseBSC?
“Thedesire to reconnectwith thenext generationof
leaders ledme to seek a collegepresidency. I had
never evenbeen to the stateof Alabama, nor had I ever
heardof Birmingham-Southern. Mynamehad come
up inpresidential searches for threeother colleges
or universitieswhen Iwas invited to visit the cityof
Birminghamon anunrelatedmatter. While Iwas here, a
friendwhoknew Iwas looking for anew challenge told
me about BSC, whichwas currently looking for anew
president. Mywife and I visited campus andwe spent
sixhours on an individual tour, afterwhich, we knew
without adoubt that BSCwas theplace for us. Why?
First off, thequalityof the students. We found great
youngmen andwomenof characterwhowere clearly
moredriven to serveonMain Street than toprofit on
Wall Street. Second, wemet a remarkable, selfless faculty
who trulybelieves that the education theyprovide can
and shouldbe life-changing. Third, I encountered a staff
who clearly saw that theirmainpurposewas to serve
the students and the facultymemberswho teach the
students. All in all, therewas aunique senseof family
that I found at noother campus.”
What canhigher education learn from the
military and vice versa?
“Thebiggest takeaway is that, at the endof theday,
character counts. The effectiveness of aprofessor or a
staffmember—or thepresident!—is directly related to
her or his strengthof character,moral courage, and
integrity. Weneed to remember that our role is not just
toprepare studentsmentally, but also todevelop their
strengthof character, for that’swhatwill sustain them
when they’re in the ‘realworld.’ Themilitary, on the
other hand, could learn a lot fromhigher education.
From an administrativeperspective, higher education
has shownmehow to slow
down and value theprocess,
especiallywhen it comes to
shared governance. From an
educational one, weneed to
remember that there’s ahuge
differencebetween simply
training youngpeople—that
is, loading themupwith
specific knowledge—and
truly educating them tobe
critical thinkers, problem-
solvers, and connectors of
ideas. That’swhat colleges
likeBirmingham-Southern
do sowell, and it’swhy the
U.S. will continue tobe a
leader in innovationwell into the future.”
What doweneed todo to create thenext
generationof leaders?
“First off, I believe that leaders aremade andnot born;
that you can in fact learn leadership. Also, leadersmust
have a foundation, and that foundation is a strength
of character. Thus, as you’redeveloping young leaders,
youmust startwith that foundation and thenbuild it
up from there. The specific traits,methods, and even
‘tricks’ that helpmake leadership effective arenothing
without that basis in character, which iswhy I feel that’s
oneof themost important thingswehelpdevelop as
educators.”
Howdo you spend your spare time?
“What spare time? Seriously, alongwithmy ‘day job,’
I attend almost every sporting event, performance, and
other event on this campus. I lovebeingout there to
support the students! And then there’s travel to visit
alumni and spread theword about BSC inother cities.
Mywife and I love to read, do crosswords, andwatch
movies. But the reality is that at least 90percent ofmy
time is spent on campus.”
