The reason for establishing the Jewish Cultural Center here at Hendrix is clear: Jewish Culture has remained not only relevant, but important in our world for numerous generations. Although we’re just recently established this center at Hendrix, Jewish Culture has been a part of Hendrix for decades. The creation of this center demonstrates the college’s commitment to keeping for this relationship growing indefinitely.

At Hendrix, the Jewish Cultural Center will serve as a resource for students, faculty and members of the general public, Jews and non-Jews alike, who wish to engage in the study and discussion of Jewish culture. It’s an exciting journey into an educational experience that will touch not only our current students, or even our future students, but the entire state of Arkansas.

Stay tuned for exciting events and experiences soon to come from this new cultural center.

To learn more about the Jewish Cultural Center at Hendrix, read a news release about the formation of the center or visit the Web site.

As a member of the board for the International Student Exchange Programs (ISEP), I recently attended a conference in Chile. I found the country more like Europe than I anticipated, particularly in the area I visited near Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, a seaport and resort area in the heart of wine country.

Only about five percent of the population speaks English, and I saw very few Americans or Europeans. A student could easily become immersed in the Spanish language. I was impressed with the students I met there and with the quality of education available.

With the recent addition of Dr. Peter Gess as Director of International Programs at Hendrix, we are working with organizations like ISEP and others to make study abroad experiences available to more Hendrix students.

I hope the more international students come to Hendrix and that a higher percentage of our students graduate with an international experience. Being immersed in another culture, even for a short time, gives you a different perspective on the world and is an important part of what it means to be an educated person.

For more information about the opportunities for international study and travel available at Hendrix, contact Dr. Gess at gess@hendrix.edu.

In October, we announced that our goal will now be $100 million and that our comprehensive campaign will extend to 2010.

As Homer’s tale illustrates, an odyssey is a journey of discovery and surprise, following an often winding trail, facing unexpected challenges and obstacles. Our odyssey toward national leadership is following that trend, but so far the biggest challenges have been responding to our success.

Your Hendrix Odyssey: Engaging in Active Learning, the new component of our curriculum that emphasizes experiential learning, has been successful at attracting students and at inspiring creativity, ingenuity and enthusiasm among students and faculty. The program has also attracted support from our alumni and friends. We have received more than $68 million in gifts and pledges toward our goal.

But, even with that success, we still need to raise money to endow the Odyssey Program and to build a new Student Life and Technology Center, a building that will meet the needs of our growing student body now and into the 21^st century. The building will house the Odyssey Program, provide space for student life offices, student organizations, student programming, and a dynamic new Educational Technology Center that will connect Hendrix students and faculty to the world using the most advanced technology available.

Those are the goals driving our increased campaign goal. It is an ambitious goal for an institution with fewer than 12,000 living alumni. To reach this goal will require the support and involvement of everyone who loves Hendrix and wants to see the College and its graduates succeed. Visit www.hendrix.edu/chartingprogress to learn how you can help.

Oh, and some have said to me that “my tuition dollars paid for the new Wellness and Athletics Center” or “my tuition will be paying for the new Student Life and Technology Center” the College is planning. Not true.

In 2006-07, tuition and other student fees generated just 58 percent of the College’s annual operating budget. Where did the rest of the money come from?

The endowment generated 26 percent of the budget. Contributions to the Annual Fund produced eight percent, and restricted gifts and grants generated another five percent. The last three percent of the budget came from miscellaneous revenue sources.

Gifts built the WAC. Gifts will build the Student Life and Technology Center. Gifts funded the more than $12 million in scholarships and financial aid given to Hendrix students last year.

And, in case you were wondering, gifts allowed us to build the playing field for our new intercollegiate sports – field hockey and lacrosse. Establishing those sports helped us to attract students to Hendrix who might not have considered us otherwise. The tuition dollars of those additional students will help to pay the annual expenses of these sports and support the academic program.

By the way...
Go to the lacrosse and field hockey games! Support your classmates and friends and enjoy sitting in the stands and watching them play on that great playing field that your tuition dollars didn’t pay for … and, if you happen to see some Hendrix donors enjoying the game as you are, take a moment and say “thanks!”

It was a fantastic experience. Rwanda is a country of incredible beauty and the strength and resilience of the Rwandan people are amazing.  It is inspiring to see first-hand what people can accomplish when they come together in community and commit themselves to change. In the midst of great tragedy, there is hope for a better tomorrow.  If you'd like to hear more about this experience, listen to the podcast from the Special Edition Hendrix Huddle in Little Rock.

Our journey to Rwanda was not the only Odyssey trip of note this summer. Hendrix students and faculty were studying entrepreneurship in China, art in Italy, the land and literature of South Africa and C.S. Lewis at Oxford. In Tanzania, they were volunteering at an orphanage and in Costa Rica our students and faculty were part of the College’s first Summer Semester, studying ecology, history, culture and language in this Central American country.

In addition to these group trips, individual students visited places as diverse as India, New York City, Bolivia, Washington, D.C., the Galapagos Islands, the U.S. Naval Academy and Cambodia. Several intriguing Odyssey projects took place closer to home, including peanut allergy research, earthquake analysis using a ring laser, and studying chemical communication in African elephants.

One group of Hendrix students organized an outreach project last summer, working with the Boys’ and Girls’ Club of Faulkner County to get young people excited about studying science. “Ridin’ Dirty with Science” was a resounding success and I’ve heard there are plans to repeat it next summer.

So far, Odyssey projects have taken Hendrix students and faculty to six of the world’s seven continents. Who’s up for Antarctica in 2008?

Yesterday, I got a huge surprise, made possible in part by those vacation photos. The next passenger found my iPod and then took it upon himself to find its owner. Using clues from my vacation photos, he tracked me down. He found a photo of my sons and me on a fishing boat, with the name of the boat clearly visible. Next, he found the boat. The captain remembered us and contacted my office to let us know he thought my iPod had been found. Now, it’s on its way home to me.

I was truly bummed out about losing it. Now, I’m amazed and grateful that someone took the time to find me and return it. My faith in the kindness of strangers has been restored.

U.S. News & World Report bases much of its ranking on numerical values and 25 percent of it on the reputational survey – what presidents, chief academic officers and chief enrollment officers think of the institutions considered their peers. Colleges that chase better rankings find themselves investing resources on influencing their peers and on improving numbers in areas that may not have any impact on the quality of education they provide or on the lives of their students.

We believe there is a better way. We’re working with other colleges and universities who feel the same way to make it easier for prospective students to get the information they need to select a college that is right for them. U.S. News focuses too much on inputs and not on the outcome. We want to provide the kind of information that helps students considering Hendrix see how engaged liberal arts education can changes their lives.

Hendrix is participating in the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) U-CAN project, which will post information about independent colleges and universities on the Web. The information will be organized to make it easy to compare institutions. When this project launches in September, it should become a valuable resource for those involved in the college search process.

Hendrix is also joining a growing number of institutions posting information from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) for public review. Each institution that participates in the national survey, as Hendrix has since 2005, decides whether or not to release the data. We’ve decided that this information – which helps colleges understand how engaged their students are in the educational process – can help prospective students and their families better understand the Hendrix culture and make an informed decision about whether or not this is the right place for them. We have just received our 2007 survey results and will be developing a template over the next few weeks to display those results on our Web site.

I encourage all prospective students and their families to use the new information available from colleges like Hendrix to help them select the right college. Picking the right school is a big decision. – a choice that should be based on the best information possible.

Don’t get caught up in the horse race and focus only on a numerical ranking in U.S. News. Look into the mission and the quality of the experience and discover the best college for you.

I was glad to have the chance to hear Ford give the Robert and Lillian Drake Endowed Lecture on campus early in the spring semester. Although Ford claims he is not a “Southern” writer, his experience growing up in the South informs his work and his storytelling reveals what contemporary life is like.

The Lay of the Land is a fitting follow-up to The Sportswriter and the Pultizer Prize-winning Independence Day. I also recommend Ford’s most recent compilation of short stories: A Multitude of Sins.

So, what do you suggest I put on my summer reading list? I’d like a broad selection, from serious and thought-provoking to light and entertaining. Senior Rachel Ammons says she’d like a reading list of books and articles that might broaden her horizons over the next year as she takes a break between Hendrix and graduate school. If you have suggestions for either Rachel or me, use this form to add them to a list of recommended reading.

As you probably have heard, I am planning to initiate a thorough study of the question: Should Hendrix bring back football? What would be the benefits? What would be the costs? What I am proposing is an inclusive, open process that will investigate all aspects of the question. We will look at the effect on our cultural climate, the quality of life, enrollment and the College’s finances.

It is my hope that the community will come together in conversation and participate in this process. In keeping with the highest standards of the academy, I ask that each of us approach this task with an open mind, prepared to hear all sides, weigh the facts and contribute to a decision that is in the long-term best interest of Hendrix.

The violent deaths of 32 people last week in what we think of as a safe environment – a  university campus – was startling and unsettling. It was a cruel and painful reminder that college isn’t the place that prepares you for the “real world.” A university is part of the real world, complete with real pain, loss and grief.

After the tragic events at Virginia Tech, a number of students, alumni and parents have asked questions about how Hendrix would respond to a similar situation. We’ve compiled those questions and our answers into a document that is posted on the Hendrix Web site.

Many colleges and universities across the nation, including Hendrix, are reviewing and updating their emergency response plans in the wake of this tragedy.  Many of us are struggling to find the right balance between protecting our students and restricting their personal freedoms. It is an issue we will continue to struggle with, as the families and friends of the Virginia Tech victims continue to deal with their grief and continue to need our support and our prayers.

I attended a conference recently where we delved into one “little thing” that can make a huge difference in the lives of people trapped in poverty. The subject was micro-lending, an idea that has been in the spotlight since Muhammad Yunus, an economics professor in Bangladesh, and his Grameen Bank won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Prof. Yunus’ bank started with tiny loans given to help the poorest of the poor finance their own escape from extreme poverty. To date, the Grameen Bank has funded more than five million borrowers, most of them receiving less than $100 each.

Another group involved in micro-lending is called Opportunity International. When a group of students and I travel to Rwanda this summer, we’ll be visiting with Opportunity International personnel and learning more about their programs. I became interested in the program through David Knight, a Hendrix graduate and member of the Board of Trustees. He works with a group of Arkansans who have raised $5 million for a school for children of the genocide and for a bank that will help thousands of poor Rwandans.

A small loan that allows a farmer to buy more seed and plant a few more acres or buy tools to cultivate more land is the kind of thing that can lift a whole family out of poverty as each small success leads to another.

This idea of micro-financing is very empowering, especially to women, who are the economic drivers in many African countries. It is a way to create sustainability through enterprise – a non-centralized, non-governmental approach that is working in many countries.

It’s exciting to see and talk with people who are involved with that and to learn more about how these little things are making gigantic differences in individual lives.

The state’s collegiate license plate program is a good opportunity for fund-raising. The College receives $25 every time someone buys or renews their Hendrix plate. It’s also a great opportunity for Hendrix alumni and friends to let others know they support Hendrix and to raise the visibility of the College in the state.

I’d like to know if you’ve seen Hendrix plates in your area. Send me an e-mail or post a comment on the blog to let me know you’ve spotted a Road Warrior.

If you want to learn how you can become a Road Warrior, visit  www.hendrix.edu/roadwarrior.

Lately I have been listening to Ray LaMontagne. I love his work called “Till the Sun Turns Black.” On my recently added list I have Plans by Death Cab for Cutie, Amos Lee by Amos Lee, Youth by Matisyahu, An Other Cup by Yusuf Islam, Love by the Beatles, Nouvelle Vague by Nouvelle Vague (the first song is a bit odd), Moonsung by Sheila Chandra, and Idlewild by Outkast. That is enough to get you started. This should give you an idea of the range of stuff I am listening to and so next week I will give you more of the classical stuff. Townes Van Zandt, Lucinda Williams, U2, the Boss and others. I am also a big fan of Jack White.

Has anyone heard the new Nora Jones CD or the new Lucinda Williams CD? Should I get them?

This was an extraordinary move for the College, which generally resists all pressures to tie its investment strategy to moves for social change. I think this was a good decision for two reasons: 

1. Unlike most causes that people are passionate about there is not more than one way to look at or think about genocide. There is no justification for attempting to erase a whole race of people from the face of the earth. It is wrong.
2. What is happening to the people of Darfur has been well-documented and designated by the United Nations as genocide. 

When something is wrong, I believe people of conscience have a moral obligation to do what they can to stop it. From here in Conway, Arkansas, we can do little to stop the killing in Darfur. But, this we can do: We can say that none of our investments will fund companies that support the government that sanctions this killing.

I am proud of the Hendrix for being the first college in Arkansas to divest from Sudan. I hope that other Arkansas colleges and universities will take the same step and join us in this effort.

I am also proud of Hendrix student Brock Carpenter, who first brought this matter to my attention and drafted a resolution approved by the Student Senate asking Hendrix to take this step. This is the kind of initiative we hope all Hendrix students will take in addressing the world’s problems.

An article published on the front page the Feb. 7, 2007 edition of the New York Times talks about this trend and features Hendrix as an example of colleges who are responding to changing student needs in creative ways.

The College is developing a residential and retail area adjacent to the campus to provide the kind of urban environment students tell us they want.

The Village at Hendrix is a project that benefits Hendrix faculty, staff and students and connects Hendrix to the Conway community.  It is also part of a national movement toward mixed-use urban areas that make better use of available land.

Traditional neighborhoods, like the one Hendrix is building, put people within walking distance of businesses that serve their needs, conserving energy and cutting greenhouse gases by reducing the need to drive. Building techniques, housing designs and landscaping that respect nature and protect green spaces also make new traditional  neighborhoods appealing places to live and work.

I invite you to sign up for periodic updates about this project and to share your thoughts on this national trend.

A story on Morning Edition is part of a series on the college admission process and includes an interview with a prospective student who speaks favorably about her visit to the Hendrix campus.  Check it out!

It is my goal for this blog to allow me to share my thoughts with Hendrix students, alumni, parents and friends in a direct fashion. Often, when you hear from me it is through the filter of the media or in the structured setting of a College event or the format of an official College publication. I would like to talk with you in an informal way about the topics that are on my mind and to get feedback from you in the same way. I hope that this blog starts a dialogue that helps each of us develop a greater understanding of the issues facing our community, our state, and our nation.

By necessity, I spend a great deal of my time with the College’s external constituents. I hope to use this space to share with you some of the stories I hear from them. I also hope, through this blog, to gather from you stories about Hendrix students, faculty and staff that I can share with those who don’t have the pleasure of coming to campus every day and being part of this wonderful adventure of learning.

In short, I’m writing a blog because I want to facilitate the exchange of ideas. I want to encourage thought and reflection. While I welcome and encourage your comments on the topics of the day, individual or personal complaints should be sent to me personally at cloyd@hendrix.edu. We will, of course, post all comments that are germane to the subject under discussion.

Let the conversation begin!