Episode 1 - Transcript
Dr. Z
You don't find universities like us that have buildings or centers like that? You
may ask, well, what do you do there? And we can talk about innovation and entrepreneurship
and collaboration. But I love this analogy as a weight room is to an athletics department.
The Petrick Idea Center will be to the academy. That's our our intellectual weight
room.
Demetria Kalodimos
Welcome, everyone, to the Illinois Wesleyan University podcast, where we'll be talking
to great people about the big happenings and interesting news coming from the campus
of Illinois Wesleyan University. I'm Demetria Kalodimos, proud graduate of the class
of 1981. I was a music major during my time here at Wesleyan, but later went on to
a long career in television news.
Andy Kreiss
And I am Andy Kreiss. I am a proud graduate of the class of 1986, a music theater
major that found my way to communications and marketing. And I'm really thrilled to
be sharing this podcast in this vehicle with you.
Demetria K.
Well, the feeling is so mutual and the feeling is great when you're back on campus.
It brings you. It makes you young again, doesn't it?
Andy K.
It's so true. And this place has never looked more beautiful, I think. And it's it's
really special to be here. In fact, let's bring our 21st president of Illinois Wesleyan
University. Doctor Sheahon Zenger is our very first guest on this inaugural episode.
Demetria K.
Okay, let's get him here.
Andy K.
Let's do it. We have a special guest here Doctor Sheahon Zenger, Illinois Wesleyan’s
21st president. He has come to us through a circuitous route of other schools and
institutions. It's such a pleasure to have you on the show. Can I ask you this? What's
it been like with the first two years?
Dr. Z
Well, you know, first of all, I appreciate being called a special guest. I get that.
I guess that's what happens when you invite yourself on. As the first guest. It's
been a blur. You know, I've been talking so much as we approach commencement here
about what this year's been and the previous year. And I've had people ask things
like, you've now been here two years.
Dr. Z
And with my experience at these other institutions or universities that you referenced,
I found home as one of our, our, our writers on this campus wrote in an article two
years ago, it took me 60 years, but I found home. It's gone so fast. And what you
find is the first year may not seem as fast, but once you get past that first year,
they fly.
Dr. Z
You know, we'll be sitting here 5 or 6 years from now talking about how fast it went.
Hopefully.
Andy K.
You know, I think I was the first one of the first people you actually met when you
came to sort of start your job and you were a secret. And what I got the honor to
do was have my photographer, Adam, come and take your picture for the cover of the
magazine. That was a special surprise. And so now, now you're now you're revealed,
and folks are loving on you.
Dr. Z
Well, like Adam, Chris was the writer I was referencing. He's over there by Adam and
did such a good job with that first magazine. In that first article, I thought, and,
here we are two years later, and a lot of great things have happened through the through
the commitment of our faculty and the dedication of our staff.
Dr. Z
And, and you will hear me talk incessantly about the talent of our students. Yeah.
And really such great effort on behalf of all three of those groups. My biggest job,
I say this every time I get a microphone is to just hold up a mirror to our students
our faculty our staff our alumni and just remind them how good they really are.
Demetria K.
Two years in, are you still getting surprised?
Dr. Z
I am, you know, not often, but my first year, the answer was always the Illinois Wesleyan
was every bit as good as I thought it was, and better than any I could, you know,
probably the rest of the podcast, we'll talk about that. But there's just so much
good here and so much, again, talent. I'm going to say it over and over and over.
Dr. Z
You know, we just had end of the year again. Edger Lehr was our Kemp faculty award
winner this year, which is the teacher of the year. And he gave his presentation and
I thought I knew his history pretty well. But we have a faculty member on this campus
who we're honoring this year that has discovered 110 new species of snakes, frogs
and lizards, 110.
Dr. Z
I mean, that doesn't happen on just any campus. That's Ivy League stuff. And he's
here and he stays here. You know, we can. We've got other partners in crime. I know
you're going to have Gabe Spalding here a little bit. That just finished being the
president of all physics professors in the United States, not liberal arts colleges,
not R ones or twos.
Dr. Z
All right. That those are the type of faculty we have here. You're going to hear from
Joanne Diaz, who's a student favorite. And just produced yet another book and the
books that are written by our faculty, the accomplishments that they produce each
and every year is just amazing. And that then impacts our students at a level that's,
I think, unmatched in our niche.
Demetria K.
It's an exciting time to I see ground broken right over here. I see things happening.
And of course, I read the magazine as an alum. You know, it's it's hard to imagine.
How do you plan it?
Dr. Z
You know, again, it's a team. I don't know that I'm as organized as being the one
that should get credit for that as much as the team should. Think you create an inertia.
And I believe in a lot of you've got to do your strategic planning. But out of that
momentum of that initial inertia comes the comes the organic growth.
Dr. Z
I think anything that's organic is best. And I could give you example after example
of, oh, we thought we were going to build over here. No, we built over there. We thought
we were going to write that note. We ended up writing that, or I think that's what's
really been happening at Wesleyan in the last couple of years is finding our strengths.
Dr. Z
And then going with it.
Demetria K.
And rethinking the liberal arts.
Dr. Z
Yes.
Demetria K.
Not not that they're irrelevant in any way, but they have to grow.
Dr. Z
Yes.
Demetria K.
With the needs of both education and the workforce.
Dr. Z
Well, Demetria, you just triggered me on my favorite topic, and, we could talk about
the three C's of Illinois Wesleyan being a classic and our sense of community and
how challenging we are. And we can talk about how, you come here to participate as
a student and not spectate as you do at some larger type universities.
Dr. Z
But what's really differentiating us, giving us our distinctiveness amongst private
liberal arts right now, I think, or what we refer to as the four centers. And I I'm
going to tease you with a few of them. I'll be more forthcoming with a couple, one
being the Petrick Idea Center. You know, you don't find universities like us that
have buildings or centers like that.
Dr. Z
This Stanford has them Utah has them, you know, you're you're R ones even you're not
even all your R ones. Very few really. But in our niche, that is so unusual. You may
ask. Well, what do you do there? And we can talk about innovation and entrepreneurship
and collaboration and interdisciplinary collaboration and studies. But I love this
analogy that I stole from someone a while back.
Dr. Z
And that is as a weight room is to an athletics department. The Petrick Idea Center
will be to the Academy. That's our our intellectual weight room. I'm pointing to where
it is over here, as if people could see. But you know where Buck Hall is and you know
where Petrick is. If you're watching this, nothing's more exciting than that other
than my own, favorite center, which is the center for the Humanities, which we just
stood up in the past year and a half.
Dr. Z
Joanne Diaz, as I've mentioned earlier, is the director of that. And if you're going
to be a liberal arts university in this day and age, you cannot forget your roots,
your bedrock, your foundation, whether you're in the School of Business and Economics,
nursing, education, fine arts, you've got to remember the humanities, upon which were
based.
Andy K.
Absolutely.
Dr. Z
The couple of others. There will be an announcement in the next month or so about
a center that revolves around all things STEM, something really, really special. And
then finally, we just received a large gift, two weeks ago to stand up a center for
civil discourse, which I can't imagine there's anything more needed in our society
today than that.
Demetria K.
Certainly. Back to the idea center for a second, though, are ideas born there or are
they brought there? And a young person may think they have an idea, but they may be
too timid to share that idea or explore it.
Dr. Z
I think the answer is yes. As I've talked to these folks who live in this world of
innovation and entrepreneurship, they love to use terms like incubators and accelerators.
And so what we have is what they refer to as an incubator. So yes, it can be born
while someone's in there interacting with others, or they have the idea somewhere
else on campus or off campus and bring it there where they can meet with the experts
that can help fan the flames on that.
Demetria K.
Well, we've heard a lot of exciting things about what's happened in the first two
years. Look forward what's what's going to happen in the next two years?
Dr. Z
You know, Demetria, you just took me back two years ago to when I was hired, and and
I was up in, the board room of Hansen Student Center, and the media was out there,
and Tim Szerlong and I were standing in front of the cameras, and they asked me what
my vision was for the university. And, you know, as you age, you learn I've been asked
question a lot.
Dr. Z
And as I've taken on new roles, said, you know, I have ideas back to the ideas Andy.
I have ideas, but I think it would be arrogant of me to say what they are until I
have time to be on campus with faculty, staff, students, alumni, and then merge all
of our thoughts and the concepts and and what's come out of that is what you've seen
in the first two years.
Dr. Z
So now let's fast forward to this point. I'm a little hesitant to say it'll be this
and this and this and this. But now that I'm part of the family, what I'd like to
share is I'm thinking in terms of the campus itself. We're in Buck Hall. Buck Hall
will be alive again in another year. Year and a half.
Demetria K.
It’s a great building.
Dr. Z
Yes, this will be the future home of advancement and alumni and and, possibly administration.
Some of the administration. I hate that word. The the provost's office, the president's
office. Yet I said one time, if I ever get hit by a bus, don't call me an administrator
at my funeral. I'm on record saying that now. Call me anything.
Dr. Z
Just don't call me that. It just sounds so bureaucratic and Romanesque. You know?
I think that's who invented it. The next two years from the the building, the, the
landscape of of our university and and and what may emerge with new academic buildings
and centers and things of that nature. And so I've got that in my mind.
Dr. Z
But with that is what does that mean for the students? And it's this continued growth
in these areas that were so good at from all things humanities to, to, to all things.
You know, one of our largest degrees now is majors is finance and what goes on in
the Bloomberg Lab and, and, the continued growth and emphasis on theater and, and
the arts and music and, again, I don't want to leave out nursing because I'm so excited
about who they are and our young people.
Dr. Z
Well, it's a small group. Those in education are special as well. But what will come
from that will come out of a strategic plan that the faculty are going through right
now. And so I don't want to get out in front of them. That's they're the the core
of this institution, along with our provost and, and, and his associates and the deans.
Dr. Z
I really believe that'll be really special.
Andy K.
You mentioned centers, the Petrick Idea Center, the Center for Humanities. You teased
another one. Can you give us anymore?
Dr. Z
And before I do that, Andy, you know, as I'm thinking of this, the strategic plan
and I'm thinking of Petrick, a word that I hear from our faculty all the time, is
innovation. So whatever you're going to see, I think we were ranked second in the
country in our niche, in innovation this past year. I can only imagine when they see
the Petrik Idea Center, whoever they are, whoever writes these things, you know, the
great, plural they, who runs our world.
Dr. Z
The the the what will grow out of that is, is something that I can't even imagine.
All this innovation in each of these areas where our faculty and students are the
experts. I did tease you about a STEM related center, and I'm just going to spill
the beans. And by the time people watch this, the beans may have been spilled.
Dr. Z
We will be the first undergraduate. Let me say that again. We’ll be the first university
in the country that has an emphasis in quantum science and engineering. It exists
in some graduate programs around the country, in some really elite places, but no
place, quite frankly, we're the only place that has an, concentration, concentration
in it. And we're about to have a center.
Dr. Z
The Ann and Allan Fisher Center for Interdisciplinary Quantum Science and Engineering,
I think I got that right. I'm sure the students will shorten that to the Fisher Center.
Demetria K.
Yeah, That won't fit over the door.
Andy K.
You’ll need some stationary that’s long.
Dr. Z
The Fisher Center for Quantum, all things quantum. But folks, this is the future.
I was with a colleague the other day at another university, and he was projecting
that as big as AI is, we haven't even seen the beginning yet, because beyond that,
it is is all things quantum. And I wrote it down and I can't wait to quote him.
Dr. Z
So his students come here. Might be a little competitive at times, but this is super,
super, super exciting. And this is on a national scale. This isn't just something
that's local, regional, this is of national importance.
Demetria K.
Why hasn't anyone else done it first on the undergraduate level? And why can we do
it more successfully?
Dr. Z
You know, we got a little lucky. We have a professor here named Narendra Jaggi. This
is his life's work. Kind of. This is kind of a mr. Holland's opus moment. This is
his life's work. Along with colleagues like Gabe Spalding and others. That we are
able to deliver it in a way that others are not. Now, others will try to catch up,
but when you do it first, that's you.
Dr. Z
It's nice to have a head start, and I can't imagine many catching us in the near future,
down the road they might, but by then I hope that we will have created something so
special that, we will always have have a stake in the ground.
Demetria K.
And of course, the recruiter in you is chomping at the bit. It is. You can offer something
brand new.
Dr. Z
Yes
Andy K.
You know, one of the other cool things, I believe, because I was at, conference where
Doctor Jaggi announced that we were going to have this concentration in quantum, which
was rare, but that even non majors could get a taste of it to sort of cross liberal
arts that part if you weren't a science person.
Dr. Z
Yes.
Andy K.
Can you say more?
Dr. Z
Yes. You know, Doctor Jaggi had a presentation last fall, with eight students who
did summer projects in this area. It was so inspiring. I had them present again to
our board when they were here in October, and I think there might have been one of
us in the crowd who understood what they were saying, and he might have been pretending,
these young people are off the charts.
Dr. Z
Brilliant. So much so that when you go to the art gallery, it seems like half of them
have artwork in the gallery. One of them is one of my favorite students. You're not
supposed to have favorites, but Otis, has one of the the portraits that hangs in the
house now, and I'm buying it from Otis permanently so that Otis can have a nice summer.
Andy K.
Oh, that's, that's neat.
Dr. Z
It, but those that's who we have in in, we were at a BSU event, the Black Student
Union Union event the other day, and all these students were putting on it was poetry
and art and this and that. And a young man was playing the piano, so, you know, playing
classical music. So was he a piano major?
Dr. Z
No, it's a physics major. Right. Again, back to what makes Wesleyan different. It's
that. I can't I almost expect those answers now.
Andy K.
Well, the baritone you were loving in the thing is a math major. I knew that that
was funny. Yeah. The thing I remember about that conference was that Professor Jaggi
had assembled all these past professors in science that were all there. And you really
got the that were still alive from when I was here. Doctor Detweiler and and these
names.
Andy K.
And it was it gave me shivers because you realized this was an arc of history and
Wesleyan was, was again leading in this new way. And and it was like the tradition
was there, but the vision was moving forward to. Yes. Very cool.
Dr. Z
You know, I think that's where we have a little bit of a back to the future going
on. I'm just seeing how many movies I can pull in here. This I'm thinking back to
Minor Myers and the vision he had of this being a baby Ivy. And while we're a little
more, we've shifted from that to some degree with the professional schools and whatnot.
Dr. Z
But that's still at our very core in the middle of of the plains of Illinois. You
can come get an education that is unique outside of the coasts. And I really believe
that. And I'm a fan of several universities between here and the coasts. But what
we do here is pretty darn unique in that regard.
Demetria K.
Still Ivy in the corn.
Dr. Z
There we go. There you go.
Andy K.
I love it. That's good. It's one of the things that I'm really, struck by is how full
the month of April, March and April and May are on this campus. So many realizations
of the work that's happened. And I've seen you at a couple. Can you talk? And I love
what you're doing in your newsletter, by the way of saying, these are my wow moments
of the of the week, can you talk about some that you've just recently had?
Andy K.
I saw you at a concert. Yeah.
Dr. Z
You know, this wow moment thing just came to came to life in the last faculty meeting,
which would have been Wednesday, because as we come to these at the end of each faculty
meeting, I often give shout outs. I didn't know what to call them, but the word that
I use a lot is wow. And so I just started calling them wow moments because it seems
like I constantly am being wowed.
Dr. Z
And in just the last few weeks, and I have a hard time not going all the way back
to August and talking about every yeah, theater show and every musical performance
and every art exhibit and every athletic event.
Andy K.
Can I just say something? The fact that you show up and are there and you are there
is something that is really wonderful to see.
Dr. Z
Andy, I get a lot of credit for that, but I can't imagine not being there. You know,
my wife gets really tired of this. I think it's well known that I'm not a big traveler,
don't want to travel. She's made me travel recently. I'm kind of embarrassed by it
because I didn't grow up that way. You know, you just where I grew up, you just worked
all the time.
Dr. Z
And a vacation was maybe going out for a burger. You know, I was told one time, that's
not a vacation. I get it, okay? I don't I hope I'm not scaring people out there, but
that was how I was brought up. I have been to some neat places the last couple of
years thanks to my wife. But back to the point.
Dr. Z
I live on campus. I live.
Andy K.
You literally live on campus.
Dr. Z
Yes, 150 yards from a library. I grew up. My mom took me to the library every week.
I mean, that's home to me. I'm 250 yards from a great restaurant that all the alums
call Saga. My office is 125 yards away. There's a great basketball court, volleyball
court, track. We call it the Shirk Center with a football field, lacrosse fields,
soccer field, baseball, softball out behind.
Dr. Z
Everything I like to do is right here.
Demetria K.
And walking distance too.
Dr. Z
Yes. And so why wouldn't I? When the students or the faculty are putting on a performance,
why wouldn't I be there? And I'm not going to sit home and watch TV or go out with
friends when they can come here and watch our students perform.
Andy K.
It is a vibrant place for sure.
Dr. Z
We now pre-game, you know, that's a big yeah for the students out there. I know you
pre-game before things now, not just athletic events. My wife and I host pre-games
for the theater shows. You know. Yeah. You know what I, I've loved every theater show
I've seen here and I could go on and on about all of them, but I went into one that
I was sort of, I don't know what this is going to be.
Dr. Z
A year in the life of frog and toad.
Andy K.
Wasn’t it great?
Dr. Z
Five actors. I was blown away. My wife, who's a second grade teacher, was really blown
away. But I, you know, I can't remember Toad's name anymore. I just call him toad
when I see him on campus. And I think for the rest of his life,
Demetria K.
I’m sure he loves that.
Dr. Z
He was so good. He will forever be toad, you know, and dubbed the toad.
You ever seen animal House with a flounder, a toad? How's that for a podcast? You
never thought that comment would come out?
Andy K.
I love it, I love it. I'm thinking about the ways that we measure students, and, you
know, you can say, I can lift this much or I can, you know, my IQ is this. But the
thing that I feel happens here and happened, and I know if you feel this as a graduate,
I suspect you do is it's like, resiliency.
Andy K.
It's your, sense of being kind. I got this from David Brooks, and I just want to read
it. Determination. Your ability to be resilient in the face of failure. Your ability
to cast a just and loving attention on someone else. And I thought that spoke to me
so much about what happens here. I wondered if you had thoughts about that.
Andy K.
And is it why this was a place you wanted to come to to work?
Dr. Z
Andy you know me too well. You know I have lots of thoughts.
Andy K.
I love your thoughts.
Dr. Z
This could be a really dangerous thing. This podcast have lots of ideas. Yeah, yeah,
we could be here a couple hours from now. You're cueing me up for whether you knew
it or not. We're going through this, this brand expression. We're not calling it a
branding campaign because we're you heard me say the word bedrock and foundation earlier
when it had to do with the Center for Humanities.
Dr. Z
Well, this is something that I hope will live with for us and with us for the next
several decades, if not centuries. We have something here that's so foundational to
our core. Some of our of our folks in the marketing department like to refer to it
as in our ethos. That's not a word I used a lot in my life till now, but I find myself
saying it.
Dr. Z
It's the do well, do good. You know, John Wesley, who founded the Methodist Church
that obviously had part of our very founding, said something that I have somewhat
committed to memory. I keep it under my desk in the office or under the credenza where
it talks about he talks about going out into the world and and doing all the good
you can tell all the times you can for all the people you can.
Dr. Z
And yes, and I really believe my Minor Myers took that.
Andy K.
That inspired.
Dr. Z
Him in the 1990s and truncated it into the go out into the world and do well, but
more importantly, go out into the world and do good. And then our mixed choir, our
university choir took that. And well, one of our former faculty members' sons, who
is a local community member, put it, put it to paper. And now it's a song that we
utilize all the time.
Andy K.
Have you heard it? No. They sing it often and it it gives you goosebumps. It's such
a great tune. And I think you've asked that it be sung at graduation, but it's, it's
a, it's a beautiful musical setting of the of the Minor Myers speech.
Dr. Z
You know, I said it last year at commencement and several other people did too. As
a matter of fact, I googled right before I finished my speech. I don't like to finish.
I'd had it in place for several weeks, but the morning of what? What would be a great
end quote for a commencement speech? Top three Minor Myers.
Dr. Z
This is real. Top three in the nation or world is Minor Meyer’s quote. So I said it.
Others said it. So you know what we're just forevermore going to sing it right? Hopefully
I it sounds like a Star Wars quote, but, we're quoting Star Wars and Animal House,
you know, where else are we going to go here.
Dr. Z
But back to the do well, do good. When you talked about our students, I believe they
come here and we challenge them from day one. And I believe they choose us whether
they know the quote or not, because they feel it here. This is a place where you learn
to do well in the classroom or the the the theater or the music hall or the athletic
field or the art gallery.
Dr. Z
But I hope what we're really teaching here is to do good for others. And I firmly
believe when you graduate from Illinois Wesleyan, from the day you enter to the day
you leave, you gain momentum. You know, I've seen young people at larger schools go
in and sometimes lose momentum, lose confidence. That doesn't happen here. You you
can do it.
Dr. Z
You can run track and and do theater and sing in the music halls. You can be in student
government and major in this and minor in that. And now we're going to have the Petrick
Idea Center for you to do even more, which I want to explain this. I've added two
words to do well, do good, and it's a version of it's do more.
Dr. Z
And I don't mean do more, like go out and work harder, although that always is good.
It's it's put in whatever word you want, become more, achieve more, dream more, create
more. And I really believe that's what our students with all this talent do under
the tutelage of these incredible faculty.
Demetria K.
The banners hanging on, on the quad are talking about, all the students involved in
research. And I checked out the list of the John Wesley Powell Research Conference
that was held recently. I was blown away. I mean, they're looking at, postpartum depression.
The Black Panther as a historical piece on on the, I, I forget I mean, the list is
some are way over my head, I've got to admit, but others just seem fascinating.
Demetria K.
Are you blown away that these are undergrad students sort of thinking?
Dr. Z
You know Demetria, you're getting into my favorite things here. As I walked in there
this year, last year, I didn't get to attend the JWP as long as I did this year, there
were some other things going on that, I had to go to. So I was under the impression
it would largely be STEM related because of John Wesley Powell's background there.
Dr. Z
Every major we have, every if you have an idea, it was there. I mean.
Demetria K.
How high law enforcement officers can jump. Yes. I mean, this is important work, but
I mean.
Dr. Z
We had a young woman on the volleyball team whom whose mother was there with her.
I thought that was to remind me of my wife. She'd probably be there as well for one
of my children. She had just student taught in one of our local schools and had a
presentation on incorporating sportsmanship into the classroom for the young people
who don't always win awards.
Dr. Z
Think about that when you're, you know you're the student of the month. Well, how
do the others feel? I got pulled into so many of these different, different research
activities. We had quantum research going on, psych psychological research going on,
and these are undergraduates, but that's what happens at a place like this. You go
to a large state school.
Dr. Z
That's what the grad students do, right?
Demetria K.
Right. You do it beyond your reach. Yeah. And also just just the, the skills involved
in presenting a complicated idea. Yes. For an audience that you may be starting from
scratch. That is a learning experience in itself.
Dr. Z
And meanwhile, you're there and you have I think it was a small part of the orchestra
up in the balcony playing. I mean, this this place just feels like, call it back to
it being a classic. I don't know if watching, you know, Dead Poets Society or or name
whatever. Yeah. Rudy, Mr. Holland's Opus, you know, it's just this place.
Dr. Z
You can film a movie here every day.
Andy K.
You know, you talked about JWP. We should say the John Wesley Powell Conference, because
I don't think they had that necessarily when I was here. But so cool. In fact, I knew
there was a student who did a piece on women composers in the Broadway, and then she
she sang parts of it, but she, you know, presented that research so cool, so different.
Andy K.
You don't have to just be a STEM person to do the research here, which is so cool.
Dr. Z
And there's so many presenters. It now has taken over the whole first floor of CNS
building. It's upstairs and who knows where it'll be in a few years because so many
students have have research, they've worked on it and want to share it. You know,
and you asked me Andy and I think I go t too excited and went down some rabbit hole.
Dr. Z
But, Demetria, you when you brought up John Wesley Powell, I've got to say, just in
the, the last few weeks, never mind back to August, but the last few weeks, the, the
fine arts festival, the, the the the theater production of Pride and Prejudice, softball
winning so many games and once again being conference champions, the men's volleyball
team playing for a conference championship.
Dr. Z
And we all know what both basketball teams did and volleyball did. We can go around
the horn on all of those those groups. But this last Saturday we had, for the first
time in many years, if ever, a collaboration between music, theater, vocal performance
and the the the wind ensemble, orchestra, it might have been the most impressive event
I've attended in two years.
Dr. Z
The five soloists that we were talking beforehand that I think could all go straight
to Broadway, the choir that I referenced already, participating in parts of that and
the, the, the wind ensemble that played throughout the whole thing. It was off the
charts good. They did the music from six major Broadway musicals. I went home and
called them up on on Hulu and Prime and and, Netflix.
Dr. Z
And I'm not nearly through them, but those those aren't as good as watching our students
do it.
Andy K.
You know what's funny? When I was here, the student, the the School of Music and the
School of Theater Arts mingled some. Then it hasn't happened. But for 20 years it
hadn't happened. And that and the kids in the choir sang with this music theater students
and the orchestra played. And, I mean, it really was special.
Dr. Z
And if you attend those events, you look at the choir and go, there's back to toad,
there's toad and there's frog and there's Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. (Andy
K.) There's a volleyball player. Yes, it's exactly right. You know, and there's one
of the birds from, you know, it was amazing to watch them. Yeah. And then when you
see the young people come out of the the orchestra, you just see them.
Dr. Z
I don't think there's a student on this campus. I would doubt that. There's a student
on this campus that's not involved in anything. It it's rare to find one that's involved
in just one thing.
Demetria K.
Right.
Dr. Z
There. And if, you know, we have athletes that are in the choir and, and orchestra
members who are in the, you know, it's the in student government cuts across all all
those entities and and they major in so many things I have to talk about back to the
fine arts festival, the art gallery, which is where we kick off the fine arts festival.
Dr. Z
And, and I am, supposed to purchase one piece each year for Holmes Hall or the house
or whatever in.
Demetria K.
Like a permanent collection?
Dr. Z
Yes. And last year I purchased two, and this year I tried to purchase two again break
the rules. And they were the same two artists. I mean, I maybe I have a type or something,
but, it's phenomenal what these young people do. The real point is, of all the art
in that gallery, 70% is from non majors.
Dr. Z
If that doesn't describe Illinois Wesleyan better than any other example I can give
you about who our students are. I think that does.
Demetria K.
And you've been at these colossally big campuses. There isn't the opportunity to participate
at that level. You know, in a place where just numerically you can't cut through,
do you I would assume you consider that a strength of keeping the student body where
it is.
Dr. Z
You know, I tell all the prospective students and their parents, we're not a school
looking for 10,000 freshmen or transfers or even five or even two. We're looking for
500 to 550 of the best. Never going to quote Top Gun. You know, the best of the best.
That's who we want here. But it's it's about it's not for everybody.
Dr. Z
It's for the right fit. And it's particularly for those young people who have multi
talents that want to come here and not leave high school and say, well, I, I used
to play this sport in high school or I did acting in high school or I was in music.
No, come here and continue so that you can continue.
Dr. Z
These four years are so important in the life of a human being, all of ours, you know,
it's a little further in the distance for us, but it's what launches you into everything
that you do. When you talked about your what you did for a career, it started here.
And you ended up doing things outside of what you majored in.
Dr. Z
But it gave you the foundation again, that's Illinois Wesleyan.
Demetria K.
Had I not wandered into the basement over there in Kemp Hall and been on the radio
station, you know that that would have been a distant dream, but not reality for me.
And that led to a January short term internship. And then the ball was rolling. It
wasn't easy to make a very big leap from music into journalism, but it was workable
and doable.
Demetria K.
And, you know.
Andy K.
Can I say one of the other things that that shaped my experience was not only did
all those opportunities exist, and I think more exists now than they did when I was
here. It was who I met, and they are still my sometime very best friends, or friends
that I met here because of this sort of cross, you know, we were just doing things
across the campus together and, and it bonded us.
Andy K.
And even now, 40 years later, I'm still friends with them.
Demetria K.
So were you one of these multi-talented people? And if you could rewind right now
and do the one thing that you weren't able to do in undergrad, what would that have
been?
Dr. Z
Okay, my wife makes fun of me for this. She goes, you've just been too influenced
by Illinois Wesleyan because we had two friends from college here visiting back in
October, and we were giving them a walking tour of campus. And I said something about,
I should have gone here. I didn't know places like this existed. I went to three undergraduate
institutions trying to play football, be more involved in English literature, pursue
a religious bent for a while, and then pursue a very strong social bent, as college
often does.
Dr. Z
But it took three universities to help me find that it's all right here. And I said,
you know, if I did come here, I'd have probably even done a theater show, which my
wife thought was humorous and exaggeration, and I'm still living that down. Evidently,
she doesn't think I have that skill.
Andy K.
Oh, I could see you as frog.
Dr. Z
You know, I yeah, I would like to be a frog. You know, Toad's taken. He's got that,
you know. But, you know or Mr. Darcy, he was he was quite the guy.
Andy K.
Yeah, wasn’t that a great production.
Dr. Z
Yeah, yeah. Yes. That's that's why I get so excited and and, I mean, I say to these
students and their parents, I'm just out to save 500 students a year. And I mean that
from a life of nothingness or apathy or neutrality or. Come here and do something.
Yeah. Don't go somewhere and watch someone else do it, you know, in the meantime,
get one of the best educations in America, because our faculty will not let you escape
that.
Dr. Z
You know, when you were talking about something in STEM I'm thinking of I'm not going
to name names because they're all outstanding. Chemistry, biology, physics, neuroscience.
What? I see our students approach these faculty, and it's almost like the faculty
literally say, you do it. It's not. Well, let me just talk to you about it or here's
what I'm doing.
Dr. Z
They bring you in and tell you to do it. And I think that happens in our in theater
and art and music, athletics every day. And, and if we go a step further in the Bloomberg
Lab over in, in the School of Business and Economics and nursing, the lab space, they're
in the hands on teaching that our nurses get.
Dr. Z
That's what I hear from the hospitals in town. Our nurses come out differently than
nurses from other places.
Demetria K.
It sounds like everyone succeeds and no one ever has a challenge or a challenging
time. You know the way we're talking about it, yes, but I mean, to be real, what happens
when you have a struggling student?
Dr. Z
You you you one. We all struggled and they all will. You've got to have some adversity
in your life. Our generation has made some mistakes with being we're the original
Velcro parents and marble sweepers and all that. We've affected our own children and
others. So it's I think it's incumbent upon us at a university level to make sure
you allow the students to struggle a little.
Dr. Z
But the great thing about this place, there's always someone there to pick you up,
and it doesn't take long to find who they are.
Demetria K.
That's reassuring, not being a parent. If I were a parent or, you know, I have my
niece here with me today. Also an Illinois Wesleyan graduate, you know, the parents
are so trusting. They are trusting their most precious possession to this place and
to know that they're allowed to just maybe stumble is going to need. But they're not
going to go down.
Dr. Z
You know, just, you know, I had one of my children transferred from a large state
school to a school more like this. And when he left that large state school, nobody
called. Nobody. I don't know if they even noticed outside of friends.
Demetria K.
They weren't curious why? You know, I see you leaving.
Dr. Z
And yet here we go through reports around the holidays, students that are struggling.
This this rises to the cabinet level. We actually talked about young people who are
maybe going on leave or going to take a, a year off, or we're afraid they might transfer
somebody who's reaching out it usually by the time any administrator or counselor
gets there, the faculty are already there and can tell you more about that young person
than you'd ever want to know.
Dr. Z
Now, that doesn't mean everyone's always going to come here and stay forever. No one
has 100% retention. Trust me. Seven states, 11 schools, 14 moves. I always joke, I'm
like that old guy in the farmers insurance commercial. I know a few things because
I've seen a few things. I'm not smarter than him when I've just seen some things.
Dr. Z
It's not like this everywhere.
Andy K.
That's really cool. I know Illinois Western's retention rate is one of the best in
the nation. What else do you want? What else do you want to talk about? What else
do you want to say?
Dr. Z
You know, you. I could go all day. Again. It's anything I'm going to say is going
to go back to the core of who we are is an outstanding faculty. And you start there.
A university, by definition, is a community of scholars. And once you assemble that,
then you attract the students. It's the that. Now I'm going to quote.
Dr. Z
But look, Karate Kid, you know, how's it go when the when the when the the pupil is
ready, the teacher appears. Well the teachers are already here. The pupils then come
to them and we have amazing staff surrounded and willing, willing to help them with
all the things outside the classroom. It's just a special, special, special place.
Dr. Z
And I'm lucky to have found it at this time in my life. To quote one more movie, Mr.
Magorium's Wonder Emporium, where Dustin Hoffman, at the age of 800, when they ask
him how he knows it's time to retire and says, well, do you see these shoes? Hundreds
of years ago, I found them. They were the best shoes I ever, ever saw.
Dr. Z
And I bought 80 pair. These were my last pair. This is my last pair of shoes. Illinois
Wesleyan is my last pair of shoes. Because of all this specialness I'm talking about.
This is what college ought to be and should be and can be. And we are.
Demetria K.
We're talking to a lot of alums out there. Fellow alums, just had an All In event
that was tremendously successful. What's your message to to folks that are out there
and now, you know, doing good and well?
Dr. Z
Thank you. It's thank you, thank you, thank you. Because so many people have joined
joined in this effort and that record setting, I think it was 3.661 million or something
like that.
Demetria K.
But who's counting.
Dr. Z
Yeah, right. That that sometimes you can get focused on things right.
Demetria K.
But what does that enable us to do?
Dr. Z
It allows, you know, so much of that money goes into what we call the Wesleyan Fund,
which allows me and other leaders the opportunity that when a student has a research
project or can't go on a trip to, to Spain, that they need to go on or, or has to
do one more thing. And this happened last year to get into medical school.
Dr. Z
We have the money. It's discretionary discretionary money for that or for faculty
research or or you name it. Or maybe there's a we need a room, a lab of some kind.
We don't have. Boom. We can do it. That's what All In day is all about. It helps us
do those little things that we couldn't otherwise do.
Demetria K.
These new spaces that you're talking about, the Petrick Idea Center, the one for the
humanities. How important is it for people? We all, you know, communicate on devices
and remotely. How important is it for us to be around a roundtable and eye to eye
and sharing.
Dr. Z
To be transparent, I haven’t thought of it that way. But you named both of those centers
have physical space. Right. The humanities is in the first floor of CLS, CLA. For
anyone who wants to come visit, an exciting place to be where the students now hang
out and, you know, do what I like to do and hang out with books.
Dr. Z
And and your faculty are there with you talking about books. And, you know, I and
I hope there's a dotted line between the Petrick Idea Center and the Center for the
Humanities and these two other centers we've talked about, because if it's not face
to face, if it's not a break from social media, I'm pointing to our phones over there.
Dr. Z
Then then we've really failed, which takes me to after several years of articles and
media beating up on higher education, specifically liberal arts universities, all
of a sudden we're back. There have been, seems like, dozens of articles lately saying,
you know what? In this age of AI that's both exciting and scary. Yeah, if you're going
to succeed, you better have a liberal arts education, because that's what AI can't
do.
Dr. Z
AI doesn't have a heart or a soul, and doesn't have a human brain that allows us to
tell stories. I read a book by Angus Fletcher called storytelling that addresses this
very issue. That I believe liberal arts universities, colleges and universities are
training the next generation of young folks who are best suited for the AI. The age
of AI.
Demetria K.
And that moment of collaboration. We have a great idea, and you want to share it with
someone that might be able to advance it to the next clicks. Yes, I mean, if that
person is or around in that.
Andy K.
Building, right? Yeah, yeah. Sitting at the table over there. Yeah.
Demetria K.
I mean, because why wouldn't we do everything remotely if it didn't it, if it wasn't
important to gather?
Dr. Z
You know, it's funny. During Covid I was at another university and my predecessor
was scared to death that no one would ever come back to college. They'd just be remote.
That's not human instinct. We want to be. Yeah, we're a social.
Andy K.
Yeah. We need to heard up. Yes.
Dr. Z
No. If if nothing else, go to college just to be with people like I'm making light
of that.
Andy K.
No, but it's true.
Dr. Z
You might actually learn something while you're there. But go be with people of like
mind and not like mind and and grow.
Andy K.
One of the things that we're hoping this podcast does is inspire people to read. Could
you recommend a book that you are loving or have loved, and what you might share with
our audience.
Dr. Z
Or 10 or 20.
Andy K.
Or 20 or 20, but maybe.
Demetria K.
Just narrow down to one for today.
Andy K.
That can.
Dr. Z
So there's, there's I discovered as an English Lit person, I resisted audible audiobooks
for years, and years, but I was doing a lot of traveling when I was at TCU a decade
ago, and I finally gave in. I recommend audible to anyone for when you're in the store
driving across town and try, but not for your brain to grow.
Dr. Z
I believe someone should be reading a hardback or soft pack, and I'm not talking about
Kindle here. I'm lecturing. You've got to have it in your hands. You've got to turn
the page and don't always speed read. I've taught speed reading. Sometimes you get
to just chew on each word and yes, that's that's what poetry's about and prose.
Dr. Z
But right now I am in the I'm serious. I have ten, 15 books I want to share. I have
to mention one called The Measure that will make you think about your life and go
out and get it. But right now I'm about to finish. Later today a book called Theo
of Golden, which in our times right now has been one of the most soothing, reflective
books I've ever read.
Dr. Z
And I've read a few reviews of it that other people are having that same experience.
So on your Sunday afternoon, yeah, go, go to Barnes and Noble or the library and get
Theo of Golden. And I think you'll be grateful for fiction. It's fiction. Yes. Okay.
Yeah.
Demetria K.
Are you a fiction and nonfiction guy or both?
Dr. Z
Both. Balance, love historical fiction. That kind of brings together a lot of what
I really like. But you've always got to have a good novel. Back to the audible. I've
got 7 or 8 books open at all times, the way some people listen to music. I listen
to books. Do you want do you want a leadership book?
Dr. Z
Do you want a self-help book? Do you want an inspirational book? Do you want a novel?
Do you want, do you want? Something more poetic? It's all right there. But in my hands,
I usually like to have a good novel or some historical fiction.
Andy K.
One time I remember you called me on a Saturday and said, I'm reading The Godfather.
[Dr. Z] Yeah. And I was like, that's cool.
Dr. Z
You got to go back some of these great movies. I love doing this that you grew up
thinking, oh, it's just a movie. And a lot of our great movies were books. Go back
and read. I love the movie The Natural. I've watched it a dozen times.
Demetria K.
Thank you. Best soundtrack ever, Randy Newman.
Dr. Z
How about this? The authors Bernard Malamud, one of our greatest authors of in recent
history. The book ends differently from the movie. [Andy K.] That's happens a lot.
Yes, but in a movie, you got to hit the home run, you got to knock out the lights
and you got to be a hero. The ending of the book, because most people aren't going
to go get it after he strikes out.
Dr. Z
Think about the beginning of the book. He strikes out he's the farmboy that strikes
out the babe. At the end of the book, he strikes out by a farm boy, and the last seen
then is. And by the way, he buries Wonderboy out in right field and the love interest
leaves. She doesn't stick with him, and it ends with him walking down the, you know,
Lexington Avenue in New York.
Dr. Z
And the paper boy's got a picture of him yelling about how how, you know, this famous
guy is has struck out. And that's the end of the book, the.
Andy K.
Circle of.
Dr. Z
Life, which is how books work. Movies don't.
Demetria K.
No.
Andy K.
You. You guys ruin everything. Oh, you got to have a happy ending. Mostly. Know. Well,
this has been really special.
Dr. Z
I think we went down a bunch of rabbit holes, but I it's kind of my nature.
Andy K.
Have you on again.
Demetria K.
Oh, please come back. Yeah.
Dr. Z
Well, I know you have other guests, and I thank you for letting me be the first one.
For the viewers. We just needed a guinea pig, and I was a really good guinea pig.
But hopefully this was. We've got this launched and running and and and that for the
next year and years to come. This is a way we can tell the Illinois Wesleyan story,
because we live in a day and age when media just can't keep up like it used to.
Dr. Z
It breaks my heart. As someone who has a master's degree in journalism.
Andy K.
Journalism, yup.
Dr. Z
What's happened. The media is really, really, really sad. They can't keep up. Social
media has kind of overtaken them, but we have a lot of good stories to tell, and this
is one of the ways we're going to tell them to our to our family and extended family
and friends.
Demetria K.
Yeah. And we hope that you're listening and watching next time when we bring back
more of the Illinois Wesleyan story.
Andy K.
I love it. Thank you so much.
Dr. Z
Do good.