Inauguration Speech
Dr. Kyle B. Usrey
27-3-2010
Thank you so much for being here. I am truly humbled and in awe, and trying to hide some overcoming
emotions now. Thank you for the kind introduction, June, and I truly am blessed to have you as Board Chair.
Your calming spirit, your ability to keep perspective, and your keeping focused on keeping the „main thing the
main thing‟ is beyond compare. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Well, it isn‟t about me, really. I just am a place-holder of sorts in a funny outfit, a place-holder as the fifth
president of LCC, certainly not the first or the last, but I do have a chance to spread some witticisms and
hopefully some wisdom for all of us to contemplate today. Before, I get into all of that, I should tell you that I
didn‟t pick this regalia gown today; my administrative assistant, Ilona, my right-hand person who should be
sainted after this week, saw me at my worst a few days ago when I found out that I was going to have to wear
this particular regalia today. Don‟t look too closely as it is a little tattered; I‟ve had it for way too many years. It
is indeed the regalia from the University of Colorado in Boulder where I obtained my doctorate. However, you
see we had been shopping around to get a new one, replaced by new fabric – BUT alas, the seamstress
came back after looking for weeks and said basically, “Buddy, there is nothing that can replace that thing –
we‟ve looked high and low, and you are stuck with it.” So, now you have to listen to me for fifteen minutes
and try to look through the glare of this glow-in-the-dark, sun-bright, golden gown – If I were thinking in
advance, I would have given you all a pair of parabolic internet-connected sunglasses, like these, to multi-task
as our students know well how to do, to help get all of you through this speech…but alas, you‟re stuck!
Moreover, I know that Presidential Inauguration speeches are often forgettable. In fact, I cannot remember
even one word or concept from all the Presidential Inauguration speeches I have attended or listened to, and I
bet many of you, if you‟re truthful, would say the same…so, I guess the bar is set kind of low, and maybe that
takes some of the pressure off me. Most of you are probably thinking, the bar is so low that if he can just get
it done in fifteen minutes or less, we‟ll count that a great success!! So, let‟s not dawdle any more, away we
go…
This speech is directed at a number of audiences and constituencies, including students because ultimately
our primary focus is our students, those here today, those who have attended here in the past – alums – and
those who are thinking about attending here in the future – and to their parents, of course – let‟s be practical
and realistic about their role, too. So, probably many of the students are thinking to themselves right now, “Ah,
SO WHAT?!” -- What is this all about? Why is this important, and how will it matter to me now and in the
future?
AND ACTUALLY, MY WHOLE SPEECH IS BASED AROUND THAT VERY QUERY – “SO WHAT”?
A friend of mine and mentor, Dr. John Yoder is his name – and there are many of you now in the audience,
over there, trying to figure out which John Yoder that might be and how you might be related to him since
there are thousands of people with that name in the Mennonite faith. But, I won‟t tell you which one since we
know a bunch by that name, too, and I‟m not even Mennonite – but a guy by the name of John Yoder - a
gentle, kind, loving, and passionate man who tolerated me as best he could, used to ask me all the time when
I was working for him, “Okay, Kyle, but so what?” And it used to drive me crazy! I‟d do all these things, work
hard, come up with all these ideas, finish projects, direct people, and he‟d ask, “Okay, so what?” In academia,
he was big into assessments, assessing outcomes, and he would say, “Here‟s what we need to answer –
What are we doing? Why are we doing all this? How do we know what we are doing is being accomplished
correctly?, and then, “SO WHAT?”
And I ultimately came to believe and now try to act as if everything I did and now do, not only in the work
world, but in my entire life revolves around that question…or should revolve in some way around that question.
And students, friends of LCC, guests, today I charge you with asking and answering that question, “SO
WHAT?” as you go about your lives. Let me unpack that for a moment because although it sounds simple, it‟s
really not…
First, let me say a few words about Lithuania, this remarkable country that has so aptly hosted and made LCC
its own for almost two decades from the very start of LCC‟s existence to how it has evolved today. Lithuania
as a country teaches and can teach us much, not only in the West, but as a bridge in the EU between East
and West, as a bridge to the former Soviet Union, as a bridge between the developing world and the
developed world, as a bridge between various elements of Christianity, as a bridge between dozens of
cultures as represented here today in our student body…And indeed, it is no accident we are here as a multicultural body today.
Lithuania is an amazing country, and we are blessed to be here – blessed to be here because of its rich past,
its cutting-edge present, and its promising future. The Nation of Lithuania was created many centuries ago,
having for generations staunchly defended its freedom and independence amidst unrelenting oppression and
tyranny from all over the globe. Having preserved its spirit, native language, writing, and customs despite all
this oppression, it embodies the innate right of the human being and the Nation to live and create freely in the
land of their fathers and forefathers, by fostering national concord in the land, while striving for an open, just,
and harmonious civil society and State under the rule of law…that was accomplished by the indominatable will
of the citizens of the this reborn, free and unique State on the Baltic – the State of Lithuania. And what about
Klaipeda and its coastal region? It has been a cross-roads of cultures, trade, and travail for centuries, from
the old Hanseatic League to the modern port city that it is today, home to the environmental, ecological marvel
of the Curonian Spit recognized by the UN as a World Heritage site for its unique beauty, the growing religious
diversity in Christendom reflected throughout the community, and the heart of creation of a new civil society in
this entire region. The “So What?” Question is answered in connection with why Lithuania and Klaipeda by
saying, “This is an historic, but ordained time in history for Lithuania and Klaipeda now. As the emerging
entrepot for multi-cultural capacity building and with LCC‟s unique mix of cross-culturalism, we stand on the
precipice of learning and guiding many, many people and many, many cultures how to embrace but not
exploit, how to synergize and not subtract, and how to grow and give-back to a world that needs help
balancing the demands of globalization.” This small country is no accident of history, but forged out of the
fires of resistance, resuscitation, and re-neighboring to help show us all what it really means to be truly free.
“So What?” you say – well, I say, “This is the place to be for cutting-edge globalization with LCC a guiding
light and cornerstone for bringing the world to this region and the region to the world.”
Speaking of globalization, its challenges are too numerous to list. It boils down to how we, all of us, balance
our desire to return to the familiarity of our roots while also looking to modernization. Those two sometimes
seem in conflict. With advancing technologies and a shrinking world around us in terms of social networks,
higher education faces this challenge as much or as more as any industry on the planet. Much of the
th
university model since the 13 century hasn‟t changed – the professor as „sage on the stage.‟ Well, the „sage
on the stage‟ is being replaced by the professor as “guide on the side” to be a facilitator, a type of jazz-band
conductor to focus as much on how our students and we are learning as to what! We must all become expert
designers of intellectual experiences for all of us, as Descartes famous phrase changes from, “I think
therefore I am” to “We engage together, therefore we are.” Research, according to authors Tapscott and
Williams, now shows us that mutual, particularly intentional, pluralistic, multi-culturalism produces better
learning outcomes and understanding and application. That‟s because meaning-making in this world comes
by joint efforts in groups among young people. In other words, the future in higher education is mostly, if not,
all about creating environments for collaborative learning.
“Collaborative learning” is now the catch-phrase in our higher education world, but this type of learning, where
all sorts of students and faculty amidst the internet and social networks get together, can only work well if
there is a base of foundational multi-culturalism at its core. From many we learn much and from many we
become much. “So What” you say? The “So What?” answer is that in this new age, the true value-add of a
business like LCC in the higher education globalizing industry is that we will embrace emerging pedagogies
as many other institutions will, but very few, if any, can match the intensity of the pluralistic, multi-cultural
experience we have.
That pluralistic, multi-cultural experience incorporates integration of learning at its
ultimate, here, right here, in this bridge-of-bridges part of the world. At this place, we in fact do harness many
minds from many places, cultures and disciplines to focus not only on educating the what, but what I call the
“relevant how” – how to apply what is learned in the classroom to build a better world, as Lithuania is doing –
how to build a new civil society, that‟s not easy. That comes with fits and starts, and it is based, in part, on the
foundations of other civil societies, themselves at various stages of construction or destruction.
After all, it is the role of universities to act as the think-tanks, to contextualize for us, to be the crucibles of
experiments, hypotheses, pilot programs, and living labs to find new solutions to complex and difficult
problems facing the world today. “So What?” you ask. “So What?” means that it is a university like LCC at
place like Klaipeda in a country like Lithuania that can truly provide openness, engaged participation in a
cross-cultural environment with a complex history, to think anew and find new solutions to problems that
challenge our very existence as people on the planet. It‟s the right education in the right time in the right place
for the right reasons – the education the world needs most!
People ask me what keeps me up at night worrying as a President about the future – many things, but this
one gives me the most concern: Trying to educate students in a fast-changing world for jobs that don‟t exist
yet, using technologies that don‟t exist yet, to solve problems in the world we don‟t even know are problems
yet. I told someone that the other day, and she said, “Well, that‟s impossible to do, so go get some sleep!”
Seriously, though, our model at LCC, a Christian education on a liberal arts base is the best way to deal with
those uncertainties. We are talking about holistic education, not an education with a bunch of holes. Holistic
education means not just secularism, but the right and proper role (a role not based on fear) of values-based
education. In LCC‟s case, that means providing students and stakeholders with a Christian worldview based
on love, redemption, and service to others – the application of what it means to give back to others what we
have received ourselves. Servant Leadership will be the hallmark of what is needed to keep this world bound
together instead of binding itself apart, and LCC‟s role in that is crucial, and will become even more crucial
and cutting-edge in trying to do that successfully amidst dozens of different cultures on a 20-acre campus in
this historic port city. Not many places on the planet have this opportunity to do this with such focused
intensity – thus “So What?” means we‟re all in the right place at the right time for the right reasons NOW to do
something tremendous for the world – let‟s not fumble it away!
Next, this is also about individuals in terms of values-based education – what are those essential values are
what we teach at our core – what are our duties to society, to others around us and in the world, and to our
God? Let me speak to students directly now…Students, that comes down to ultimately what you decide are
your values to lead this world – we cannot convince you how to act or react to perilous moral problems – you
must decide that for yourselves and your society. In this world, with the challenges and ready temptations you
face, you must answer that everyday. You must shoulder that burden, by looking at the man or woman in the
mirror…and ask yourselves “What do I stand for? What do I believe in? Why, and So What?” Because if you
don‟t know what you stand for in values, you‟ll fall for anything!
“So What?” if my friends, my boss, my family wants me bribe people, to do drugs, to engage in prostitution, to
cheat in business or government, to protect people who we know are lying, cheating, stealing from
others?!…”So, What?...if my world is bent on the destruction of civil society?…So, What if…?...So, What
if?...So, What if? You must answer that on your values…and the values of responsibility.
For you see the answer to “So What?” is really a call to social, civic, geopolitical, religious and personal
responsibility – to understand that we have unrelenting, irrepressible, unseverable, God-mandated ties and
duties to each other!! We must continually be about learning the intricacies, the nuances, the details of what
makes this such a difficult question – what higher education with values is all about frankly in that search in
answering the “So What?” question completely or as completely as one can. One of my favorite bosses of all
time, Dr. Bill Robinson, prayed a prayer one time in public that struck me as strange at the time, but has stuck
with me, “Lord, save me from the temptation of finding simplistic solutions to complex problems!”
A little personal story is appropriate here for illustration – My wife, Trisa, and I have been blessed to have lived
and worked on six different continents – we long ago gave up counting how many countries we have visited. In
the mid-90‟s we lived in the People‟s Republic of China where we both taught at a major university – I taught
International law, International business, Political Economy, and Ethics…on my best days… and on my worst
days I mumbled a lot, was in deep, deep cultural shock, and wasn‟t a very effective teacher in my mind, at all –
yet, the students kept coming and it seemed like I had more students coming every day to class than were
enrolled, but I digress.
When we first moved to China, not being very familiar with the culture, we nonetheless met many friendly
Chinese in all sorts of settings, and often the very first conversation was a series of questions directed at us –
“How tall are you? How much do you weigh? How much money do you make? How old are you? Do you like
China? Why are you here? …and Have you eaten yet?” To which Trisa and I were stunned, and we tried in our
best Chinese to answer with something diplomatic, like, „we don‟t keep track of those first four things you asked,
they‟re personal, and God sent us?‟ However, Mandarin Chinese is a difficult language to master as it is a tonal
language (the same word spoken in four slightly different tones can mean four different things), and despite our
hard work and studies, our desired American-bred response to those initial questions in our bad Mandarin
language skills, resulted in something that could only be described now in retrospect as bad Haiku Cowboy
Poetry.
Our response, or what the Chinese heard, was “Horse-Horse, Tiger-Tiger, Refrigerator!” with a big smile and
knowing nodding of the head from us (as if we actually knew what we were saying). To which most of the
Chinese who had initiated the conversation would nod politely, say goodbye, and walk away…some even did
this (slap their heads), and moseyed away muttering something about Americans and how in the world did
America get to that prominent position on the global stage. Yet, there were some friends, some students and
fellow-professors who kindly began helping to correct not only our bad Mandarin, but explaining patiently and
skillfully, educating us as to what exactly was behind those seemingly intrusive questions – that in essence,
noting China‟s recent Communistic geopolitical background, the questions were a nuanced way of determining
exactly what kind of respect, and honor were due and how to get all the niceties out of the way in a hurry so that
we could become real friends. And in a few months, we learned how to appropriately answer those questions,
putting aside our cultural ethno-centric assumptions and quit wearing our feelings on our sleeves…and the
Chinese became some of the closest friends we have ever made, as we came to deeply love China and its
people, and we began to appreciate a Chinese worldview.
A few years later, we moved to another strange and foreign land – West Texas, and another university where I
taught and where Trisa did what Trisa does best, just charm the socks off everyone.
And the initial
conversations with people we met in West Texas were attended by several questions in rapid-fire – “What
church do you belong to? Who did you vote for in the last election? Did you see that the price of Sweet Crude
oil went to $143.62 today? Can I interest you in a take-or-pay, sure-fire natural gas play down on the Pecos?
How about those Dallas Cowboys? Why are you here? and…Have you eaten yet?”
To which Trisa and I would look at each other --- and say “Horse-horse, Tiger-tiger, Refrigerator.” Very soon
some students and professors patiently explained the real meaning behind those questions, we would learn how
to answer them, and some of our very best friends became West Texans, and we learned to really appreciate
that part of America as well, and came to appreciate a West Texas worldview.
“So what?” What‟s the point? The point is that it is easy to develop cross-cultural mis-understandings based on
some wrong presumptions and assumptions, BUT if you find the right guides, the right education, AND you have
an open mind, heart, and spirit you will learn to see the world from the point of “The Other” – and your world will
become big, so big that you cannot imagine it…and you will thank God every day for that diversity of experience
and the possibilities opened because of that.
This call to answer and ask that I‟ve referred to has gone on throughout the Ages, don‟t you know -- from
when the first man many, many, many years ago looked up at the heavens and contemplated his own
existence amidst the enormity of his world and asked, “So What? What does it matter?” And at points in our
modern history now as the „Family of Man‟, there have been momentous times when we have answered the
questions of “So What?” with propitious answers – in the fight against slavery, in the fight for Civil Rights, in
the fight for freedom of thought, expression, and conscience, for freedom of religion, for freedom of
association, for freedom of the press, freedom of property, security, and resistance to oppression, and all
freedoms really against tyranny including equal protection, in the fight for what is right in our mind, hearts, and
souls…those freedoms we too often these days take for granted.
“So What?” Well, the fight goes on, must go on, and must begin in our own hearts, and it must be
renewed – a constant daily battle, without such adequate answers we are not prepared, and we will be in
serious trouble. It isn‟t just history; it is today in this hour that the battle must be joined for “So What?”
Why?
Because the tide is against us frankly, as we have forgotten Whose we are and what is at
stake…nothing more than our very lives and the future of our world. For you see, once we were taught and
we fully believed…
“…that all Men are Created Equal, with certain inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness” [USA Constitution];
We once fully believed in “the principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of
law…that can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society” [Canadian
Constitutional Precepts];
We once fully believed in “fostering national concord – striving for an open, just, and harmonious civil
society and State under the rule of law” [Lithuanian Constitution];
We once fully believed that “[God‟s people] will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears
into pruning hooks [and that] Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, and neither shall they learn
war any more” [Bible];
We once fully believed that we were “anointed...to bring Good News to the afflicted...to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to prisoners…to comfort all who
mourn” [Bible];
We once fully believed that “Justice shall roll down like mighty waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream” [Bible];
We once fully believed that “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free!” [Bible];
We once fully believed that the Almighty “knows the plans [He] has for us, to prosper us, not to harm
us, but to give us a hope and a future.” [Bible];
And We once fully believed in the call: “Whom shall I send? Here am I, Lord. Send me!” [Bible].
May we once again fully believe and act upon these things in answer to the “So What?” question, and may
LCC never forget its unique and influential place in this world. That place exists in positing, trying heartily, and
succeeding as a model on how to answer that “So What? ” question for many, many students here now and to
come, for many visitors and seekers here now and to come, for many faculty, staff, and board members here
now and to come, AND for this President and for those presidents yet to come...
Thank you and may God bless LCC and its people now and forever more...
-------Just a note of personal privilege – I want to thank a few people publicly – my wife – would you please stand,
darling? Also, I want to acknowledge parents, Harold and Beth Usrey, my sister, Marci Yeates, a friend and
mentor Dr. Peter Dual who convinced me I could actually be and do the job of a president, Dr. Biff Green, Dr.
Lanny Hall, Dr. Craig Turner, Dr. Bill Robinson, Dr. Jimmie Monhollon, Dr. Tammy Reid, Dr. Rich Schatz,
Coach Jim Hayford, Dr. Rick Sarre, Dr. Dan Cooper, Prof. Doug Laher, Dr. John Yoder, and Dr. Marlene
Wall...– Also, some special churches in our lives: First Baptist Church in Colorado Springs, First Baptist
Church of Abilene, Texas, Whitworth Presbyterian Church in Spokane, Washington, 1st Presbyterian Church
of Spokane, Washington, Flinders Street Baptist Church in Adelaide, Australia, and Chapel Hill United
Methodist Church in Wichita, Kansas...and of course, each and everyone of you here today. Blessings...