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Dr. Russell Wigginton ’88 – Distinguished Alumni Winner 2022
Interview conducted by Eliana Mabe
EM
Congratulations on your alumni award for this year, 我非常感激能有机会和你交谈.
I want to first talk about your own Rhodes experience. 你对365betapp下载的第一印象是什么?是什么促使你申请那里? 在你参加的四年里,这些印象有改变吗?
RW
我申请的时候,学校还在西南的孟菲斯, and a couple things were coming into play for me. 我在纳什维尔上的高中,有一天,我最喜欢的一位老师提到,她想在孟菲斯读西南大学, 她的母校可能是个有趣的地方,很适合我. Another aspect was I also played basketball in high school, 我很幸运地从不同的学校被招募到大学打球. 我发现,这些学校都没有真正重视学术和全面的大学经历. 我一直致力于寻找一个能让我以多种方式成长和发展的地方, not just on the court.
I came for a visit, and I drove down by myself, and this is before we had a fence, and I'm driving down North Parkway and I see this place. I have these have mixed emotions. Number one, 我被它的外观吓到了,因为它的卓越和校园的庄严布局. But I was also excited. It was kind of a mix of emotions. Long story short, 我和篮球队的很多人一起度过了一个周末,还认识了其他人. 当我回到纳什维尔时,我已经做出了决定. 我觉得这是一个会全面支持我的地方,从那以后再也不会回头.
EM
在你毕业的时候,你对罗兹有什么不同的感觉吗? Did you feel proud to graduate from Southwestern? What was your experience come May 1988?
RW
我当然对我所接受的那种教育深表感激. 我知道我已经建立了一些经得起时间考验的特殊关系……坦率地说,当我进入就业市场时,我没花很长时间就真正明白了这一点, 很明显,做一些事情,比如写样本,在一群人面前演讲的能力,以及所有你在罗兹经常做的事情, that I had been well prepared. 我的总体感觉是,这个地方为我提供了一个伟大的基础,让我可以去到生命的365betapp下载岛把你引向的任何地方.
EM
作为一名校友,你觉得你和365betapp下载的联系加强了吗 ? What was your return to campus like as an administrator?
RW
在进入研究生院之前的四到五年时间里, I kept having this desire to want to learn more, read more, and continue my education. 我认为在罗兹发生的一件事是,它确实播下了一颗种子,你在经历它的时候甚至不一定意识到,你对终身学习的渴望是真实的.
And so even after I went to graduate school, 我没想过一定要在大学校园里工作, even though I was pursuing a PhD in history. 我希望在一个以公民权利为导向的空间里,以一种全国性的或重要的方式工作. 我接到罗兹的电话问我是否对威廉·伦道夫·赫斯特奖学金感兴趣, and I politely declined. 然后我又接到一个电话,他们说:“你为什么不过来看看呢??“从本质上讲,发生的事情是我高中毕业时参观时发生的事情的后来版本. 感觉有很多关于我能为罗兹社区带来什么和贡献什么的讨论. With a little bit of a leap of faith, 我选择了365betapp下载的offer,所以本来应该是两年的奖学金,结果却在那里待了23年.
EM
Wow. That's incredible. So, what positions did you get right after the fellowship?
RW
So, after the fellowship, I got an assistant professor position, and I was on a tenure track position. Dr. 比尔·特劳特邀请我担任一个校园社区合作委员会的主席, 他还邀请我担任校长的特别助理,负责社区关系.
一两年之后,我升任副总裁. He and I had a unique synergy. 他给了我很大的自由和灵活性,让我在孟菲斯和, and bring more of Memphis to Rhodes, and thus Rhodes have deeper connections in the city.
我还有其他一些头衔——我的最后一个头衔是负责学生生活的副主席兼学生事务主任. I did that for two years. Dr. Troutt and I had this great, great run together. 我想,你知道,这是我追求其他东西的好时机. 我在国家民权博物馆的董事会工作了10年. The museum had matured, had gotten to be 30 years old, 并建立了良好的声誉……那一刻我真的说, “I'm going to get that job.“(成为总裁)是很多事情的高潮:销售和营销, PhD in African American history, long years of administrative experience and fundraising. 对我来说,能够在这个社区里做这件事,并在国内和国际上产生影响,是一件正确的事情. 当我想到我在我的职业生涯中所处的位置以及我们前进的机会, if I have anything to do with it, this is the last job I'll ever have.
EM
Thank you so much for sharing all of that. 我的最后一个问题是,您愿意给我什么建议? What are your thoughts, wisdom, warnings?
RW
这是我经常给的一条建议:不要为小事而烦恼,95%的事情都是小事. 这真的是在提醒我们,有糟糕的日子和糟糕的时刻是没关系的. 但这是一个提醒,让你真正集中精力,提醒你自己,你生活中所有的事情都是特别的,对你来说真的很有价值. You got to think about this as more of a journey. 有耐心和信心去发现你的才能所在,什么能给你带来快乐. 我认为自己非常幸运,在过去的35年里,我有机会在绝大多数时间里从事与此相符的工作.
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