As I began to think about what I would like to share with our University community through these remarks today, a number of familiar adages began to swirl around in my head, some of them so familiar as to be almost cliché. Predictably, most of them are drawn from works of literature, with which my head has been crammed full for many, many years. I have selected just a few to help me frame the message that I would like to impart to you today:

"It was . . . the worst of times." Charles Dickens
"To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven."
Ecclesiastes
"April is the cruelest month." T.S. Eliot
"Sweet are the uses of adversity." William Shakespeare
"No man is an island." John Donne
"It was the best of times . . ." Charles Dickens

Let me begin with what I take to be a prevailing sentiment on our campus, in our State, and, indeed, in our nation and the world. For weeks we have been a nation at war, and war, regardless of one's feelings about its justification, is always among the worst of times. Reports of victories are posited against images of death and destruction. Heroes survive, but heroes also die.

At home, concerns about homeland security confront us wherever we go, whether it be the daily news, the security checks at airports and entrances to public buildings, or the messages flashing overhead on our major highways, admonishing us to "Be alert" and "Report suspicious behavior." Those of us who spend a considerable amount of time in Annapolis each year when the General Assembly is in session were constantly reminded that this is a new day in a new world for Americans. Long lines stood outside the State House and the House and Senate office buildings, waiting to go through clearance checkpoints. The County Executive noted in a television interview that Anne Arundel County is especially vulnerable, given not only its proximity to the Capital, but also the fact that it is home to State government offices, a major airport, the Naval Academy, Fort Meade, and the National Security Agency. Somehow, I had never looked at my surroundings that way, and to do so was, frankly, more than a little unsettling. Those of us who live in the protected environs of mountain Maryland do not face constant reminders of our vulnerability as do our neighbors to the East.

The economy has not suffered the worst of times, but it is clear that, in many respects, times are not good. The State of Maryland is facing fiscal challenges unparalleled even during the recession of the early '90s, which most of us remember vividly, and most other recessions, except for the Great Depression. As a consequence, higher education, the University System of Maryland, and Frostburg State University have experienced severe reductions in resources. Those reductions have led to actions that many of us would characterize as denoting the worst of times: furloughs, layoffs, increased workloads for those who remain to carry on the essential work of the University, severely constrained operating budgets. As you entered, you received a handout which summarizes the cuts made in our budget and the actions taken to ameliorate the negative effects of those cuts as much as possible. I had earlier intended to hold this Convocation the day following the adjournment of the General Assembly on April 7. When the threat of an extended session or a special session of the legislature began to seem a real possibility, I rescheduled our session so that I could share with you some final information about our budget for next year. Unfortunately, we still do not know what additional reductions may be imposed, but we can tell you what we know at this point. (Discuss handout.) In sum, we may not be experiencing the worst of times, but, economically, we are far from the best of times.

"To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven." Theorists who believe in the cyclical nature of history provide some comfort in the observation that the worst of times will eventually abate and, after a period of restoration and renewal, they will metamorphose into the best of times. Even the familiar quotation from Ecclesiastes, which I have just cited, holds out the promise that weeping will eventually give way to laughter if we can only be patient and accept the inevitability of cyclical revitalization. And we can certainly look back only a decade to see that recession gave way in the mid '90s to revitalization and a robust economy. At Frostburg State University, we benefited from those good years, seeing our budgets grow; seeing salaries rise significantly for all sectors of our campus employees; seeing existing physical facilities take on a new luster; seeing new, magnificent buildings rise on our campus-CES Appalachian Laboratory, the Compton Science Center, Edgewood Commons residence halls. Unfortunately, a significant number of policy makers, even legislators, believe that we became "fat cats" during those halcyon years.

The truth is, of course, that it took us several years to recover from the 20% loss in State appropriations that we experienced earlier in the decade, and that, even as resources began to grow again, enrollments also grew throughout the University System, as well as here at Frostburg. The Chancellor describes the 8,000-student growth in the USM as equivalent to that of half of a Towson State. As a consequence, the per capita support for students enrolled in our institutions today is actually less than it was in the early '90s. I am not attempting to minimize the progress we were able to make during the "good years" or to overstate the negative effects of the "bad years"; I am simply suggesting that although the wheel of history, predictably, has once again begun a downward turn, there will eventually be a season of renewal.

The famous line from T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland" which I cited earlier - "April is the cruelest month" - is also an affirmation, couched in ironic terms, that spring brings renewal. Metaphorically, "winter" keeps us "warm," the poem goes on to say, in the sense of allowing us to hunker down, to hibernate, to withdraw from life, but springtime forces "Lilacs out of the dead land," forces us to leave the sanctuary of inertia and, once again, come alive. Eliot is contrasting the sense of despair of his "Lost Generation" with the joyful ebulliance with which Chaucer opens his famous Canterbury Tales, heralding the "sweet showers" of April that pierce the earth and engender the flowers of spring.
"To every thing there is a season. . . ."

John Donne went on to state in his famous poem that begins "No man is an Island, entire of it self;/ every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main" that "any man's death diminishes me." The poem is an affirmation of the unity of community, of the interdependence of all persons in this thing we call life. Following the horrible events of 9/11, the nation came together in spontaneous expressions of mutual grief and solidarity, and today we are seeing something of the same response in the widespread show of support for our troops engaged in the war in the Middle East. We saw the face of the young woman from West Virginia, shot and beaten and then heroically rescued, but we also learned almost simultaneously of another young woman soldier, mother of two, who did not survive. Each day brings reports of new casualties, and we feel not only saddened, but diminished.

But let me return to John Donne's words. How can we best respond to the formidable challenges we face as a nation, as a State, as an institution -- especially since our challenges seem almost trivial when compared to what is occurring elsewhere in the world. One way to respond is to be a house divided against itself-one in which individuals think primarily or exclusively of their own welfare, regardless of the effect on others. Or we can unite our minds and voices in positive ways, respecting our varying and sometimes contradictory opinions as we struggle to find the best solutions to difficult problems, trusting each other to do what is best for the common weal. No nation is an island. No state is an island. No institution in the USM is an island as we work together, with the Chancellor and the Regents, to do what is best for our students and for the citizens of Maryland. No division or constituent group on our campus is an island. The impact on one affects us all. No individual at Frostburg State University is an island. The diminishing of one is the diminishing of all. Only if we avoid the position that, somehow, the enemy is "within" will we be able to live through these challenging times and preserve the best of what defines us as a University and a community.

It is not like me to give short shrift to Shakespeare, who wrote "Sweet are the uses of adversity." It is difficult at times like these not to see the light at the end of the tunnel as an oncoming train, not to settle into a cycle of despair and disengagement and even cynicism. But, as we have learned when a national tragedy or a communal tragedy or a personal tragedy has struck us, there is comfort in mutual support. From a much more pragmatic perspective, family members are sometimes strengthened in the wake of tragedy, and institutions are sometimes stronger after periods of difficulty. I would not go so far as to court adversity or to hold it up as a preferred state of affairs-nor did Shakespeare. But I would urge us to go forward with resolve to find ways to be even stronger when the problems of today begin to pass.

Finally, then, let me return to the other half of Dickens' quote describing the French Revolution. We have already noted how we, at least in some sense, are experiencing bad, if not the "worst," of times. Dickens is not saying that good times replace bad in cyclical fashion. Rather, he is saying that, in the midst of a bloody revolution, the best times and the worst times paradoxically coexisted. Setting aside the fact that there is an element of irony in Dickens' statement, I would like to comment how, even in the face of adversity, Frostburg State University is experiencing the "best of times."

As I looked out my office window composing these remarks, the campus never looked more beautiful. Students wending their way to and from classes represented the most diverse student population ever enrolled at our University. The freshman class has the highest academic profile, as indicated by grade point averages and SAT scores, in decades. Faculty members continue to distinguish themselves as superb teachers and scholars, some of them bringing national and international recognition to themselves and to the University. Our alumni continue to revere their alma mater, cherishing their days spent here and applauding all the wonderful progress that they see. Some of them even formed an advocacy group to carry word to Annapolis about this excellent institution and all that it means to them and to our region. Partners and supporters joined them in urging legislators to support FSU's budget - including members of the Greater Cumberland Committee, comprised of influential CEOs in the area. The long and embracing arm of the University continues to reach out to our neighbors in the community through our AmeriCorps program and a wide spectrum of volunteer activities and, most recently, through the assistance of a generous COPC grant from the federal department of Housing and Urban Development. Our relationship with elected officials of the City of Frostburg is a true partnership through which we aspire to improve the community in which our students and many of us reside. Student performances continue to astound us with their quality - be they in theatre, dance, music, the visual arts, athletics, or academic competitions. I could extend this catalog beyond the limits of our time or your patience, so I will stop here. Suffice it to say that, by a number of measures, these are, indeed, very good times, perhaps the best that have ever been. But I also know that, for an institution renowned for its past and respected for its present, the best is undoubtedly yet to come. By then, the adversity of today will, hopefully, appear simply as a temporary glitch on the computer screens of tomorrow.

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4/21/03