Blink of an Eye
On January 4, 2010, Georgia native Brooks Keel came home.
He remembers arriving on campus. He remembers his first walk around Sweetheart Circle, where so many memories had been made and friendships forged—the winding paths and tree-lined street. “In the faces of our faculty, staff and students, I could see where Georgia Southern University had come,” said Brooks A. Keel, Ph.D., the University’s twelfth president. “And I had a vision of where we were headed. Deep-rooted in history, I could see the passage of time.”
Five years since his arrival, President Keel has watched his own time tick by and is proud of what’s been accomplished. “Of course, I always want to make a difference, but I like to think that it’s the people around me who are the ones making a real difference,” said Keel. “I wanted to be at a place that makes a difference and I feel like Georgia Southern students, faculty and staff have.”
Every day, Keel told me he hears about what a special place Georgia Southern University truly is. From faculty who have taught at the school for 30 years to new students who are taking their first tour of campus, there’s a certain magic at Georgia Southern. “You can feel it,” said Keel. “You can’t pick it up from a website. You can’t read it in a pamphlet. You have to be here to feel it. Everybody will tell you about that magic and it’s real, and it’s allowed us to grow.” Traditions remain a large part of that magic. “There’s just something special here,” he said. “It’s not just Athletics. It’s our annual watermelon cutting. The Pedestrium. Lighting around Sweetheart Circle. Sweetheart Circle itself. So many people will tell you that. When you hear about all those traditions people say, ‘don’t change it; don’t mess with it.’ And I’ve heard loud and clear.”
Keel believes being born, raised and educated in Augusta, Georgia, has made it easier for him to know what the role, scope and mission of Georgia Southern should be throughout the state and beyond. He is a product of the entire Georgia education system, from elementary through graduate school. “I speak southern-English very fluently,” Keel joked. “I think it makes a difference in interacting with students as well as people in the community. To have that perspective puts me in a unique position to see where we can go from here.”
If you look at what the University has accomplished under Keel over the past five years, you’ll find an unprecedented list that encompasses Academics, Athletics, research activities and campus expansion—some of which are 30 years in the making. For example, Keel said, “offering engineering degrees is a huge accomplishment and one that has taken decades to realize. Our new manufacturing engineering degree is going to have far-reaching implications for years down the road.”
Another key to Keel’s success is completion of several desperately needed building projects. “We’re not trying to build a dynasty or Taj Mahal, but you have to have the right facilities to educate the students and so faculty have a place to do the wonderful things they do,” said Keel. “We’ve got a fantastic group here who promote Georgia Southern in Atlanta, where many of the decisions are made. They’ve done a great job telling the Georgia Southern story and expressing what we need to be even better. We don’t have to convince them of who we are, but more of what we need. To look at Sanford Hall and see how we managed to maintain the wonder of Sweetheart Circle but completely convert the inside of the building into a state-of-the-art communication arts program is absolutely fantastic.”
But President Keel is quick to remind me that it’s students, and the faculty who mentor them, who will put Georgia Southern on the map with regards to national distinction. He acknowledged balance is key as Georgia Southern continues to grow in quality and scope. “It means keeping the right number of faculty in place to give our students the kind of personal attention they need, deserve and came here for,” said Keel. “We can grow this university in many types of ways and still maintain the ‘small-feel’ culture… that the magical Georgia Southern atmosphere stays true to its past. I have every expectation we’ll meet that challenge. It’s my goal and our obligation.”
Like engineering, the recent Athletics move to the Sun Belt Conference has been more than 30 years in the making. “Athletics is something I’ve been proud of but also how we’ve been able to marry Athletics to Academics in order to move the whole University forward. I recognized early on that we could use Athletics as a vehicle to put Georgia Southern on a national stage.” Keel often calls Athletics the ‘front porch’ of the University. “If you can get people up on the front porch using Athletics and get people to look in through the picture window,” Keel said, “then they can see all the wonderful other things you have going on inside the house. If you’re looking for a house the first thing you might notice is how well the yard is kept up. Well, we’ve got a pretty nice front yard I hear. We just have to get people when they drive by, or find us on the Web, to stop and notice what we offer. We have to continue to increase our curb appeal.”
President Keel mentions the numerous commercials aired this past football season during ESPN-broadcast games as an example. The 30-second spots touted Eagle research and academic programs, and focused on student and faculty achievements. He’s confident high schoolers sitting in their living rooms around the nation watching those Thursday night contests will see those ads, get on their iPads and check us out. “The national exposure it provides is tremendous,” said Keel. “We’ve had south Georgia distinction for 100-plus years. What we want now is that national distinction.”
Over the past five years, Georgia Southern has done exceptionally well in differentiating itself. One of President Keel’s main goals is to blur the demarcations between the old Vo-Tech school and the liberal arts university. “I get criticized sometimes by folks that think university presidents are supposed to lead institutions to provide high quality liberal arts education and that’s all that we should be doing—that it’s not our responsibility to get our kids jobs when they graduate,” he said. “I just think that is an inappropriate way of doing things. If our students are not graduating and getting a job or going on to graduate or professional school then we’re not doing our job.”
Keel is proud that when Eagles graduate they have not only the breadth of knowledge that you get at a liberal arts college, but also the understanding of the technology and how to put what they’ve learned into practice. Engineering is the typical example, but the same can be said of business. “Our students understand the theory of business but they also understand the art of business,” said Keel. “We can differentiate ourselves by blurring the lines… We are a workforce University. We train and we educate so that students have everything they need to get a job quickly. We’re not lowering our standards. In fact, it’s a strength. As more businesses understand what we do here at Georgia Southern, more and more of our graduates will be able to compete with anybody across the country.”
When asked if he’d had any disappointments over the past five years, President Keel said he’d hoped research would be even further along. Keel added that a lot of it had to do with the economy. “To move this University from one of primarily teaching to one of teaching and research is heavy lifting. It takes a tremendous amount of resources to provide the faculty with the appropriate amount of money and lab space necessary and we just haven’t been able to come up with the resources to do everything I want yet. The research we are doing here is phenomenal, so I do want to emphasize yet.”
Even after five years, President Keel calls every day a “surprise.” But he calls all the surprises pleasant ones. “I never realized how special a place the South is, but especially the state of Georgia,” said Keel. “Coming back, I was surprised at how much it meant to me. When Tammie (the first lady) and I came here we knew we could make a difference… the University could make a difference. I felt that all the building blocks had been put in place for Georgia Southern to reach the national stage.”
Keel admits he never truly realized the University’s potential until he arrived on campus that first day. “Now, having been here for five years,” said Keel, “the opportunities we have to become leaders in every arena are absolutely spectacular.” Five years seems like a long time on the one hand and a blink of an eye on another, added Keel. “I’ve seen from afar Georgia Southern progress from a school that people had as their second or third choice to a University of first choice for so many,” said Keel. “What you will find is that when you travel across this country more people will notice that Eagle lapel pin or tie and won’t ask where we are and what we’re doing, but already know instead. I think you’ll see us move from trying to tell other people about Georgia Southern University to a place where people will begin to tell others about us. And that’s where we want to be.” – Michael J. Soloway
How Tweet It Is!
President Keel discovered the benefits of social media recently, albeit reluctantly. For those who don’t know, Keel’s Twitter handle is @PresKeel, which he uses daily. “I resisted Twitter for a long time,” said Keel. “I fought kicking and screaming, I said I didn’t have time, or asked myself why people would care. Then I started doing it. What I realized is that it’s a tremendous way to maintain contact and interact with students… and alumni, too. I can highlight faculty and staff accomplishments, talk about Athletics, post selfies, or tell people what the next five years will look like… It makes a president a little more personable and personal, but it makes the office a little more personal as well. Another reason Tammie (the first lady) and I wanted to come here was because we saw a place that was interested in being more outwardly focused and tweeting allows that. It’s also a heck of a lot of fun.”
