[ad_1]
Like tens of thousands of Brigham Young University graduates and fans, I have been delighted with the historic 9-0 start to this football season. But as the next president of Coastal Carolina University, my allegiances this Saturday rest with another 9-0 team – opposite the Cougars.
My time as a student at BYU has forever impacted my life in countless ways. Live in Deseret Towers, work at MTC as a gym instructor, play for the 1987-88 JV basketball team, intern at Capitol Hill as part of the Washington Seminar program, and spend six months at study abroad at the Jerusalem Center – all of these experiences and many more resulted in a stimulating and rewarding education that shaped my worldview and helped me determine my academic and personal path.
While my time as a student has been spent primarily in private institutions (BYU, Notre Dame, and Johns Hopkins), my entire professional career has been spent in public colleges and universities. In January, I have the privilege of becoming the third president of Coastal Carolina, a school of over 10,000 students in Conway, South Carolina, about 10 miles west of Myrtle Beach. In 2029, the CCU will commemorate its 75th anniversary, both as a secondary campus of the University of South Carolina and as an independent, state-backed public institution.
For the Chanticleers, their most notable athletic success came in 2016 when – in the school’s very first appearance in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska – Coastal won the National Championship by beating the University of the Arizona, 4-3. A more contemporary success was achieved last month when, in the span of 10 days, Coastal’s volleyball team secured the Sun Belt Conference’s Eastern Division by winning their 18th consecutive match, the men’s soccer team won the Sun Belt championship and landed at No.5 in the country, the soccer team collected its seventh consecutive game and was ranked No.15 in the Top 25 AP, and former Coastal – and former star golfer – Dustin Johnson picked up his first green jacket at the Masters.
This 2020 football season has been absolutely magical for the Chanticleers as they beat a ranked team (University of Louisiana), defeated a team they had never beaten before (Appalachian State), reached the highest ranking in the world. history of the Sun Belt in college football. Playoff standings (# 18), and now have the chance to host their greatest game of all time with ESPN’s College GameDay team in attendance. Not bad for a school whose sports budget is in the bottom quartile of establishments in the Group of Five.
But Coastal will never argue for his limits. On the contrary, the courageous singers (the mascot has its origins in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” as suggested by an English teacher and his students in the early 1960s) draw inspiration and encouragement from what others Comparable schools have accomplished in recent years.
In many ways, Coastal aspires to be East Boise State. The similarities between Boise State and Coastal Carolina are indeed striking: both were founded as junior colleges (Boise in the 1930s, Coastal in the 1950s); both played FCS football before joining the FBS ranks (Boise transitioned in 1997, Coastal in 2016); both schools play on non-natural colored surfaces (the Broncos on the famous Blue Smurf; the Chanticleers on the teal-hued Surf Turf). Boise State has used its successes in football to build its reputation and academic reach, growing from associate degrees since its inception to dozens of bachelor’s and master’s programs and over 10 doctoral programs currently.
As is the case in other states with better-known Power Five schools in their backyards (Clemson and the University of South Carolina), Coastal faces off against other public institutions for limited resources while still s’ striving to carve out a unique niche for itself as a liberal arts campus that has offerings similar to what one might find at a much larger full university. Coastal is the embodiment of a fundamental tenet of our American democracy: education as a public good, not as a private utility, and all citizens are blessed when so much education is provided to the masses.
In my 25 years of work in higher education, I have become more and more convinced of the power and truth of this simple statement from George Washington Carver: “Education is the key to unlocking the golden door. of freedom. ” Carver, an Iowa state alumnus, was the first African American to be admitted and graduated from ISU. My grandfather, the oldest of 11 children and the first in his family to attend college, also completed his masters degree at Iowa State. Both men have spent their lives and careers in agronomy and agriculture, inspiring countless others to acquire as much education as possible.
This is the mission we strive to accomplish at Coastal Carolina University – excellence in the classroom, on the football field, or any other endeavor we pursue – and to launch our students to successful careers and fulfilling lives. . So when people ask me which team I’m going to cheer on at Brooks Stadium on Saturday, the political answer should be “both”. But as much as I owe BYU for my undergraduate experience, I’ll be decked out in teal and coastal white – and hopefully a Chanticleer win.
Michael Benson, a 1990 cum laude graduate of Brigham Young University, is president-elect of Coastal Carolina University. He previously served as president of Snow College, Southern Utah University, and Eastern Kentucky University.
[ad_2]
Source link