Page 14 - Considering College

Charles Spurgeon, the great nineteenth-century preacher and orator rightly observed, “Skillful
mariners sail by all winds, and we ought to make progress through all circumstances.”

Like so many communities in the Texas Panhandle, McLean, Texas, was located near a railroad
switch station around which the community developed. A parcel of 640 acres of land was donated

for the establishment of McLean, named for former secretary of the Texas Railroad Commission
William P. McLean by Alfred Rowe, the proprietor of the 200,000 acre RO ranch. Alfred Rowe,
born in Lima, Peru, was an offspring of English merchants. A world traveler, even in the

borderless global perspective driven by COVID-19, Rowe perished on the Titanic’s maiden voyage
in April 1914. He chivalrously refused access to a lifeboat and froze to death on an ice floe—a West

Texas genuine article by way of Peru.

On February 1, 2017, I visited McLean, Texas, population 778, with 245 students pre-K through
high school in McLean ISD. I arrived early. Finding the room, I met a man in jeans, running shoes

and a work shirt arranging chairs in the assembly hall. Making conversation, I asked, “How long
have you been on the janitorial staff?” He replied while laughing, “I am the superintendent.” He
explained that this was part of the last line in his job description: “Other duties as assigned.” He

was also a bus driver, substitute teacher, cook, groundskeeper and just about anything else needed
in service to his students and their families.

In many institutions, public and private, security and significance are calibrated by
position in the constellation of roles and responsibilities (pecking order) rather

than by the flexibility and commitment that it takes to get the job done.
Bureaucracies petrify themselves, rock-hard when process and standing become

more important than result.

Oscar Muniz was the epitome of agility and accomplishment through circumstance.

In many institutions, public and private, security and significance are calibrated by position in the

constellation of roles and responsibilities (pecking order) rather than by the flexibility and
commitment that it takes to get the job done. Bureaucracies petrify themselves, rock-hard when

process and standing become more important than result.

On the other hand, organizations built on responsive actions thrive when times are difficult and
challenging. Results guide forward movement. The COVID-19 crisis requires agility and flexibility
in response to circumstances for which no textbook exists. Results-driven flexibility, like

Superintendent Muniz exhibited, will continue to be important in the coming months as
enterprises reconstruct themselves to be responsive to human needs. For universities, the

aspirations of students and the need for individual responsiveness are amplified nearly beyond
recognition by the circumstance of COVID-19.