Before I was privileged to join a university where I worked as a teacher, I toiled in the trenches of public education as a tutor helping young people in the inner city find their way. And, while I was helping them discover themselves, I found myself, too.
What I discovered was my talent for effecting positive change in the community that I serve. That is why I pursued my career as a policy maker in public education — to make a difference. That is why I made my way here, to make a difference every day at our university, in our community.
That is the opportunity you and I share. Each of us can make a difference, and each of us must try because together we can shape our world, together we can improve the quality of our lives and the quality of life for others. That is how we will be assessed and how our society will be measured.
I picture it this way in my mind: We strive to reach the next rung of the ladder to lift ourselves up, and we stretch to also help pull others up. There is joy in that effort, so I am glad for the opportunity now within our reach to bring to our university the athletic/sports complex project that will bolster our academic and athletic program, that will build on our relationship with our community, and will put Cal State Dominguez Hills on the map.
I have talked about advancing this institution as a comprehensive urban university, a world-class university. In this era of shrinking dollars for education, that may seem like a tall mountain to climb. But, we can scale the challenges if we all pull together, strive for greatness together, dream to achieve together.
How do we realize our goal? We build on the success that is Cal State Dominguez Hills. We build the foundation to raise ourselves up, but we don’t rest on our laurels. We continue to climb.
You know, some people smile and praise our talent and our accomplishment and they tell us we have the potential for greatness. Potential for greatness. You know, and I know that potential alone isn’t enough. Good things happen to those who make good things happen. Remember the admonishment of the wise baseball man: "Luck is the residue of design." Luck is the residue of design. We make our own breaks. We create our own fortune.
Now, I have said it before, and I will say it here now: I did not come here to preside over a sports complex. I came here to be President of this university, to create policies to lead Cal State Dominguez Hills into the 21st Century. To cross that divide we must build a strong bridge. We must make our own breaks, create our own fortune, and seize our opportunities. That is my view of the promise this athletic center/complex holds. That is the promise that I have shared with the trustees of the California State University, with the people of Carson, and with you, the campus community. I believe deeply that this project within our reach advances our mission and takes us to that next higher level.
Please understand that this training center is about more than soccer and tennis, cycling and jogging. It is about opportunity, the opportunity we have to improve our existing facilities, to expand our program for our campus and our community, to build a solid financial foundation for this university that not only supports this institution but also defines what we are. We are Cal State Dominguez Hills, a center of quality teaching and quality learning and quality service to our communities.
I know you have concerns that our quality of life will be disturbed. I understand. Growth brings growing pains. But I want you to remember that I work here, too, and I live across the street. So, whatever happens on our campus impacts my quality of life 24 hours a day. To address your concerns about noise and traffic and health and safety, we are now in the environmental impact report process that will identify those issues - and resolve them as well.
When I met with you in the spring, I described "deal makers" that would empower us to go forward. We have them in place. We will have an endowment. We will have revenue sharing. We will have control over concerts. And, we will have guaranteed access to the facilities.
Now, if you ask me how this project will replace the chalk that broke in your hand, or how it might help fix that faulty heater, or how it will repair that cracked tile on your floor, I can tell you we will get that done, but I’m also focusing on this opportunity to reach that next level.
You have seen those photographs taken from the air of famous places on the ground. Try in your mind to picture one of those aerial photographs of our campus, a global view of our place in the world and how it can look. Every place that people talk about, every place that people write about or visit, has its special landmark. This athletic training center can be our special mark. People will say, "We work out at Cal State Dominguez Hills." "We attend class at Cal State Dominguez Hills." "We graduated from Cal State Dominguez Hills."
I believe we must strive, and we must continue to advance so we can know we did our best. In the years to come, when our children assess our performance at this time and place, they will ask: Did we waste this opportunity, this shot at greatness? Or, did we seize the day? They will ask: Did we shrink from responsibility, were we afraid? Or, did we act boldly?
I believe we are smart. I believe we are wise. I believe we will do the right thing.
