Lesson Two: Profiling the University’s president

Here’s what I’m up to today. Received this email from an experienced journalism student (an editor at Hilltop Views) who has decided to write a profile of our university president:

“So I’m working on this profile of Dr. Martin for HV and I’m just a little stuck. I’m just afraid of showing him in a bad light (the former student I interviewed had some criticism about him and it was obvious by what Dr. Martin talked about that he’s way too far up the ladder to know what really goes on at this school). Do you have any advice for walking this thin line?”

Here’s my response:

“Well, why are you afraid of, “showing him in a bad light?”  I think you need to figure out how to get past this hurdle about reporting negative information or journalism is going to be a very tough road for you.

What you are writing is a profile, which means it should be a well-rounded, thorough and nuanced portrait of Martin. No one is all saint or all sinner. The first question to ask yourself is what your particular take on him is. If I asked you to tell me, in one sentence, who George Martin is,what makes him tick, what he’s about, what would you tell me?

You should work with the material you have that supports this central “take” or portrait, the one you decide on. So, what’s your angle? Is it, “Martin at the 10-year mark (has he been president 10 years?)” Is it, “Martin at a changing St. Ed’s”? I have no idea what you might choose, but if, in the reporting of any of this, you find both positives AND negatives, it means you’re doing your job. If the whole thing is positive, you’ve written a hagiography, an uncritical (read, unthinking) quasi-biography. If it’s all negative, you’ve written a hatchet job. Write the truth. It’ll set you free.

If you want me to read a draft, I’m happy to.”

Stay tuned….

Update: Oct. 30, students sends her first draft. Here it is:

 

When asked how he made the jump from spending over five decades in the tri-state area to becoming the president of St. Edward’s University down here in Austin, Dr. George Martin replied with a smile, “By plane.”

That serious-looking, 6’5” man you may have glimpsed walking on campus or driving his year-old Hyundai Equus—a gift from Bill Munday of Munday Library fame—has a sense of humor too.

But sitting in his Main Building office, it’s clear Martin has a lot on his plate. His sitting area and conference table area are spotless but the large wrap-around wooden desk is covered with stacks of books and papers. Hiding behind the stacks are framed photos of Martin and his family, which includes his wife of seven years, Eva, and his daughter Susannah, a St. Edward’s graduate.

“I don’t think there is a normal day. Every day is different, which is one of the things I find enjoyable about the job,” Martin said on the title he has held for 15 years. “Every day brings new challenges, some of them exciting and positive, some of them frustrating.”

The Road to Presidency

Martin was born in 1944 in Brooklyn, New York where he was one of eight children and stayed until he was around 30 years old.

What kind of a kid was he? “Well it depends on who you ask. I was a delightful child, some others might disagree,” Martin joked as his sense of humor poked out again, quickly replaced by the get-down-to-business demeanor so often seen on his face. He then described his childhood as “nothing outstanding” and himself as a “regular kid.”

Martin didn’t grow up with the dream to become the president of a university.

“I don’t think I ever had a fixed idea on who I wanted to be when I grew up,” he said. “That kind of evolved through a number of things that interested me depending on who I was surrounded by.”

Because he studied political science throughout his education, earning an undergraduate degree from St. John’s University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Forham University, Martin considered entering public service, but that passed. At one point he considered becoming a lawyer, but that also passed after he lost interest in his law courses.

During his education, Martin held a number of eclectic jobs including newspaper deliverer, movie usher and claims adjuster for an insurance company. The extra income helped while he attended college on scholarship.

It wasn’t until he taught high school that he gained the desire to return to a university and become a professor and after three years at the high school level, became a junior faculty member at Saint Peter’s University in New Jersey. For 30 years, Martin climbed up the ladder at the university, eventually gaining a position as academic vice president.

A New City, A New Job

 

The next rung on the ladder for Martin was president of a university. When he received the call from the search firm saying there was a school in Austin, Texas that he had to check out, Martin replied, “I was born in Brooklyn, I think you’ve pulled the wrong file.”

But he took the risk anyway and was hooked within the first 10 minutes of his interview.

“What attracted me in those first 10 minutes was it was very clear that the mission of St. Edward’s University was something that I had really dedicated my professional life to,” he said. “I was immediately impressed by the sincerity of the people that I met.”

After 15 years at the school, Martin still nearly always refers to it by it’s full name, never “St. Ed’s” or even just “St. Edward’s” like many students and faculty have been accustomed to.

A Former Student Reminisces

 

“Towards the end of my senior year I decided to meet with Dr. Martin just because I felt there were some things that I could give him a student perspective on,” Amarette Edmonson, a St. Edward’s graduate, said. “We talked about just being involved and him having more of a presence on campus because I feel like a lot of students wanted that.”

Edmonson represents a feeling that many students hold, that their president is too elusive and should be more involved in what goes on at the university on a personal level.

“I even suggested and said, ‘I know you go to Ragsdale and buy food every once in a while, but why not go to Ragsdale, buy food and sit down and have that be a regular thing?’” According to Edmonson, Martin wasn’t too fired up about the idea.

Edmonson was a resident assistant for three years and considered herself a “highly involved” student before graduating in 2012.

“If [the students] knew they had a president that was excited about being at St. Ed’s and was on fire about St. Ed’s it might change their perspective a little bit,” she said.

Although he may not show it, when speaking with him, it is obvious that Martin is indeed excited about being here.

Privileged President

 

The main thing he wants students to know about him, a fact he mentioned several times, is how privileged he feels to have this job.

“I think the best part about the position is I see the president really as someone who enables, enables a community to achieve within the contexts of the university mission,” he said. “I never wonder why I come to work.”

Lorraine Pagan, Martin’s administrative assistant, came from a job at the University of Texas at Austin to St. Edward’s in April 2012 and considers her and Martin a team.

“I think he’s amazing, he’s such a great leader,” Pagan said about her boss. “He has such great vision and drive.”

Pagan admires Martin’s accessiblity and eagerness to help.

“I can knock on his door anytime,” she said. “Even as busy as he is, he’s so willing to teach so you can learn from him.”

***SIDEBAR***

Three facts you might not know about President Martin:

1. Martin was almost killed in a plane crash, but he wasn’t on the plane. Two planes collided over the New York skyline and one was on course to crash into Martin’s high school. But by some strange occurrence, the plane shifted and crashed half a block from his school.

2. The university president has visited Italy “five or six” times and considers it his favorite place to travel. “Any place in Italy is great to go to,” he said.

3. Martin is an avid reader. Currently he is working on “The Big Screen” by David Thomson which is on the history of film. He recommends “Catherine the Great” by Robert K. Massie, “Eisenhower in War and Peace” by Jean Edward Smith and “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” by Lisa Randall.

Note: I send a list of suggestions, including a long list of food-for-thought follow-up questions, most of which have to do with SEU’s past, present and future. Here are the ones the student chose to ask:

1. When did your daughter graduate from St. Edward’s and what is she doing now?

2. Where did you teach high school and what did you teach?

3. I interviewed a former student, name, about her meeting with you a while back to suggest ways you could have more of a presence on campus. Do you recall this meeting? What did you think of her suggestions? Do you see opportunities in the future for you to be more in touch with the day-to-day of the university?

And then there’s this: I suggested that sweeping generalizations about the prez being out of touch based on one interview with one former student just don’t meet minimum journalistic standards. So, how is this student going about doing more reporting along these lines? Surveymonkey.com, of course!

“St. Ed’s students: Please take my SHORT and ANONYMOUS survey about our university president. The responses will be used for a Hilltop Views article. Thank you very much! https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GRDJTCY”