001 - Reflections From a Single Institution Career | Kent Sampson [Past President]

On the inaugural episode of the SWACUHO Podcast, we talk to Past President Kent Sampson, who served as the SWACUHO President in 1980 and 1981. Kent reflects on his career, the entirety of which was spent at Oklahoma State University. Kent not only discusses being an internal candidate as he progressed at Oklahoma State, but also talks about trying to determine where the grass was greener when opportunities to leave came about. We then move into his involvement with SWACUHO that led him to the presidency role and the importance of visibility and timing. Kent imparts a lot of wisdom with a sense of humor and humility you definitely don’t want to miss.

People, Places, and Things Mentioned:

Oklahoma State University [University Website]

Dr. Ron Beer [LinkedIn Profile]

Semester at Sea [Organization Website]

Marquette University [University Website]

New York University [University Website]

OSU Emeriti Association [Association Website]

United Way [Organization Website]

ACUHO-I [Association Website]

SEAHO [Association Website]

Dan Hallenbeck

Garry Johnson [LinkedIn]

Western Illinois [University Website]

University of Arkansas [University Website]

Lynn Jackson

Jim Gibson Award [Website]

Campus Life: In Search of Community [Book]

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference [Book]

Radical Integrity [Book]

Betty Greenleaf

Indiana University [University Website]

NACURH[Association Website]

Slow News Day [TV Show Episode]

Honorary Biological Sciences Fraternity [Website]

Chuck Werring [Obituary]

Kansas State University [Website]

STARS College [Website]

NHTI [Website]

University of Florida [Website]

James C. “Jim” Grimm

Transcript

J.C. Stoner: 0:00

Welcome to the first SWACUHO podcast. I'm your host, J.C. Stoner. After I rolled off the SWACUHO executive board in March, I approached President Katy Pelton and Past President Maggie Guzman and pitched the idea for a professional development podcast for the SWACUHO region. They were both supportive of the idea. And thankfully they were also supportive when I told them I wanted to play a close to the chest in the beginning, since I had zero experience with creating and sustaining a podcast, I told them I would put forth four demo episodes for the executive board to review to get a sense of how much time and energy it would take. I didn't want to get people excited to only determine it was unsustainable. So this podcast is going to start small and see if there's potential to scale up slowly. In my career, I found that sometimes new ideas are difficult to explain well enough to get legs as a value added project due to competing resource needs and shifting priorities. So I've always been of the opinion to just do something behind the scenes then have something small, yet tangible to present with the potential to scale it up. I've seen way too many projects never get off the ground or fail to fully materialize due to being too big, too fast. So the first four episodes are basically that, four demos exploring the potential content themes to get my feet wet. The goal of this podcast is deliver practical and tangible small scale professional development for our regional members. The different themes will allow for actionable takeaways for members to self direct their own professional development when it fits within their never ending action item list. Within the first four episodes, we'll talk about a research article authored by a SWACUHO affiliated practitioner; we'll facilitate a book club; and have a feature topic with a panel of housing staff. Today's episode though, is an interview with one of SWACUHO's Past Presidents, Kent Sampson. Today, Kent and I start by talking about his career at Oklahoma State University, his experience being an internal candidate in several job interviews, and various opportunities he's had throughout his career. We then talk about SWACUHO involvement, various ways he served the region, his pathway to the President role and platform he ran on. We conclude with some miscellaneous advice and some fun Sampson stories. Before retiring in November 2015, Kent Samson spent 28 years in Residence Life and then capped off his career with 18 years of leadership in campus life. That's 46 years serving college students. Kent received his Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and sociology at Southwestern State and then completed his grad work at Oklahoma State University. He never left Oklahoma State until the day he retired. Kent says he was blessed to work for decades with the best and brightest students still staying in touch with many. And surely he misses the quality moments with those outstanding folks. Kent, welcome to the inaugural episode of the SWACUHO podcast.

Kent Sampson: 2:57

Thank you, J.C. Stoner, you've been very patient with helping me get this up and going online tonight. So I'm glad to be a part of it. Thank you.

J.C. Stoner: 3:05

Well, it's my pleasure. But first things first and full disclosure to our listeners. We've actually known each other for a long time

Kent Sampson: 3:12

We have.. you were a mirror pup when I remember meeting you at... wasn't that the Cotton Bowl or something? Maybe the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio? Maybe, years ago?

J.C. Stoner: 3:23

Maybe I don't remember for sure. But we've definitely known known each other.

Kent Sampson: 3:29

That's right. We have Yes.

J.C. Stoner: 3:31

Oh, good. So why don't you just give us a real brief rundown of your career at OSU?

Kent Sampson: 3:36

Okay, sure. JC I am as I came to, to Stillwater, Oklahoma at Oklahoma State to start a graduate degree in clinical psych it was I happen just by chance into some gentlemen in the Student Union, where the housing office was because I was also looking for housing at that time, who said, Hey, you, you've got a background that we think really might be compatible with working in Res Life here. So they offered me my first job serving as an Assistant Head Resident, at Wilhem complex--a complex by the way, no longer exists. It's been taken down years ago. So that's how it began. It was by chance when I was looking for a housing option, and and also a grad assistant opportunity. And the two came together at that time. So the rest for me is a little bit of history, I guess in these 46 years, and that is a combination of probably being at the right place at the right time. And having the opportunities to continue to move up if you would the organizational chart and serve in various ways. That is my first 28 years in ResLife. And then our former Vice President Ron Beer approached me about a new position he was creating in campus life merging several areas together, calling it a campus life leadership and campus life. And so I did pursue that with his encouragement and support. Essentially it was kind of a mini Dean of Students position, really, if you would. So that's what I served in the last 18 years until I retired in 2015.

J.C. Stoner: 5:08

So you've been a OSU your entire career. That's like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird level commitment. You know, you've never left. My real question is, did you ever think about leaving?

Kent Sampson: 5:19

you know, I did take a leave of absence, one semester, Sheila and I. And served on semester at sea, the floating university that goes around the world. Did that. But yes, beyond that, I certainly had some opportunities and some invites I chuckled about this thinking about this in preparation, a very good professional friend of mine in the ResLife area, who was at the time that had been director of housing at Marquette had moved to New York University. And I'll always remember Vance contacted me and said, Hey, I really need a ResLife person with a student life background at New York University. I said, Well, I have a lot of respect for you, Vance, and also for your institution. He said, we just got lots of money and going to be renovating many housing units, etc. So he tried to tempt me into coming there. And I said, I just had a little trouble seeing myself making that transition. So I politely said, No, I've had a few other opportunities like that along the line, I'll admit, but in each case, the grass wasn't necessarily greener on the other side is sometimes one might think and I chose to stay with what I was doing where I was. And also because of opportunities here, I guess I'd have to say,

J.C. Stoner: 6:32

interesting, you don't see yourself as fitting in with the Yankees?

Kent Sampson: 6:38

No, I, I just didn't see myself probably residing there and living there and great differences that matter existed that didn't think that that was necessarily a promotional opportunity that I should consider any further. And probably JC. If it goes back to the timing might have been a time where our children were just young enough to that there are some elements there in terms of even relocation, considering things like that, and public schools that they were involved in here and quality of those. So probably other elements that I don't fully recall right now. But probably some of those ideas entered into that too.

J.C. Stoner: 7:14

Sure, timing is often everything in life.

Kent Sampson: 7:16

Yeah, yeah.

J.C. Stoner: 7:18

So when you moved into campus life, how did your 28 years in housing prepare you to oversee other areas that weren't housing?

Kent Sampson: 7:26

You know, what was the reason they I think they were particularly interested in me, they wanted somebody who knew something about auxiliary services. And that's what of course Res Life falls in on most campuses. In other words, you have to generate your own revenue, room and board and other things like that. You don't get any tax or tuition dollars, that sort of thing. So I had a lot of experience in that and that's, so the job. I didn't give you the whole time, it was director of Campus Life and Associate Director of the Student Union, because they wanted that auxiliary background working in the student union because of the size and scope of that operation. So whether it was dining services or facilities type of issues. That was part of the reason they were interested in me for that job. Because, yeah, it's truly 85% student life if you would, but it was clearly a 15% or more facilities and operational detail. So that was part of why they are interested in me, I'm sure.

J.C. Stoner: 8:23

So obviously, being auxiliary services, you must have, you know, made enough revenue to support your operations. Did you also make enough for the university is it steal some off the top for their own purposes.

Kent Sampson: 8:35

They were good about wanting a little help here and there for scholarships, or whatever it might be. That's really true. You, you do learn in this business, you kind of have to protect the bank a little bit here, because there's already somebody interested who needs a little more help financially, and, and yet, you're dedicated to trying to be sure that those student dollars that you have earned are put back into that system to keep the system going and sharp and updated and that sort of thing.

J.C. Stoner: 9:02

For sure. So as you progressed in your career, did you have to apply for jobs as an internal candidate?

Kent Sampson: 9:09

I did, yes, I did.

J.C. Stoner: 9:10

So I've heard often that the benefit of being an internal candidate is everyone knows you. But the problem with being an internal candidate is everyone knows you. So what was your experience being an internal candidate several times.

Kent Sampson: 9:25

You know, I talked about that with my spouse Sheila today. I said this is an interesting question, what do you what do you think, what do you recall about this? And we both agreed, I'd have to say J.C., in my career and time, it seemed to be more advantageous than disadvantageous. It's true people around me knew my works then better than others might, who if I was a new candidate, but seemed like that always worked out satisfactory for me in terms of pursuit of these opportunities. So I'd have to say, my experiences as an internal candidate worked more for me and were advantageous rather than contrary to that.

J.C. Stoner: 10:04

I was hoping you were gonna say it's because you knew where all the bodies were buried or something like that.

Kent Sampson: 10:10

Yeah, I did know where some of those were, that's right.

J.C. Stoner: 10:15

When you ended up retiring, did you miss the big machine and the campus politics?

Kent Sampson: 10:20

Oh, yes, I certainly did. In fact, even just this last week, since the last 18 years, I advised our student government association, as an example component part of my job. I got a call from a former SGA president five or six years ago, in my last full year, I guess he was, who just finished within the last year he was a mechanical engineer. And then he had just finished law school at University of Texas, because he's going to be a patent lawyer. And he was in town, honoring I think, 100 years of 4H in the state or something like that, and call me for lunch. So we got together and chatted and he and myself and his spouse was with him. So yeah, yes, those sorts of people really helped to ground me and keep me on my toes and sharp over time. I think so yes. I missed the presence of those talented young men and women that I got to work with. And means a lot, yet today to hear from them to stay in touch with him like that. So yeah, I did miss that sometime. So I've had people ask me, "Well, why didn't she go for another four and get the full 50?" I said, "I don't know if they needed me for four more years." But yeah, Do I miss some of that? Sure. I do. I always will. Yeah.

J.C. Stoner: 11:47

Did you ever consider like joining the homeowners association or running for president? Just to get back in the game?

Kent Sampson: 11:54

No, but you'll chuckle at this. I was sitting on our patio maybe three months ago. And across my phone came an email from the guy who's the past Dean of our Veterinary Sciences Program, Dr. Mike Lorenz. I started laughing when I read and said Shiela, you're not gonna believe this. She says, "what is it?" I said,"Well, Shiela, they've asked me, they've nominated me to be President Elect of the Emeriti Association." I was just laughing about that. So is that not hilarious or not? So I did call Mike back and talk to him about a little bit and after considering and discussing it some with my spouse, Sheila did decide to take that out. So believe it or not, as of January 20 2022, I'll be President of the Emeriti Association. I'm President Elect right now.

J.C. Stoner: 12:50

Good for you.

Kent Sampson: 12:51

Yeah, I guess I found my niche somehow, maybe?

J.C. Stoner: 12:54

Definitely. Well, that's great. I'm glad you're finding ways to, you know, keep yourself entertained and provide leadership. So in your career, you mentioned, find your niche, tell us about a small niche skill that you developed that you think had a big long term impact on your career success?

Kent Sampson: 13:14

Um, you know, I think, twofold. Two thoughts come to my mind. One was, I think I was maybe a little bit more effective listener than the average person. In fact, one of the things that I have been criticized for, at times, most people know me has never been timely to a meeting, historically. Probably why? Usually it's because of the the quality of the interaction with the person that I was with previously. And the fact that I didn't want to short circuit that. So I'd say listening, though, there's a price to pay for that sometime, but be an effective listener. And number two, was a sense of humor. I tell you what, I have concluded in my career, that one thing that helps disarm people is having a sense of humor. It helps to break the ice, it helps to to help with interaction. And that was a separate nature, I guess, in my personality that surely proved beneficial time and time again. So those are two I'd mentioned, I think active listener, and also one with a pretty practical, realistic sense of humor.

J.C. Stoner: 14:21

Do you ever find yourself in a situation where there were hysterical, really upset parents and you like tried to disarm them with a joke and it just didn't go well?

Kent Sampson: 14:31

Yes, sure. Yes. We've all read a few of those parental times like that. And it was definitely not the time for humor. You're right.

J.C. Stoner: 14:43

Looking back at your career, what is an opportunity you said yes to that afterwards you wish you would have said no to?

Kent Sampson: 14:51

Oh, I guess I in my career I was one of those who sometimes had trouble saying no, but maybe years ago when I was asked to coordinate the United Way drive for the university campus, and I already had my plate plenty full, as did my assistant. And so looking back maybe, though we did raise several $100,000 and reached our goal, maybe I should have passed on that one and, and not been pulled away as as much as I was to coordinate that drive for a campus this size. Maybe that it was a good cause for sure. But still, maybe that time could have been devoted to the Student Life part that I was focused on.

J.C. Stoner: 15:37

Okay. What about an opportunity you said no to that you wish you would have said yes.

Kent Sampson: 15:43

Well, J.C., I can't think of anything right off hand. Nothing comes to mind about that one right now.

J.C. Stoner: 15:49

All right, that's fine. Do you have a favorite failure in your career, something you learned a lot from that later set you up for success?

Kent Sampson: 15:58

You know, I tell you what, I was nominated for the ACUHO-I presidency, and was on the ballot, and did not win that election, probably for the good of the organization that I didn't. But from that, I even further developed more contacts with more people in the profession, which later no doubt, in 1983 resulted in me being selected to to be the first southern district representative on the executive board of ACUHO-I. So that then included SWACUHO and SEAHO in the southern district. So I think it was a coin toss that So who won President instead of you? Do you remember? led to me being the first Southern District rep, because it would have been at that time Dan Hallenbeck from Georgia. But Dan subsequently took that role after my two years on the executive board. And then of course, as many know, later became president of ACHUO-I as well. I believe it was Garry Johnson at Western Illinois. Good friend and longtime colleague. Yeah.

J.C. Stoner: 17:03

Garry was at Western Illinois for a long time, I think.

Kent Sampson: 17:06

He was, truly, that's true. Yeah.

J.C. Stoner: 17:08

Another one of those lifers fully committed to the institution.

Kent Sampson: 17:12

Yeah.

J.C. Stoner: 17:13

We talked a little bit about meetings earlier. What is the most ridiculous meeting you ever sat in?

Kent Sampson: 17:21

Well, it is ridiculous and it was both, looking back, I can say was ridiculous and humorous, though at the time, ridiculous still might have applied, but humorous wouldn't probably. It had to be when we in res life were called in to Vice President of administration's office, for the purpose of being told that facilities--the operation of facilities, maintenance, and housekeeping--were being transferred from us to the Physical Plant. And we thought,"Oh, my goodness." I've always been one of those that contends that parents and students alike, particularly parents, believe that their son or daughter needs to be taken care of with the basics when they come to campus as in housing and dining. And by the way, those things that support housing and dining, like facilities, like hot water, like air conditioning that works, like a housekeeping staff that keeps bathrooms clean, etc. So that was the most ridiculous meeting I think I've ever set in because I really believe philosophically that that was the wrong direction. And yet, we were told that we would march that direction and had to do it, ultimately, and I think, at some price, there was some price to pay for that, Not not so much personally, as much as within the system over time, for sure.

J.C. Stoner: 18:44

I know that's happened to a lot of schools in the last 20 years where housing and dining really got piecemealed apart and privatitized various aspects or, you know, there was some budgetary rationale of efficient use of resources by mining all of our F&O people.

Kent Sampson: 19:02

Yes, but looking back, that was a strange encounter. But we were told in no uncertain terms that we were all to march together in that direction. And so we had to do that.

J.C. Stoner: 19:14

Let's talk about your SWACUHO involvement. Give us just a brief rundown of what you did.

Kent Sampson: 19:21

Okay. Well, you know, I think my first SWACUHO to attend would have been the early 70s, I think. And I believe what I what happened was, it was at the University of Arkansas, I believe. And as I recall, J.C., I think I went over there because our department head, Lynn Jackson, at the time was an agulatean. And so he headed what was then called the Time and Place Committee. And we already knew we were getting ready to host that conference the next year, the SWACUHO conference. So I think my first involvement would have been representing him in the Time and Place Committee to reaffirm our interest in hosting the group the following year. I think is just one year out or two years later in 1976, as I recall, so that's where I began and over time had a chance to serve on a few different committees and one year the ACUHO-I president contacted me and asked me be parliamentarian for the Business Meeting and things like that. But at any rate, that's kind of where I began, I guess in SWACUHO was on the Time and Place Committee,

J.C. Stoner: 20:25

But you were then president in 1980 and 1981?

Kent Sampson: 20:31

That's right. 1980 and 81. It was at the conference in Austin, Texas, I'll always remember is at the Villa Capri Hotel, which was shortly after we left demolished, and we had been told that it was going to go away. And I think it's now part of either the LBJ complex or else the stadium complex there, right off Interstate 35. I remember. But anyway, yes. As President that year and you know, J.C., you know, one of the questions you kind of posed to me, and this was significant events or happenings maybe during that time. Without question, the number one accomplishment, I felt like, just almost has to be the fact that we created the Jim Gibson award that year in honor of Jim Gibson, a great colleague and fellow Director of Res Life at the University of Arkansas then. And once a group have decided this is a business meeting and share that with a group. My task was to call Jim and tell him we were doing that. Jim was still alive then and struggling with leukemia. He was in a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the time, and I always remember my phone call to Jim. And in that slow southern drawl that only Jim had. He said, kind of y'all thanks so much. And so I always thought that was a big deal, because at least in my time in history was SWACUHO, that was the kind of the premier award to honor an outstanding professional. And that's what Jim was to all of us. So that was the biggest accomplishment in many ways. I felt like that year that I was president.

J.C. Stoner: 22:00

Well that's great. A fun fact is the year you served as president was actually the year I was born. I don't know if that makes me feel older or you feel older...

Kent Sampson: 22:10

Oh my goodness! That's why when you started this up and we had a little trouble with me getting online and all, didn't you refer to me as being in the tow away zone of life? Didn't you say that, or was that me? But that made some sense. I've been around a few years...

J.C. Stoner: 22:29

Yeah something like that? Yeah. Now, since we're talking about the towaway zone of life, I'm really going to test your memory here. Do you have any programs from any SWACUHO conferences that really stuck out to you? Like "this was a winner."

Kent Sampson: 22:42

I want to say a program that I had a chance to team up with Dan Helenback on, who was of course at SEAHO at the time at University of Georgia on accountability. I wanted to say that that when rang a bell had a big turnout. And we were asked to do it again later because of that. So that kind of stood out as I was thinking about it.

J.C. Stoner: 23:03

Was it staff accountability or holding students accountable?

Kent Sampson: 23:06

As I recall it was all about that notion of accountability within the profession. Subscribing to a code of ethics and living that in your daily lives. That could apply to both students and teach and sever as examples, but certainly staff and younger staff as they come through the profession. Seems like we spent a lot of time on that code of ethics.

J.C. Stoner: 23:43

At what point did it click for you that there was value and involvement above and beyond just attending the conference?

Kent Sampson: 23:50

Probably when I got my first opportunity to present a program because I could see that people were contributing their many ideas and their their time and talents to share some of these ideas with others. So probably somewhere in there when I had the first opportunity to do that. And for me, that came about I think when I actually attended that the ACHUO-I conference in Houston in the late 70s, and was asked to present a program there and it was having to do with your freshmen, what you were doing, particularly for for freshmen and residents. We call it then the Alpha program. So getting to do that both regionally and then nationally helped to drive that point home to me.

J.C. Stoner: 24:34

I always viewed providing programs, like presenting at conferences is just like a little gesture of goodwill, because so many people invest so many hours in planning this conference is like the least I can do is give an hour of my time.

Kent Sampson: 24:46

Yeah, it seemed like yeah, we something that we ought to be dedicated enough to give back to others if people allowed us to have these opportunities to serve and do our business and share whatever wisdom we've got. It seemed to be important to expect people to who are in those roles to be able to be challenged to give back. Yeah.

J.C. Stoner: 25:08

Yeah. Leading up to you becoming President, earlier we talked about--or you talked about--being in the right place at the right time in your career. I've often viewed leadership positions and elections as sometimes being at the right place the right time but the conditions and timing also being right. And you talked about, well, the conditions and timing for the ACUHO-I President wasn't right for you at that time. What do you think made it your time to be president in 1980?

Kent Sampson: 25:37

I think probably because I had been so active and served in so many ways I'd share the Program Chair had chaired the program committee. At that time, I forget if it was called the Diversity Committee when it was created. But I chaired that. And I think there's just a lot of recognition about my involvement. And maybe, therefore, my leadership in the organization, we had hosted a regional conference as well. And I've been program chair of that. So I think probably J.C. the fact that I had quite a bit of visibility, because of the years I've been serving fairly actively in the association. So that's what made the time maybe kind of right or obvious for me was, people recognize that I'd been a presenter, gosh, I don't know how many times. We had the annual Skills Workshop then going on in Denton, Texas every year. And I'd been a presenter at that with several other people for many years. I mean, three or four, at least by then. So the skills workshop presentation impacted that as well.

J.C. Stoner: 26:40

I think the comment about visibility is particularly important, because that's so transferable even into like, day to day jobs and working in housing that, you know, visibility matters, RAs who are visible are a more approachable. Staff that are visible or a little bit more top of mind when opportunities come up, or projects. I think there's a really legitimate point there about how do you make yourself visible?

Kent Sampson: 27:03

It's that whole notion of a picture's worth 1000 words, almost where if students and others have seen you, rather than just have heard about you or heard of you, they begin to see your human characteristics as well. Both those that got you the job, maybe, but also where you have shortcomings as well. So, you're right. Physical presence is a big deal. I think you're right.

J.C. Stoner: 27:27

So did you have an official platform you ran on when you ran for president?

Kent Sampson: 27:33

You know, the best I can recall it, I mean, I don't think I had a formal platform per se. But I knew for me and knowing my nature, my group was going to be about the idea of serving the profession, service to the profession, was definitely the direction we tried to head. So in that sense, it started with how to best serve the regional professionals. Take a look at what their needs are, and then try to build programs and so forth to support that. So wether it was a Skills Workshop continuing and or are some, you know, waivers and scholarships being able to be provided and given to grad assistants, that sort of thing. There are different ways that we embarked upon trying to serve the profession in the region. And so that was clearly the theme, I guess you'd say that I adopted.

J.C. Stoner: 28:24

And do you think you were successful in achieving that platform?

Kent Sampson: 28:27

I think, yeah, I'd score on a scale of one to 10. I'd score of us our group, because it's a team of us that hold SWACUHO leadership team, um, give us an eight or nine on that. I think we work pretty hard at that.

J.C. Stoner: 28:43

Well, obviously, the organization continued after your tenure, so it couldn't have been that bad.

Kent Sampson: 28:48

Yeah, in spite of it.

J.C. Stoner: 28:50

Maybe. There was one time I always said that, you know, people want to be RAs because they either had a really good RA or really bad RA. Yeah, at this one time. I was just mouthing this off. And like an RA training, I was like, "who in here is here because they had a good RA" and everyone raised their hands. And just not thinking I was like, "who in here is here because they had a bad RA?" And then I was like,"Oh, wait, nobody answer that because your bad RA could be in this room."... But you know, maybe SWACUHO persisted in spite of you.

Kent Sampson: 29:26

Really.

J.C. Stoner: 29:27

So let's just wrap up with some miscellaneous things. What's a book you most frequently share with others?

Kent Sampson: 29:35

Oh, great question. I'm glad you posed that because you made me think a little bit on that. I identified three, J.C. The first one, I'll tell you, I still swear by this. As a matter of fact, this next Tuesday morning on the OSU campus, I'm continuing to make a presentation that we use it a component of this. Years ago the HR department asked me to create a program called "the indispensable employee." So I've worked on that for years. I've been presenting it now for years. And then this next Tuesday morning on August 10, I'm presenting it again. Well, within that, I always use the Ernest Boyer book on community. Why? It's called "In Search of Community" by Ernest Boyer, though Boyer is now deceased, of course, he was the he had been president of the SUNY system. And he at this time was employed to do the research for a national organization. And so I always use the Boyer piece because you My goodness, that's 35 to 40 years old, but it's about community. And my contention is, as I share this with university employees in this session next Tuesday, is campuses that are most successful in helping their students grow and mature, be ready to matriculate graduate and move on, are those who have helped them feel like they're part of a campus community in the several things that that makes. So that's one. Boyer, it's called "In Search of Community." And the research project that he conducted, by the way, what's key about that reason I still unit use it. His subjects were all university presidents. So he interviewed some 300+ university presidents in looking to the future about what constitutes community. That's why I still use it because these are your brightest men and women. And they had these ideas about community on campuses. So I use that one. Number two. Malcolm Gladwell's"The Tipping Point." I make reference to that often I think that's good. Finally, a great story about human character is a story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It's called"Radical Integrity." It's a great story about a guy who, during the Hitler years, had to make a decision as a German citizen. And as he more and more begin to see what was going on realized "I can't be a part of that." So the fact that he even went around to being captured. And as the story goes, he was executed, I think, just just a couple of months before the end of World War Two. So here's the guy gave his life for what he believed. And so that's the book to read about Bonhoeffer. And so those would be the three. It's called The Story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It's called "Radical Integrity," or The Tipping Point" by Gladwell. And then finally "In Search of Community" with Boyer. I think those are the three I'd mentioned, primarily.

J.C. Stoner: 32:35

Oh, great. We got some additional reading for our listeners out there. What is one piece of advice commonly given that you would tell a young professional to ignore?

Kent Sampson: 32:48

I think where I'd land on this one is to focus on how you can serve the population that you're working with, don't worry about making your mark or leaving your mark. I think one of the challenges of a lot of young professionals, sometimes it's been that of, "I need to leave my mark." I remember Betty Greenleaf, who's long ago died at Indiana University. She came here to speak at NACURH once years ago in the late 70s, that her team was changed for the changing times. And she was cautious to say, "don't be afraid of change, but do it for the right reason." So I always appreciate Betty's reminder to us and the students across the country, we sometimes think we need to leave, we want to leave our mark our message. So nothing wrong with desiring to do that. But you really do that through your work ethic and your dedication to serve and that sort of thing. So I would tell young professionals don't worry about leaving your mark, that'll be a natural outcome or byproduct of who you serve and how you work in the in the business.

J.C. Stoner: 33:56

Yeah, there was that West Wing episode, the president said like "all day, we've been thinking about rendering the painting, and maybe we just need to step back and let the painting render itself" or something like that. I couldn't agree with you more that and I think people get caught up too much in like,"what's my legacy going to be?"

Kent Sampson: 34:15

Yes.

J.C. Stoner: 34:16

You know, legacies are defined after the fact. And if we just show up day in and day out and do good work, that there's going to be a legacy there whether we tried or not.

Kent Sampson: 34:25

Good point. Yeah.

J.C. Stoner: 34:26

So I understand you are the founding and only president of the National Tri Beta Society. In my background research, I wasn't able to learn much about this seemingly semi secret society. Can you tell our listeners about this professional organization?

Kent Sampson: 34:46

Oh, my goodness, I'll never forget. I think it was at Lincoln, Nebraska. We were at a conference, standing in line for a meal. And I forget who I was talking with in the line and we were kidding each other about to Tri Betas when the young man right in line ahead of us he said "Oh, are you Tri Betas too?" We didn't know who the guy was and in that moment we found out it was an honorary Biological Sciences fraternity, we had no idea. Anyway, we just had this this the ridiculous gameplan at various conferences, you would approach somebody your knew well, and tell them that we wanted to induct them into the Tri Betas. And by the way, we had a bright gold sweatshirt with a BBB on it. I think it was my daughters. And that would always be passed on from one person to another. So that, but were we surprised when there was a national honorary for the students and biological sciences that we learned to better be careful where and when you utter those initials, because you may pay for that.

J.C. Stoner: 35:51

There's a student organization for everyone out there.

Kent Sampson: 35:55

There sure is. That's true. Yep, that's true.

J.C. Stoner: 35:58

So we all know that attending conferences can be a financial challenge. In preparing for this interview, it came to my attention that you would occasionally make plans for you and Sheila to share a room with another couple to save money but then, and I'm quoting,"a last minute change of plans where Sheila was actually three of your employees from Oklahoma State with the hope the other couple wouldn't mind sharing the accommodation with four guys from Oklahoma State." Is there any truth to this?

Kent Sampson: 36:28

Oh, you would use a personal example on me... Yes. I think that happened in Tampa, Florida if I'm not mistaken, then that's exactly what happened. Sheila wound up not being able to go and so I took the guys with me and then we looked at next door and there's Ken and Ruth Stoner. But they were good souls about it. Certainly Ruth was, your mother was It was hilarious. But that's true. That actually happened. I think it was in Tampa. Say I do want to say one of the things, J.C., I want to squeeze in here too. That is one of my very favorite things to do. And I really respect the fact that got to do this. I'll never forget this call. I got one summer from Chuck Waring who was in working at Kansas State, who as you know, is now deceased.

J.C. Stoner: 37:14

He was director when I was an RA at Kansas State.

Kent Sampson: 37:16

Yeah, that's right. That's right. Well, his request was, "hey, I coordinate the Stars College for ACUHO-I. And we have normally 10 faculty a year on that." And he said,"I'm interested in asking if you'll join, but you got to commit to doing it at least for two years." And I did it for seven as it turned out. But he said "The reason I'd like for you to do it is you know the Res Life side, you've you've come from that. But you also a little more broadly have moved over to a broader area of Student Affairs, kind of the Dean of Students role. So he said, "I'd like for you to do that. Because I'd like to have a little more balance on that then just Res Life people since it's of course it is primary for Res Life folks anyway." Gosh, I couldn't turn Chuck down. I did it. And like I said, I wind up doing it for seven years. And that was a treat, because that surely helped me stay in touch with young professionals in the business. Also some other colleagues in the business that some that I knew and some that I didn't who are on the faculty. So I really love that. I taught a couple of years also at the National Housing Training Institute when that was initiated at the University of Florida when under Jim Grimm. So both in NHTI but particularly the Stars College out of ACUHO-I. I really enjoyed that, particularly with these last 18 years not being in Res Life but surely have lots of friends in that part of the profession. I so much enjoyed that that connection.

J.C. Stoner: 38:47

That's really great. Let me ask you this. Are there any like Samson-isms, things that you say all the time that people have said, well, that's just that's a Samson-ism?

Kent Sampson: 38:58

There probably are. And yet they get I thought of that earlier, I asked my spouse that and the only ones that she could think of were the personal ones, whether it's time to go to bed or something else that I have a certain way of making that comment. So I guess, I guess I don't offer much there. But I'm telling you probably those people that worked for with and around me, they would have a few probably for you. I can't think.

J.C. Stoner: 39:24

Probably. I think that's where people don't realize that. Apparently I say this a lot because they laugh and

Kent Sampson: 39:31

Yeah, yeah, there we go. Yeah, that's right.

J.C. Stoner: 39:34

All right. Anything else you want to share with the SWACUHO listeners?

Kent Sampson: 39:38

I would say this to the SWACUHO listeners, I say. So whether you are in a leadership capacity or not, it doesn't mean that you always be looked out for because at one of the skills workshops in Denton, Texas, about four carloads of us went out to this Italian restaurant to eat and those four carloads all went back to the residence hall we are staying in for the next day session, except myself. They left me behind because they couldn't remember who was in what car. So all of a sudden, and it's not like I was hidden in the bathroom or anything but all of a sudden, all four vehicles go back to the north Texas campus without Samson so just shows regardless how big you think you are important you are, you can be left behind.

J.C. Stoner: 40:29

What a humbling experience

Kent Sampson: 40:30

It was. They were nice enough to come back and get me though they did come back and get me.

J.C. Stoner: 40:34

The next day?

Kent Sampson: 40:36

No! That night they did.

J.C. Stoner: 40:39

I think it's a perfect illustration that nobody's bigger than the game, Kent.

Kent Sampson: 40:42

There we go. You're right. That's right, for sure.

J.C. Stoner: 40:46

All right. Well, that's a wrap for our very first SWACUHO Podcast episode. A big thanks to Past President Kent Sampson for volunteering yet again for the benefit of our region. Kent's stories and experience not only gave us a lot to think about with respect to our own careers and professional involvement, but he also delivered some very practical and actionable advice. Let me know your number one takeaway from this episode by replying on the SWACUHO social media podcast posts. I welcome any feedback about the quality and content of the show via swacuhopodcast@gmail.com. I have a small lineup of topics and guests but I'm always open to suggestions to provide the most service and value to you, the membership. Our next episode is going to be a book club with two of my favorite people, Apefa Cooper and Maddie Reed, who are going to discuss the book "The Power of Moments" by Chip and Dan Heath. Specifically, we are going to discuss how to engineer meaningful moments that create elevated experience throughout the college housing landscape. Apefa and Maddie presented on this book at the 2019 SWACUHO Annual Conference, which just so happened to have been recognized as a top five program that year, so you definitely don't want to miss it. If you want to read the book before the episode you have about a month. A link to purchase the book online will be in the show notes. Take it from me, it's a powerful book to read, yet extremely easy to consume. You definitely have time to read the book as long as you make it a priority. I hope you join us for what is sure to be a lively and fun episode. And with that I say to you, good day.