100% Humboldt

#118. Dr. Richard Carvajal: Coming Home to Lead Cal Poly Humboldt

• scott hammond • Episode 118

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Dr. Richard Carvajal, the new president of Cal Poly Humboldt, sits down with Scott Hammond for a conversation about growing up in Humboldt, the mentos who changed his life, and what it means to come home to lead the university. They talk about commencement, the Cal Poly transformation, new degrees and facilities, athletics, community partnerships, internships, and the role Humboldt can play in keeping graduates on the North Coast. Along the way, Richard shares the personal story behind his work in education - from hardship and help to a career build around changing lives.

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New President And Commencement Joy

SPEAKER_02

Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, and all those out to see it's Scott Hammond and the 100% Humboldt Podcast with my new very best friend, Dr. Richard Carval. Hey, Richard. It's great to be here. Good to be with you. What is it you do? You got an H uh Humboldt thing there.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, you know, I don't know. I got a I got a job that keeps me busy during the day. Uh I get to be the new president of Cal Poly Humboldt. Cool. And you got to graduate in class? It just happened. We did. Saturday, we had a very full day. We had three separate commencements, which uh meant we were there all day. It is my favorite day of every single year. Um I've done this work for a while. I've gotten into to lead, uh been very blessed and fortunate to get to lead commencements all you know at different places, but never at Humboldt. And uh that's what I was telling myself as I walked in, got a little emotional.

SPEAKER_02

That's really cool. I so that that becomes a benchmark then for a successful year.

SPEAKER_03

It is the day that is the manifestation of why we do what we do. Um I I always say that move in day is fantastic. You see a lot of happy fans. I am the kind of president that'll pick up a microfridge or box and help somebody move in. Those are always fun. Um but commencement day is the day that uh i it it's the life-changing day.

SPEAKER_02

Aaron Powell Yeah, I bet. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

It's it's the success. Uh well, it's the cherry on top. We had about a thousand graduates walk across the stage. And I think folks were surprised that I talked to every single one of them. I want that to be special. I've always done that. Um and uh you know, we gotta do it quickly because we're getting a thousand across, but I want every one of them to have their moment. Because what I try to tell folks is we may have a thousand walk, but for them, they get one. They have one. And we want it to be special.

SPEAKER_02

That's pretty cool. Yeah, I remember shaking Alistair Macron's hand and walking in 1982, and it's great. Yeah, it's a commemorative moment. So uh tell us the Richard story. Where are you from? Who are who are you anyway?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Uh you're from here. Yeah. Uh 100% Humboldt. I am. You might say.

SPEAKER_03

So I grew up uh in Humboldt. I lived for just a little bit in Eureka, um, but then we moved out to the little places called Hydesville and Carlotta. That uh you gotta be from Humboldt to know where those are. I'm gonna show you on the map real quick. So everybody here knows where they're at.

SPEAKER_02

But so this is my chance where I ri release my prop. So okay. Here's the uh prop that doesn't

Growing Up Humboldt Then Oklahoma

SPEAKER_02

work. There it is. There it is. So Hydesville and Carlotta's been out there. But Fortuna. Uh-huh. Fortuna, is that how you say it?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, Fortuna. We uh we we grew up uh as Fortuna Husky fans. Don't hate me if you're uh if you're for somebody else, but that's what we did on Friday nights. And uh uh so yeah, we uh we lived uh up on the hilltop in in Hydesville, and then we moved out. Uh literally the Van Duos one was my backyard in Carlotta. Loved it. Um and and and truly, I mean, when the when your yard is the redwood forest, you you're you're pretty lucky. And uh and I thought it was a great place to live. I thought I always wanted to be here. But looking back, there were four kids and my mom and dad in a one-bedroom cabin out in Carlotta. We we were struggling. I didn't know it. Uh yeah. You didn't know that yeah, kids never did. You don't know. And uh but uh you know, in retrospect, it really shouldn't be that surprising that uh I was here through middle school and my dad got what appeared to be a much better financial offer if we would relocate the family to rural Oklahoma, which I don't know how much your listeners know about Oklahoma, but let's just say it doesn't look like Humboldt County. Not at all. A little hotter, too. Uh where'd you go to Oklahoma? So we went to a little place, no one's heard of it here. It's called Crowder. Uh again, another one stop sign town. Uh and uh Texas has those too. Uh they sure do. They sure do. Uh Crowder was so small, for instance, that uh there was uh the graduate it was a K through twelve school, public school, all in the same building, and there were 28 in my graduating class. How small was it? 28. 28. Uh so we uh we go out there, and unfortunately the the better offer that we thought was gonna be there did not materialize. And uh so uh things got harder. My parents, I think the stress of the financial situation we were in played a role certainly in in them splitting and divorcing. My mom then tried to keep a roof over the heads of my three siblings and I by cleaning houses until that didn't work. And ultimately when I was in high school, I lived by myself and I called the backseat of a 1973 Ford Thunderbird my home.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, all the way to presidency.

SPEAKER_03

Uh yeah. I love it. So then people wonder how in the heck did that happen? How do you how do you go from spending your nights sleeping in that car to the seat I occupy now? And uh you gotta get really, really lucky.

SPEAKER_02

I have I I'll take a shot. Okay. Uh grit, grit and God and faith, and you just keep moving and making good decisions. And a lot of help. And and community.

SPEAKER_03

You have to want it

Homeless In High School

SPEAKER_03

for sure, but you also gotta get a lot of help. It it takes both. And I did I for whatever reason, I always had a belief that it could get better.

SPEAKER_01

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

Um I I I remember I I tell folks, I don't really know. I think your mind kind of removes from your memory things that are hard. Um there's been a lot studied about that over the years, but uh I don't truly know how long I was there. I just I I've never forgotten the first night. Um there was a county park, they wouldn't let you stay there anymore. They would clean it out at the end of the night. But back then, there was one uh streetlight in the park, and I could stay under it, and there was a little bathroom uh right there, and that was home. And I sat underneath that straight street light and balled like a baby. How about that? Wondering how the heck that had happened. But I don't know, the next morning I was like, There'll be it'll get better. I don't know how, but it's gonna get better. And the way it got better was ultimately uh a friend I had made at school, his he went home and told his family about this friend he'd made who was living down at the park. And they reached out and asked if I wanted to stay with them for a while.

SPEAKER_02

How about that?

SPEAKER_03

And uh they became kind of another family to me. And because of them, I stayed in high school. I was the valedictorian, uh, which you were gonna think was impressive, but you already found out there were only 28 in the class and four of us tied. So it really wasn't that impressive. Big fish, super small pine. Super small pond. You know, I'm not a mathematician, but even I know that's one in one of seven, you know, that that's not that great. But with it came, with the title, came a scholarship.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_03

And uh so I got to go to South Oklahoma's version of Humboldt State, which is the school that I had dreamed of going to as a kid. And yes, I still sometimes call it HSU. What's it called? Uh East Central University. Oh, sure. East Central. East Central. Yeah, if you know it. You think about it all the time, of course, right? Uh but uh went there and and I always say that place didn't just change my life. It saved my life. Wow. And uh and I got there and and um there was uh I was terrified. I thought for sure. Actually, the two valedictorians for the two prior years of my high school had both funked out of college their freshman year. Wow. And so I was sure I would be the next. Um so I worked crazy hard. And then one day I got a message out in the hallway that the vice president of student services wanted to see me, and I thought they had found me and that they were gonna send me home. Busted. Yep. Yep, gotta go. And uh instead of that happening, uh I had he had identified me and put me up, decided to put me up for some kind of national program. I uh and had to talk me into to going for it. But then for whatever reason, uh he stayed in my life. Um he would check on me all through that program and then afterward kept checking on me, became like my second father.

SPEAKER_02

Wow. Still is to this day. Still living. Uh still is.

SPEAKER_03

Beautiful story.

SPEAKER_02

I love that.

SPEAKER_03

And uh and it's why I do what I do is I wanted to do what he did. Uh and Dr. Gerald Williamson. Still teach still teaching? He he retired years ago. He stinks at retirement. I've told him he's created everything except that. Uh he just keeps coming back. He's still at that university, works in in advancement there in uh in in their development operation. Uh he was just put up earlier this spring for the latest of of big honors. He was put into a hall of fame, and and I had the tremendous pleasure, uh, was asked to go back and present him for that. Oh wow. And uh and I'm one of several, quite a few actually, that he has played that kind of role for. He's a real mentor. Truly. Um truly I've always said everything I ever have been or ever will be, certainly professionally, in many ways, you could say personally, I owe to him.

SPEAKER_02

It's pretty cool. It's cool to have a mentor.

SPEAKER_03

I if my story is anything, I've been told this, and there everyone who has said it is right. If my story is anything, it is truly a story of how you can take somebody with kind of okay ability. And if mentors just decide for whatever reason to pour into that person, then then some pretty neat things can happen. And in ways that I will never understand for reasons I will never understand throughout my life. Um and saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. He was the the maybe I'd say the next of many. And uh and here I am because of it.

SPEAKER_02

I like it.

SPEAKER_03

So And now humbled. And now humbled. Because uh my career evolved the way it did. I was very fortunate I got to I was asked to be a a president and I did that for 15 years in Georgia's university system. I was their longest serving president. Aaron Powell Was that at Valdasta? The last nine years was as at Valdasta State University, which was Georgia. It is in Georgia, right on the Georgia-Forida border. It's basically the University of South Georgia, um, doctoral granting school of well over 10,000.

Mentors, Scholarships, And A Career

SPEAKER_03

Um quite frankly, I thought I would just stay there and maybe finish my career there. I had turned down overtures to look at other spots because I was happy.

SPEAKER_02

Nice community there.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, great people. I bet. Phenomenal people that so welcomed me in in great ways that I'll always appreciate. But then last June I got a phone call and uh got it person who was charged with running this search. I'd gotten those calls in the past. I'd always said, Hey, I'm flattered, thanks, but no thanks. Sure. But he led with, uh, Richard, do you want to come home? Wow. And I uh held the phone away from me for a while and I'm sorry, and starts telling me about Cal Poly Humboldt. And I said, uh I finally cut him off. I said, I'm sorry, I I don't know that school, I know Humboldt State. Uh of course he then told me the full story. And while I had been back, you know, several times over the years to visit, I hadn't been here in a few years, and so I didn't know what had happened. I could not believe the story he was telling me. That kind of investment just doesn't happen in higher education.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_03

And uh and to have to know that it was happening in this place that had made me me was incredible. And I went home that night and sat on the back porch with my wife, who loves Humboldt maybe even more than I do. She's not from here, but she hates the sun, she hates the heat, she loves rain. She's been here. South Georgia's not great for her. Yeah, she's been here many times. Yeah, we we've been married uh it'll be 33 years and two weeks. And I think it was 31 years ago, the first time I brought her here. And she has, I'd say, probably ever since that trip, if you would have asked her, hey, there's anywhere in the world you could live, where would it be? She'd have told you Humboldt County. Man, oh man. Um and so that night on the back porch, she said, Okay, set aside how much you know I want to be in Humboldt. She goes, Richard, how many people get an opportunity to go back to the place that made them them at this kind of historic time and be a part of that? You have to do this. And here I am. So she's your other mentor. Oh, absolutely. What's her name? Cheryl. Hey, Cheryl. Dr. Cheryl Carvajal.

SPEAKER_02

What's up, Cheryl?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. She's the smarter one. She was the first doctor in the family. Oh, nice. In fact, she made it very clear that I had to finish mine, or the next time we printed checks, it would be Mr. and Dr. Carvajal.

SPEAKER_02

Pressure's on. The pressure was on. Babe. I love it. That's a great story. I love that. Coming back. So you're the you're the very first president of Cal Poly Humboldt, correct?

SPEAKER_03

Uh, was there a president for a minute before? So President Jackson was the president. So it was Cal Poly Humble when it was when the name was changed and they went through that mission change. Of course, Mike Spanya, many know got to know Mike in the time that he was here as an interim for 18 months. He's been a great mentor to me and a great friend. Uh, we've gotten to know each other really well. Nice. He loves this place. He's doing great things, obviously, in his new spot. Where's he at? As at Sonoma State, um, as their as their new president, uh doing great. Uh loves that community, he's fitting in well. They've got family there, et cetera. But I think a piece of him will always be in Humboldt. And uh he did great work here, and and now we're trying to build upon it.

SPEAKER_02

Nice.

SPEAKER_03

And you guys have some kids too, right? Yeah. I got a 25-year-old daughter.

SPEAKER_01

Nice.

SPEAKER_03

Uh and uh she has uh I was on the phone with her one night, she's in Valdasta, and she was standing next to her mom. She had walked into the house, and Cheryl said, You want to talk to your dad? And she said, Sure. And uh she gets on and she says, So yeah, I've decided when mom moves, I'm gonna go ahead and move too. I think I'm coming to Humboldt. Wow. And uh asked Cheryl when I when she left. I said, Did you know about that? She said, Nope, just found out. And uh so everyone whose parents will understand how you can't it can't be your idea, it's gotta be theirs. But we're thrilled that it became her idea. So she'll be joining as well. And then we have a um uh well, in a couple of days, 22-year-old son who's a student back where I was president before.

SPEAKER_02

Is he coming?

SPEAKER_03

Not yet.

SPEAKER_02

He hasn't yet.

SPEAKER_03

Although we are getting him to visit this summer, and so but again, can't be our our idea. No, no, you you get that.

SPEAKER_02

Uh make sure it's his.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it's gotta be his idea.

SPEAKER_02

I love that. So going back real quick to Cal Poly's transition. Um, how how did that all happen from Humboldt State? So one of the threads and the jokes on the show here is hey, uh Humboldt State, it'll always be Humboldt State while it's Cal Poly, while it's Humboldt State. So blah blah blah. How how did that transition happen? How did that funding happen? The vision, who was behind that? How did that all uh uh snowball down the hill to become uh today's Cal Poly?

SPEAKER_03

So uh again, I'll say I've said it once, I'll keep saying it. I I will still occasionally

How Cal Poly Humboldt Happened

SPEAKER_03

call it Humboldt Estate 2. Um and oh by the way, if if you know those that are watching or listening this this podcast, they attended HSC or HSU, you you're part of the family. It's it's all humble. It's all Humboldt, right? Um But one of the things that had so identified Humboldt for years was this connection to this one-of-a-kind place that we get to call home. Um the the world comes here for the specialness of what we have to visit, and sometimes they come here for the specialness of what we have to study, and we have been doing that and bringing people from everywhere for years. And when they come here, they dive into this place. And so the experiential aspect of the education that has been offered by our faculty at Humboldt, I can tell you, having worked at colleges and universities across the country, is just next level.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_03

Um you don't tend to walk into an undergraduate program in most places and and get the kind of experiential exposure that that we get here, whether it be in the ocean or in the redwoods or in any of the things we do. Um and that whole idea of learning by doing is frankly core to what is a polytechnic. And so, of course, we had two Cal Polys at the time that brand there's and there's polytechnics scattered across the country. Um they are uh frankly, in from an enrollment perspective, from a demand perspective, uh they are the pinnacle right now in higher education. It's what everybody often is looking for. I would tell you schools across America would love to be polytechnics. Um, and yet there's some expectations that come with that. The group that was in leadership here at uh if you go back to kind of the ear, well, entering COVID before a little bit before COVID and then early in the early days of the pandemic, there was an understanding here that um what was happening with experiential learning was different, and it really in many ways fit the Kal Poly model. And there was an opportunity potentially for California to invest in this region and to uh think of doing so in a way that would spur on further economic growth. Cool. Okay. And so uh a group came together and they started, they put together an idea of could Humboldt become the third Cal Poly in this system. And um, in so doing, again, maybe over time, the thought was, hey, we could do it over the course of a decade, would we'd become an institution that would train up the work and leadership force for that next generation of economic investment that would frankly economic businesses today in in economic development, you kind of in that world, businesses today go to where workforce and leadership are. That is the commodity that that in today's economic world folks are most looking for. Trevor Burrus, Jr. So we might have ancillary businesses come to us. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Used to be you built spec building and industry showed up and they compared different spec buildings and tax abatement uh opportunities, et cetera, and that's where they decided to put their next operation. Really, for the last probably decade, it's been where can I find a workforce, where can I find a leadership force? And so the idea of injecting folks in high-demand fields into this area coming out of Humboldt was thought to put to have the potential to be a game play changer. Again, they thought it probably would take a decade to complete that kind of conversion. And uh so folks here worked with folks from the California State University system and uh kind of pitched the idea and in the middle of COVID started saying what might we be post-pandemic, what might it look like in the future. And there was some buy-in that, you know, that could make some sense. Ultimately the idea the idea got pitched to the governor's office. And uh I'm sure most folks thought that the best they would hear is, hey, that's cool. It's kind of a neat idea. Think about that for a while.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um instead, what happened was, hey, could you put together some kind of list of what it would cost to do that? And uh they did, thinking again that probably nothing would come out of it. And uh lo and behold, the governor said, you know what, that investment would would be perfect. Johnny Gavin Newsom. Gavin Newsom. And so made a nearly half billion dollar investment with along with uh with our state legislature to um make this happen. And so we dived, uh the group dived in at that time and uh has had uh over $400 million of capital construction projects that have been happening. Right. Uh we needed housing in order to house the influx of students that likely would come with the Cow Poly brand. Right. Uh I can tell you, usually that is that has to be funded through across the country through significant debt service that you'll then pay off over time with those that you're gonna hope are gonna live in in housing. Here, at least with the initial project, that was funded by the state.

SPEAKER_01

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

Um that just doesn't happen, but it happened here, and what that's allowing us to do is use the revenue from what we get in housing to now improve all of our housing inventory. That's really cool. That's special. Uh we're in the final stages of building a new engineering building that's accompanying uh other uh multiple new engineering degrees. Uh we're doing some renovation to our science spaces, et cetera. And that will continue. And then there was an investment of ongoing funding as part of that initial commitment uh that has allowed us, as of this fall, will have started since the poly conversion was announced, 17 new degrees at at Cal Poly. I can tell you in that short period of time, nationally that does not happen. It's beautiful. It's happening here. Good job. Um and we're not done. So it's been a lot in the STEM fields, uh, but now it's really kind of the last phase of that is gonna be largely focused on health care because we know that's another big piece that if you're gonna try to attract industry in, what do you need? Um, you need great education and you need access to health care. And we know the challenges that we have in terms of access to health care, physicians, nurses, and the like. We can be a part of that answer working with CR and others, and uh and we're gonna do that.

SPEAKER_02

Aaron Powell That's cool. I like the collaboration with CR too.

SPEAKER_03

Oh God. As a as a kid, I snuck into their pool all the time. Keith Flammer and I have become good friends, and what a what a great leader he's been for this community. Yeah. Um I I joke with Keith that I snuck into the pool. Quite frankly, it was my my best friend across the street in Hydesville was a was a uh a teacher at Cal at uh CR. And we would go over with him in the summer and he got us access. And so you know, some of my earliest memories were spent uh tromping around that campus, just like some of my earliest memories of living here were quite literally the the times that I came here to Cal Poly, either to watch a football game or uh uh I was that student in middle school that they put on a bus and they they took to the campus and said, you know what, someday you could come here. And crazy story. I started in January on a Tuesday. I happened to say in one of my introductions that I had gone to Cuddy Back Middle School in in Little Carlotta that you pointed to on the map over there. And uh in middle school, they put me on that on a bus for that kind of trip that the students were coming to. And I got that opportunity my first week to go welcome them and say, I know a story of a guy who was at your place. And oh, by the way, it's me. I know a guy. I know a guy, and uh it's me.

SPEAKER_02

That's a great story. Yeah. No, I love it. I um so I came up from San Diego as a hippie feral child. Okay. My mom raised me in the hood in uh little town called Nashville City. And uh my dad had the hood spot to bring me up. Uh he lived in Oceanside, she lived in Nashville City. But we went to the dorms and stayed and did the eight orientation program. And uh drank all that Kool-Aid came back uh six weeks later and got a home in um uh at the Colony Inn and uh and uh did the first year there and second year met Joni met Jesus met sobriety and met a degree at Humboldt liberal arts been here ever since it was great eighty two class of eighty two baby and yeah what yeah what what a great education yeah and what a great still a great place and that that alumni um buy-in you know when they were destroying the campus a couple years ago um and and I'm sure y you may or may not want to comment on that I I just you know is in my backyard at my university and here's the Yahoos from you know the jerkweeds from wherever and local uh doing two million dollars plus in damage and I'm going shit that's not cool. How is that even okay to to do that? So um uh there's my big protest.

SPEAKER_03

So uh go you said go jacks are we gonna get lumberjack uh football back is that is that is that ever going to happen and you said hey you never get asked that I I it's funny when I when I got the position um I knew that lumberjack football had had gone away I I to be totally honest I just assumed that maybe people had just quit going to games and it just didn't matter to anybody and I thought I would never hear about it.

SPEAKER_02

Trevor Burrus It never faded quickly at all.

SPEAKER_03

And then I so I got hired in September and my wife and I made a trip in October to look for a place to live and to you know meet a bunch of people and uh I was blown away that by far the question

Football Dreams And Go Jacks

SPEAKER_03

I got asked the most was I bringing football back? Followed by KHSU. It was down the list by a good bit, but it was probably the second most question frequently asked question I got. But with football, um yeah I I actually one of my early I'm a big sports fan. I I love football and uh probably one of my earliest it might even be my first my earliest football memory was it wasn't actually a a Humboldt State game. I went to a Fortuna versus Arcata playoff game at Humboldt State. At Humboldt State in the Redwood Bowl um uh there's uh folks that go to the Redwood Bowl will know this but there's a kind of a concrete ramp that goes uh from the east side of the stadium down you know down into the stadium and we were walking down that ramp and they had held us because the Arcada team uh and of course they were the evil empire back then to me as a as a young Fortuna fan. But here they come all dressed in black and and they're right in front of us getting ready to run on. And whoever was the coach that day, I guess to get them all pumped up, he had them had them shouting to each other, kill, kill, kill. And I thought this is the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life. I am now a football fan. So there you go. I love football. I love football. Football. And but I again I thought it had had just you know that the interest had had had gone away and then I get here realize that's that's not at all the case. And unfortunately as we've looked into it and we have we actually looked into did would that make sense as something for our you know our future at some point to come back. And uh and folks may not know this, but I don't know if this is what existed when the decision was made, but I can tell you today there really when I was about Ostate that is if there is such a thing as a a Division II in NCAA Blue Blood, uh they're one and uh regularly compete for and win national championships in football. And uh and so uh know that landscape. And when I got here I thought this might be the case but we we studied it there are only two Division II football programs really west of Colorado. It just it has it has dried up. And the two ones in in Oregon one's in Washington I was going to let you guess what athletic conference do those two schools play in?

SPEAKER_02

Aaron Ross Powell It's not the Pac 10 we know that much probably some it's like like Mountain State Montana crazy the Lone Star Conference with Texas.

SPEAKER_03

They go to Texas to play conference games who are the two teams is it like it's uh Western uh Washington and Central Oregon Central Oregon I'm sorry Western Oregon and Central Washington which are where they're in I think Western No I said that wrong central Washington Western Oregon are the two schools over on the coast somewhere. Yeah yeah and and central Washington is just on the east side of the mountains. Yeah because Sack State's gone Davis is gone Chico's gone. They've all quit playing football there's nothing in Southern California.

SPEAKER_02

Nope.

SPEAKER_03

Crazy there is nobody so we we'd have to figure out who we're gonna play obviously but that doesn't mean we can't have a tremendous athletic program and I'm I'm competitive. My friends would say I'm extremely competitive. It's good and that's good. And so I will say Go Jacks a lot and and and I frankly I say that and I encourage folks everybody to say that not just if you're a sports fan, if you love the university heck if you love Humboldt then I want you to love all parts of it and I've told folks that that our rally and cry together if we love this place should be Go Jacks, no matter what part of the university or community you love. And so I'll say it a lot. I'll say it everywhere I go. Trevor Burrus Great basketball program. It is it is and DJ Sach is the men's coach uh it's been great to bring bring a lumberjack home uh he loves this place and it is building something pretty special. Well honestly we had a we had a really good year in athletics this year and it is a place that and I didn't know this I wasn't sure about this until I came but I now know that we are a place that is positioned on the higher end of the conference we play in we can compete here for championships every year. And once you win a conference championship guess what you're in the national dance and you got a chance to bring big trophies home. That's what we're gonna try to do. Women's softball yeah yeah yeah and it's it's indicative of what I hope and I know I'm not alone in this it's what I hope for the entire university. I want us to be really good in all things that we do. This is a special place. Uh you know we you you were talking earlier about you know your your love affair and the the quality of education that you had uh where I was at in Vadasta there's one university system there it's pretty much the combination of what in California would be the the UC system and the CSU system that we're a part of. Vodasta State for all tense and purposes, if they were equivalent it would be a UC institution. You kind of therefore assume in the to the kind of natural totem pole of higher ed that that the research output there is a larger place, et cetera, the the kind of things that were happening as a doctoral granting larger institution would be maybe a step a notch ahead of what's happening here. I love that institution and I'm sorry if there are any Vodasta listeners learning, but it is not what I have found. I have been blown away by what our faculty do here that kind of experience it is absolutely next level and uh and it's special because and they come here because of the specialness of this place. And they they know they're lucky to get to live here and and do the kind of research that that we're doing. And and the extent to which we involve our students in that is incredible. So I say that to say I want us to be that level of great and that level I want us to pursue excellence at at that level in all things we do and I don't think we should be apologetic about that. Love it.

SPEAKER_02

And I think that's kind of segue into the the the community connection which I think sports is quintessential.

SPEAKER_03

Sure. It's the front door it's the front porch front door if you will to the campus. The magic will always happen at the kitchen table in any home, right? That's that's where the family lives. For us that's the classroom that's the chemistry lecture you know that's what's happening in our arts programs. That's what's happening in engineering and the like but in many ways the community gets to see what they see from the street and what do they see from the street? For many it's our athletic program. So it is a a a representation of the quality of the institution and we want it to represent it well.

SPEAKER_02

I love it. And I think uh I want to go trifecta here KSU is a piece of that so that the the radio signal is there signals is there a smaller station too there is yeah yeah they come off campus. Uh a little bit of the lumberjack of course and then um uh center uh arts center activities yeah so uh you know historically you know Bonnie Raitt and James Brown and all the music I mean everybody uh played at Humble the day and now um I'm very pleased to say for Lumberjack days you got Duran Jones who is quintessential like they had the Beach Boys yeah last year. Right, right right so that's great. But so you know and some of the other shows have shifted a little bit but Center Arts has been a I think they call it something different now, but uh key uh art and culture uh stop. I don't have to go to Oregon or the wine country or Reading or heaven forbid the city to go to a show.

SPEAKER_03

One of the things that I got so interested in beyond just the fact I knew I loved Humboldt County. I knew this was home to me. I knew I had dreamed of going to Humboldt State but I hadn't and so I had a lot to learn about the university to fall in love with it at the same level that I already loved this place. And one of the things that as I was exploring and learning about the Kow Poly transformation that I found most intriguing was that the the the folks

Arts Belong In A Polytechnic

SPEAKER_03

that were involved in that effort at that time of trying to bring it forward and then ultimately the early implementation was they came up with a concept that I don't know if it exists anywhere else in the country, but it's a comprehensive polytechnic. Often across the country if you look at a polytechnic if they have programs and they often do outside of the STEM disciplines, they're they're not what that institution is going to tout. They have them also but they really do STEM they really do engineering define STEM science science technology engineering and math and and so Georgia Tech in the state that I most recently came from is an example of that. They have a college of business you can go get an education degree you can do other things besides science technology technology engineering and math but what isn't tech known for it's known for those things. Trevor Burrus So name some other polytechnic schools that we would know across the nation Cal PolySA, San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly Pomono, Sloan Pomona here, Georgia Tech, MIT, et cetera These are premier institutions across the country where um cutting ed uh education and research is occurring Texas Tech? No Texas Tech is actually an agricultural and mechanical institution. AM AM, same thing. Same idea. Yeah um and so although frankly a lot of those institutions are trying to mirror polytechnics interesting because they are what is what is popular now and what is in demand and and we very much in higher education have to pay pay attention or at least I think we I think we have to I think we should pay attention to what are the demands of of those who would employ our graduates and that's that's where that's at, right? And so um so yeah so the group here had come up with this idea of of a comprehensive politics and it was uh we might not do everything that historically this institution has done we might not offer every degree but we should be more than just science, technology, engineering and math. And the arts is a big piece of that there is a tremendous history at Humboldt State of an amazing arts program. You know a bunch of the folks that have come through that program. I know a bunch of the folks who have come through that program to find to find arts. Fine arts? No you said arts. Arts. And so it's really for us now, we understand if we don't do that, we are the regional deliverer of the arts and you're not gonna hop in your car here and drive to San Francisco to go see something. You're not gonna drive to Portland to go see something. You're gonna you're gonna expose yourself to the arts if we bring them here. Trevor Burrus And the county's known for arts we're absolutely more artist per capita than everywhere in the world absolutely one of the members of my search committee I remember asking him and he he is an artist and uh I remember asking him what do you love about Humboldt he says I've lived all across the country in fact he had gotten his uh his doctorate at the University of Georgia where I was coming from and uh he said I love being in a place where I don't have to apologize for for what I'm what my passion is. Nice.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah how cool is that right I told my dad he said okay whatever.

SPEAKER_03

So so we yes it it will continue to be a special part of of what we do because frankly our community needs that from us.

SPEAKER_02

Aaron Ross Powell So you asked me how I got started podcasting my daughter Kalia an arts major from Humboldt State music. Yep Hey Khalia what's up good to see you.

SPEAKER_03

I think you're gonna like the show well for those that don't know this about me I I so I was a communication major I I uh thought I was gonna be a sportscaster I was gonna do this I was gonna be behind this microphone all the time but uh at some point I went to my freshman composition instructor comp 2 uh gave extra credit if you would go to a play from the campus theater product you know group and you had to stay till the end. That was the the the the catch and you had to have a member of the cast sign the program and then and you get extra credit. And I was terrified that I was going to give you know somebody was going to find out again that I wasn't supposed to be there. So I would do any extra credit they would even remotely give us the opportunity for. And so I went to the play and uh it was the importance of being earnest some folks uh will will recognize that show. And uh at the beginning of the second act Cecily one of the main characters walks on and I thought who is that how do I get to meet her and uh and so what I figured out the way to meet her was to try out for the next play. And theater, I while I was not a theater major, I never took theater classes, it became my my social outlet, it became my thing. And oh by the way, Cecily is uh is Cheryl who who we've talked about earlier. Hi Cheryl and uh she walked on stage and and the rest is history that's a great story.

SPEAKER_02

I like that hey uh it's time for you to uh earn a Dick Taylor chocolate bar oh my word have you ever uh tried this chocolate yes yes yes yes yes uh let's see let's go with this one oh my one of my favorite this is Diana so I have that one on my desk right now as you want another one do you want to play for another one?

SPEAKER_03

Uh since I have that one let's go roulette here and let's look at reaching at it.

SPEAKER_02

You haven't won this yet.

SPEAKER_03

Oh okay all right if if I'm gonna aspire to try to win a chocolate give me one I haven't had yet okay let's do that. Yeah that's fair there's a uh oh this is delicious but I haven't tried that black fig is one of the original there you go don't be reaching at it you can't have this yet I'm sitting right here yeah don't don't uh don't move over there Cheryl if she you know she maybe is watching but if she's probably screaming through uh whatever whatever she's watching it on saying we loves chocolate so you you you you found the right thing to motivate sure you might want to save some save one of them actually

Chocolate, The Zoo, And Redwoods

SPEAKER_03

the I I was joking with somebody earlier today that uh she is a dark chocolate uh fan. We we went to to Dick Taylor's shop when we were here when she was here visiting on a previous visit and uh and and so I have I've actually got a few of them saved up for every time she comes comes to visit.

SPEAKER_02

And then we'll be regulars once uh once she's here for my wife rides her bike from McKinleyville too Taylor and that's her treat. She gets a Mexican Mocha and just goes nuts and loves it and and uh thanks to those guys they're they're good friends and sponsors and just terrific human beings.

SPEAKER_03

What a great what a great operation they have what a great name they are what a great brand they are for Humboldt County.

SPEAKER_02

I want to say at least one if not both are graduates from Humboldt State.

SPEAKER_03

Well of course they are because I think why would you go anywhere else and why would you hire anyone else than our folks.

SPEAKER_02

Oh yeah no they're I think it's what we had industrial arts but I I could be wrong. Hey question number one thing. All right you uh and Cheryl get the day off to go anywhere in Humboldt to anything 9 to 9 p.m uh what's your day looking like what are you what are you going to do? What's on the agenda?

SPEAKER_03

Well Richard That's you're picking from so many things but I'm gonna go ahead and pick one that because I've seen it and she hasn't yet she's heard all about it. As a kid I went to the Eureka Zoo and on school trips okay and and I had not been there in 40 years. And uh about two weeks ago I went back and the great people there got me up in the Skywalk. They took me all through the place I fell in love and I came home and said I cannot wait to take you here when when when when she's got her next visit already planned and uh for if I hadn't said it she'll be here at Christmas full time where she's being mom. We're getting our kids across the stage at graduation and then and then uh and then she'll be here. She can't wait. But uh I we're gonna pick that since it's the one that's top of mind and she hasn't done it yet. And I'll tell you what, we have so many things that I I just had uh a longtime friend of mine, him and his wife came and visited. They had never been to the Redwoods. They were here for a week. Well it was so fun putting that itinerary and that menu of options together for them of things and every day it was wow, wow, wow, wow, wow wow. And and I I remember this was somebody that I'd worked with back in in Valasa and I said now you're you're gonna go home and everyone's gonna be asking you is Richard okay? Is is is he is he doing fine there? And he just started chuckling. He said yeah I think I'm gonna be able to tell him you're just fine. Okay.

SPEAKER_02

Our curator Yeah no that sounds like good day. So by the way that um that skywalk at Christmas in the dark when it's lit. Ps magic.

SPEAKER_03

It that that that we have an old North Redwood forest in the middle of Eureka it's trippy huh? That's incredible. Yeah and and uh what what vision folks had for putting that together and uh you know the uh our leaders from the zoo told me it has tripled uh their their intake numbers of folks coming to visit and and obviously what that means is great for tourism for the entire region. That's that's that's heads and beds in hotels and folks sleeping in you know sleeping in hotels, going to restaurants and the like we all play a role in that right we're all part of trying to make this a better place and and uh job creation economic development are a piece of it's a national des international destination now the park that's right did you meet Jim Campbell Spickler? I did that's who that's who was taking me around cool guy.

SPEAKER_02

Have you seen his podcast with with me?

SPEAKER_03

I have not your host Scott Hammond So we we had him on a podcast that we do and he did a great job. He actually had a member of his team with him as well. She was awesome when we we were walking around and we got to the to the bear enclosure and just as we turned the corner uh the the male of the two of the pair decided to jump out of the water make a dead sprint toward us and immediately scaled up a redwood tree right in front of us and then hung out over it I my mouth was on the on the ground you don't get to see that every day I couldn't believe it you get to do that right here and you get a hold day and you're just gonna go to the zoo is that the story well we're gonna start there give me to your answer. Come on Scott you're you're you're you know you know as well as I do you can go all the way from Orican north and do incredible things. And and uh so my wife I will tell you she has has fallen in love with uh Lady Bird Johnson Grove. Yeah and uh that's fun she calls it going to church you know for her that's that's that's just an incredibly special place. And then obviously uh the time I spent down in the Over Valley growing up there's so many this place is dripping with memories for me everywhere I go. I want the drive in movie theater back. Can I just go ahead and say that because as a kid you know that's oh my God I went there all the time it is so special for me. There's so many things here. I I sometimes I feel for my wife because everywhere I go I'm telling a story from my childhood where my dad and I did this or my mom and I did this or my brother and I did this. And uh and now we're gonna get to build those memories so she starts making a face going yeah she just she's like okay I'll I'll let you keep going but I'm gonna go ahead and think about something else I'm checking Facebook.

SPEAKER_02

Right exactly that's good you keep talking though. So question number two. Yeah. What's life giving for you and what's uh what guts your your soul?

SPEAKER_03

So again we went through my story at the beginning uh and we talked about my mentor and and what he did for me and what he's done for for others. I I consider myself I tell our our faculty and staff at at Cal Poly Humboldt and they've already heard me say it a bunch of times in in the semester I've been here

Mentorship That Changes Outcomes

SPEAKER_03

I I I try to remind myself and them just how lucky we are to get to go to work every day knowing that our mission that day is to go change somebody's life. Huge My life, my story happened because of education. I am the living embodiment of the transformative power of what we do. But I don't tell my story because I think it's that special I tell it because it gets other people to tell me theirs and sometimes I'm blown away by theirs that is just so much more incredible than mine. But it happens over and over and over again. And so do I get emotional and do I feel something special on commencement day? You better believe it. Yeah. Because those thousand students are walking across the stage and yeah we got a thousand but it is for them they're one and and I don't always know their story. Sometimes I do I got some I had some really fun hugs the other day and I took people wanted selfies on stage and all sorts of stuff. But I'm the whole family Is graduating. We are changing family dimensions for forever. And so to get to do that, to know that I get to be a cog in the wheel on a small part of that, and everyone who's involved at our university in no matter what role they have, I can't tell you the number of times over the years in working in education that I've heard students talk about the custodian that cleaned their building every day who always checked on them and why and that's why they made it. Mr. Barker. There you go. He's totally a cool guy. There you go. So no matter the role they play, whether, you know, whether they're an administrator trying to make sure it's all working, whether they're a faculty member where the real magic happens, whether the staff who, you know, the work they do goes right up to the threshold of the classroom, to all those fake people who support the physical plant and the operation of making it happen. We are that blessed and fortunate to get to do what we do. And I try to never forget it.

SPEAKER_02

That's cool. That's life-giving. Real quick quick comment on that. I I um I'm inspired to um ask and ponder about how could we become better mentors and reach out to mentoring and you know, to to establish relationships and connections with people who um who are that. Yeah. Both both giving as a mentor and and and receiving and being and being coachable. I mean, you coach approach, man. You gotta be coachable to be a mentee.

SPEAKER_03

Trevor Burrus, Jr. I I would hope and and I'm gonna say this to everyone who is listening to this who has an opportunity to have an influence in it. I would hope that they would think of how they can dive into what we do. Um I've talked to a lot of people over the years, and when I s when I talk about the the incredible gift that we have of doing what we do, and then I say, hey, do you want to be a part of that? It's very rare that somebody says, nah. Right. Okay. And so it is now thinking about what can be the part. And uh some people will do that with donations of time and treasure. But but many times what we need, because again, we're gonna dive in even more to learn by doing and to the experiential aspect of every degree that we have, um, we need folks to step forward and say, I will take interns in my business. I will put them to work while they are here. And what we understand is yeah, we had a thousand people walk across the stage on Saturday, and that's a success. I will truly feel like we are being the most successful when many of them, if not most of them, want to stay on the North Coast post-graduation and build their life here. And we know, and the data could not be more clear, that if we get them involved out in the community, in internships, in those types of relationships, they build those relationships, they will want to stay. And so whether it's attending one of our events, whether, again, gifts of time and treasure, creating an internship opportunity, saying, um, hey, just I'm willing to volunteer. What do you need? Whatever the case may be, we are Northern California's university. We are the North Coast university. We are most certainly Humboldt County's university. And so let's let's live that out and do this together. And the more folks we have, I am such a big believer in my career and my life have taught me this that if you have a group of people who love place and you get them moving in the same common direction and they're doing it together, there's almost nothing they cannot accomplish. Like it.

SPEAKER_02

And I think you're you're the elephant in the community is this giant community heart that is here.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

It's in the room. It's in the room here. Hey, Nick, what's up? Uh people love this place.

SPEAKER_03

I mean they know how special it is.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. No, it's great to know you. And and that's been a theme in in the podcast for three years. It's like, oh you what do I love about this place? Natural beauty, yes. But the folks, the people, the connection, the communication, the the the community that I'm part of, that I'm I bought into. And the nobody's ever said me mentoring that much, but I think that's a key component. So uh hey, part number two, your question before you grab that chocolate bar there. Cheryl. He's doing okay, Cheryl. Okay, okay. We'll see. My dad my dad you say we'll see.

SPEAKER_03

Uh so did we have the same dad? Because I heard that all the time.

SPEAKER_02

How about that ice cream? Well well we'll see. Uh so what's life, what sucks the the breath out of you and your soul?

SPEAKER_03

Honestly, it's from a professional standpoint, um, you know, every one of us has uh issues in life we deal with, et cetera. That that we all do that. Uh yeah, I I'm blessed to do this work, I'm blessed to have this role, and and I feel very fortunate to have it, and I know we exist to change lives, and I get to see it all the time. I I have in my career worked with enough that didn't make it, they didn't take advantage of the opportunity. That that's rough. Yeah. Those those stay with you. We had a years ago, I was working at a place and and I was uh I was overseeing student affairs there, which included housing, et cetera. And we had a we had a young man that I knew his heart was good, or at least I thought it was, and uh, and he'd he'd made a mistake. And uh and it was the kind of mistake that was gonna require that he couldn't live in our housing operation anymore. But uh but I knew if I just suspended him and sent him home, uh he'd probably be in prison or dead within a couple of years. That's where that's where home was for him. And we gave him an opportunity to live in our garage. We said, okay, here's a whole set of rules that you're gonna have to follow. Um we're gonna make it hard on you, but we care about you and we're gonna try to give you a chance to earn your way back in. Um my wife's a special person. She didn't balk when I came home and said, Hey, I did something today. I hope you're okay with it. Uh he didn't he didn't live up to that. Aaron Ross Powell, that's hard. Um I don't know what happened to him, and yet I do.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

If that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And and I would tell you that every one of us who does this work, I bet that you could interview any one of my faculty members and they could give you a similar story. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02

Yep.

SPEAKER_03

Those that made it, those that did not. Right. We do what we do for the ones that make it, and we want everybody to get there. And we'll we'll we'll work like crazy to try to make that happen, and yet you never forget about the ones that that that it didn't work with. You said it earlier, their choice, their journey.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah, it's tough. Okay, question number three. This is the hard one.

SPEAKER_03

That was quite the lead-in. Just those few words. You got me scared now.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. This will be easy, actually. Okay. Because you probably So uh you get to take Cheryl out the first night she's back, where are you guys going to go eat?

SPEAKER_03

Okay. It's not gonna be the answer you expect. Okay. So you can't say the dorms. No, I'm gonna tell you two things, and they're gonna be as opposite ends of the spectrum as possible. Okay. I'm gonna give you two. I'm gonna cheat. I'm gonna give you two answers. All right. The first answer is gonna be uh special for us in in a lot of ways because of our history. Again, growing up here with

Carson Mansion Then Ocean Picnic

SPEAKER_03

not a lot, uh I can't tell you the number of times as I could as a kid, I stood outside the Carson Mansion and I thought I couldn't even fathom what who got to go there. Yeah, whoever would ever get to go there. And and what is, you know, it just seemed unlike Mars. It seemed untouchable. And the number of times over the years that my wife and I have stood outside the building and marveled at it. So many photos. In fact, uh my wife does counter-cross stitch, and probably 25 years ago, she counter-cross-stitched the Carson Mansion. Oh, that's cool. And we've had it all these years and did the Pink Lady as well. And so they're in my office now. Yeah. I said, hey, probably should hang those up now. Um and uh and so yeah, she's gonna come here. We're we're gonna we're gonna go in the mansion and and uh and getting and get to experience something that is just a truly special place to to somebody that love this this area and region. It's a great outfit. She she'll love that, but she'll love the second night that I'll put together even more. Wow. We're gonna we're gonna grab some, you know, smoke fish somewhere and some local cheese and maybe some local bread, and we're gonna go down and uh find some spot where uh the the TV out our front car window is is the ocean. And uh and we're gonna feel very fortunate to be in a very special place.

SPEAKER_02

Aaron Powell Got just the spot for you.

SPEAKER_03

We have we actually already have a couple, but I'm open to other suggestions.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, who to point and up that Cedic Drive is our uh COVID date night. We have the van, throw the doors open, Dick Taylor, uh a little picnic, maybe a little red wine, and the sun is setting, and off comes my shirt.

SPEAKER_03

Pretty good. It's pretty good.

SPEAKER_02

Can't unsee that. No, it's just a magic spot. It's it looks over the Trinidad Bay and it's uh why would we think about leaving this place ever? It's like, oh. And uh cheap date. Yeah. And great date.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. So there's two very different uh different spots, but I like them both. I think uh I think the folks that love Humboldt they'll they'll understand wh why those are the two.

SPEAKER_02

Well, Cheryl, he got lucky on the last question. Yay! You are the new owner of a proud new owner of a 72% dark Dick Taylor craft chocolate with from Tanzania with black fig. Uh congrats.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you so much. For you, friend. I've uh I've received several you know special gifts since I've been here. This is now right at the top of the list.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, good. Don't eat don't eat it all the way home.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, it's not even making it back. It might not make it out of the parking lot.

SPEAKER_02

Remember, small pieces.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02

It's fine chocolate. You gotta go to go slow. So uh I'll kind of wrap with um uh your legacy uh thus far. You're you're a pretty young guy. How old are you?

SPEAKER_03

I am I'll be 55 in a couple weeks. Uh it's it's it's there. Uh I'm uh trust me, my body feels uh 55. Yeah. Try sixty-six, but it's painful, dude. It doesn't uh my my mother keeps reminding me, it doesn't get better uh with time. No, no.

SPEAKER_02

My dad said getting old is not for sissies.

SPEAKER_03

But I did have a friend of mine who used to say, and I'll let I'll let you think about this for a second. He said it's far better to be seen than viewed. Ooh.

Legacy, Stewardship, And Invitation

SPEAKER_03

I like that.

SPEAKER_02

I'm still getting seen, so there you go. I'm gonna re-quote that. So when we talk about you at the end of your life, uh uh your uh your funeral, your your um celebrational life, what what would you like to think that folks might say? And then the the tombstone inscription, of course.

SPEAKER_03

Well, uh like everybody, the first and foremost thing you hope for is that they say you were um you were a good dad, you were a good husband. Right? Sure. Um and so uh of all the jobs I have, uh those those those are the most important. And uh and they're the ones maybe I'm most critical of myself on.

SPEAKER_02

Sure. And grandpa coming up your way. Uh we'll see. Yeah, yeah. Now you sound like your dad.

SPEAKER_03

Well they yeah, exactly. We'll see. I don't know. Might happen. Uh it might. And and we'll be thrilled. We have uh Cheryl has a a niece that is like a daughter to us, and and she has two children, and so we we kind of get to play grand grandparents with them. And and uh and so yeah, we're we're we're excited about the those next phases.

SPEAKER_02

But are they coming to Humboldt too?

SPEAKER_03

They're coming to visit. Uh so we've already been we've already been plotting that visit out. But um they want they've never seen the Redwoods, so they live in Texas. There's no redwoods in Texas. Not a one. And so uh part of Texas? Uh they're McKinney, Texas, if uh which is a suburb of Dallas. Yep. Yeah. So we're excited to get them uh out here and and uh have that experience. But yeah, that's that's the first thing. I hope folks would I hope my family, frankly, would would think I did okay on that. Um and then quite frankly, and on the professional side, I've always had really only one goal with every job I've ever had. And I've actually encouraged every leader with whom I've worked to have the same goal. That's that's to leave it better than you found it.

SPEAKER_02

Like that.

SPEAKER_03

Uh leadership is finite. I am a big believer of that. Uh it it it didn't start with me, it won't end with me. There were great, great people. You've mentioned a couple in our time here today who, you know, who had this role over time, and uh the role that I'm fortunate enough to occupy, and others who had all kinds of roles at at HSC, HSU, and then and then ultimately Cal Poly. And uh and and now it's just my turn. We're gonna try to build. I always tell folks we're not building the house. The house is fantastic. We are gonna try to add a room or two.

SPEAKER_01

Cool.

SPEAKER_03

And uh and then at some point it will be time for me to turn it over to the next one. And I hope that I've left it better than I found it, and I hope that they can take it and and and make it even better than that.

SPEAKER_02

I think it's stewardship, the word being a steward. I'm just here for a time. I'm here for a time. Yep. We're gonna make it better than we found it. And I feel oh, so fortunate to be here for a time. I like that. What's it gonna say on your tombstone then? Maybe you left it better than I found it.

SPEAKER_03

I'll let somebody else write it. Hopefully it's somebody else's job. Hopefully it says beloved father, dad, and then we'll figure out the rest.

SPEAKER_02

Good word. Well, thanks for coming. Appreciate you being here.

SPEAKER_03

It's been an honor.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah, really solid, man.

SPEAKER_03

I love that this is uh a podcast that just loves this community, that dives into this community and highlights it. You've had all the episodes that you've had because there's a whole lot to highlight. There is, and there's more to come. There's more to come.

SPEAKER_02

There's way more to come. Uh hey, Dick, are we close to 60 minutes?

SPEAKER_01

I think we're like five sharing.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. Hey, I'm just gonna fill some time.

SPEAKER_03

Let's go for it then. Let's keep going.

SPEAKER_02

Let's talk about Melissa. Hey, Melissa. So Melissa's here.

SPEAKER_03

So we got I got amazing members of my team. I say all the time. I just do what they tell me to do, and it seems to work out. So, so so drunkers is one of them. I'm hi, Mike. Uh so uh your listeners, I'm sure, often have dived into his podcast as well. We've had a great time in much the same way, going around and talking about the great stories of Humboldt County and this region, and giving people a a taste of what it's like to do all of these different jobs, right? I have learned so much. Uh I've uh uh Keith Flamer and I, again, we we mentioned Dr. Flamer before, President Flamer, and he's become a great friend. He's he's taught me so much. Great guy. Oh, he's phenomenal. He's been such a difference maker for this community. But we've had a ball diving into various aspects that we've seen. And uh, you know, we were out with uh an oyster farmer the other day. Uh we uh we talked about folks that are are studying uh birds and how they impact highway projects. We've uh the list just goes on and on. Uh I went to uh uh to uh Humboldt County's favorite bagel shop and uh and and got uh oh I'm come on, you know. And I got I got eat there today. And I got challenged for why I hadn't been in more. And and and you know what? That's okay. I should get challenged for why I haven't been in more. We all should make sure we take advantage of the things that make this place special. I love that I'm getting to play a role with Mike and with Dr. Flamer and telling those stories just like you're doing. That's cool.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah, Mike's uh let kind of legend.

SPEAKER_03

You know, he's he's a musician too. Oh, really? Oh, that's right. He plays plays in a local band. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

We didn't even touch on that part of the arts much because there's so much music here.

SPEAKER_03

Aaron Powell The music scene here is pretty incredible.

SPEAKER_02

It's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. And uh and the live music scene, one of the stops we made for for our podcast was diving into the independent radio uh nice kind of scene here and uh getting to tell some of those stories. We have awesome people doing really cool things.

SPEAKER_02

Let's tell the all Ollie story real quick, the the the Learning Institute for older folks like me. Okay. I think that's such a great um ancillary. Not everybody has an Ollie program, so it's that's there's that that's amazing, and then uh the arts and the music thing. And um and then you got all the chamber music and all the people from the music department that do concerts at Fulkerson Recital Hall.

SPEAKER_03

And in so many ways it fits into Hi Julie. Whether it's Ollie or any of the pieces, it fits into this idea of we are the communities, the region's university, right? That it what does what does Humboldt County, what does the North Coast, what is Northern California need from us? It's why we have the arts, it's why we're comprehensive, yeah. It's why we're doing uh a whole series of opportunities with our seniors, it's why we're doing research. Our our research that we engage is is to answer questions from here that impact here, right? Um, it's why I want our graduates to stay here and build their careers, et cetera. It all ties into are we making this place better? I go back to that sitting, you know, the night that I got the phone call of Rich, would you like to come home? And and sitting out there on the back porch with with my wife and and and and the things that she said, it was Richard, you have this just unheard of opportunity potentially to go back to the place that you have always said made you you and to work with other people at this historic time to transform it for the better. To transform something that has always been great and turn it into something that's truly exceptional. Wow. Um that's what we're getting to do right now. And it will impact everybody who is getting to watch or listen to this because we're your institution. Love it. And uh and so let's keep it going. Let's get people involved. Let's let's hear. I I I want to be very clear. When I when I came in, I said from day one, I am not the kind of person that says, even though have I done this other places, have I been experienced? Yes, I've had a very fortunate, I feel truly fortunate for the career I've had. I I have never in any of those jobs walked in and said, I have all the answers, get on my back and I'll get you there. Right. It's not how I lead. That's good. It is much more for me about asking people who already know and love this place, what do they think that they want us to be, need us to be going forward. And when I hear the same answers repeatedly multiple times, maybe that's the path. That might be the path. And that's the one we dig into. And if we can get everybody moving, we can't do everything. We can't do a thousand different things, but if we pick a few and we put all of our collective energies around those things and say, we're going to get better at this, this, and this, then guess what? We will. Because historically, again, when I've seen that, uh, there's really just not much that can't get accomplished when you when you have everyone uh going in that same direction. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02

Amen, man. I love it. Hey, sounds like you're the right guy for the right job at the right moment.

SPEAKER_03

I'm just the luckiest person most people have ever met.

SPEAKER_02

I love your attitude. It's awesome, dude. Well, hey, thanks for being here. It's a pleasure. Real honor. I think we'll be seeing you again.

SPEAKER_03

I hope you're I hope your folks are seeing me all over the place. I have tried to get out and about. I've tried to be at everything. If I haven't seen you yet, that's on me. I'm sorry. I'm gonna keep going out. I I I want I want to go where people are at. And when you see me, come tell me hi and and give me your ideas for how we can get better and do it together.

SPEAKER_02

Nice. Yeah, approachable. I love it. Well, folks, uh, that's me. That's a wrap. Scott Hammond, 100% Humboldt Podcast with my new best friend, Dr. Richard. And uh Melissa's here too. And uh Nick, thank you for all you do.

SPEAKER_03

Go Jax.

SPEAKER_02

And go jacks and uh like us, love us, send us money and and gifts on uh on all the podcast uh platform, our new website, hundred one hundredhumbold.com. New revised. It looks amazing. Thanks, Nick. And um uh make some comments. And I think uh this this one will probably pretty much go viral. So we're looking forward to that. Again, thanks for coming. See you next week.

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Scott Hammond

Host