As yet another full academic year comes to an end, President Brian Noland shared his personal reflections on this past year, also highlighting what it meant for East Tennessee State University.
“As I look back at the past year, one of the things that is really hard for me to wrap my brain around is how quickly the year went. It seems like just yesterday that it was move-in,” Noland said.
In the fall, the university welcomed its largest-ever freshman class, with renovations to Stone Hall still underway during move-in day. Due to a lack of housing, nearly 100 students began the year in a nearby hotel.
“The residence halls were at full capacity, even moving into spring, and that brought a real energy to campus,” Noland said.
This energy was seen by Noland through successful and well-attended events such as the Festival of Ideas featuring John Green and the annual Holiday Lights Celebration.
“It was just a year, from my perspective, where at every turn there was just a real presence,” Noland said. “The Holiday Lights this year was just over the top. That’s always a highlight for me, but this year I stood there and thought, ‘I can’t believe how big this has gotten.'”
The Holiday Lights Celebration began as a very small event more than a decade ago, but it has now transformed into a community celebration featuring live music, skating, cookies and cocoa.
Noland also reflected on having to spend quite a bit of time away from campus this past year.
“I ended up spending more time in Nashville than I have at probably any other time during my period as president, but that was a successful legislative session because we were able to receive funding for the Gatton College of Pharmacy,” Noland said. “That is a game changer for us, because it allows us for the first time since Gatton was ever started to have our tuition and fees at a level equivalent to that of the University of Tennessee’s College of Pharmacy.”
Noland’s time in Nashville was not the only notable difference between this year and last.
“Last year was really defined by Hurricane Helene. So much of everything that happened on this campus and in this community was defined by Helene response,” Noland said before tying the hurricane relief efforts to more recent community engagement. “You really saw this year in measurable and meaningful ways our students continuing to be actively engaged in community service; not because there was a tragedy, but because that tragedy gave them a sense of connection and that sense of connection gave them a sense of commitment.”
This commitment to community service was officially recognized this year when ETSU received the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification.
“That is a formal designation of something we’ve known here for a while, which is this is an institution where students give back and where the campus gives back to the community, but the Carnegie Foundation really validated that for us on an international level this year,” Noland said.
Noland offered his congratulations and advice to upcoming graduates and then to students returning in the fall.
“Enjoy the moments between now and commencement, because after that, everything changes,” he said. “The pace and flow and sense of normalcy that exist when you’re here, that all gets ready to change because you’re transitioning into the workforce or onto graduate school.”
“Use the summer to get ready and be mindful of the pull of home, and don’t let that pull of home prevent you from coming back,” Noland said. “I’ve had the chance to watch some cycles over time and one of the things that I always am concerned about going into the summer, is that you’ve got a student who is the first in their family to go to school, comes to ETSU and has an outstanding year, then goes home for the summer and well, a lot of students who will go home for the summer let the pull of home prevent them from coming back.”
