Category Archives: Uncategorized
December 4, 2014 · 9:06 am
“The education that I received at Hampton out of the text-books was but a small part of what I learned there. One of the things that impressed itself upon me deeply, the second year, was the unselfishness of the teachers. It was hard for me to understand how any individual could bring themselves to the point where they could be so happy in working for others. Before the end of the year, I think I began learning that those who are happiest are those who do the most for others. This lesson I have tried to carry with me ever since.” -Booker T. Washington Up from Slavery (1901)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
One single pound of “passion”-one of the (3) greatest 7-Letter words-is far weightier than the one single pound of pessimism. This is particularly true for professors who desire to impart “knowledge”-the second greatest 9-Letter word-to palpable pupils. And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University makes this point quite powerfully about the professors he encountered at Mother Tuskegee’s sister institution, Hampton University. Mr. Washington’s observation is one whereby all university-trained men and women can attest to. (One might hardly remember a professor’s pedigree, pedantic idiosyncrasies or pedagogy, but you will always remember the professor’s passion.) Passion proceeds from a right sense of a person’s “purpose”-the greatest 7-Letter word-and there is no more passionate person than a professor who has the daily opportunity to impart their hard-won “knowledge”-the second greatest 9-letter word-to students. (Hear again, the complete cycle of education is first learn, apply and demonstrate repeated mastery for one’s self-then and only then-do you teach others.) These people are not only “happy”; they are healthy because they daily receive the reward and return from their students that all persons receive “who do the most for others.” “Unselfishness” lies at the core of this life-long lesson Booker T. Washington, formerly unknown enslaved boy who grew into a well-known globally-renowned leader based on the training he received at the hand of his professors. Though a 19th and early 20th century principal and president of the very highest order, Mr. Washington properly understood a recently recovered 21st century servant-leadership principle pertaining to leadership and power-power primarily should be used for empowering others.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
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December 3, 2014 · 9:15 am
“I reached Tuskegee, as I have said, early in June, 1881. The first month I spent finding accommodations for the school, and in travelling through Alabama, examining into the actual life of the people, especially in the court districts, and in getting the school advertised among the class of people that I wanted to have attend it.” -Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery (1901)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Consider the following: Tuskegee (Institute) University was formally founded on July 4, 1881, and its founding principal and president, the man Booker T. Washington, had already begun work in June 1881. Once again, the words of any visionary undertaking are but the top of the iceberg but the works of its subsequent execution and implementation are what lies beneath the surface-the large unseen mass beneath, not within view until you come closer to inspect. And Mr. Washington’s unseen wall work occurring in June 1881 in many ways laid the foundation-or built the wall-for Tuskegee University’s lasting and enduring success. His early days were spent “finding,” “travelling,” “examining” and “advertis[ing]” for students. Unconcerned with any idea of pomp and circumstance long before he began his tenure, Booker T. Washington came to work. (According to Mr. Washington, “Nothing is accomplished but by faith and hard work,” and this founding principal and president was focused on the latter in his beginning days.). And unlike his presidential peers in later centuries-including those who succeeded him at Tuskegee-this man had no standing facility, faculty, endowment or, most importantly, students. He was teacher, principal, admissions director, advancement head, marketing director and chief financial officer and everything in between. (He had been previously trained under General Samuel Armstrong and was the very best and brightest representative of the Hampton idea. How could he be possibly consumed with anything other than true and documentable success?) He could ill-afford to be concerned with the many ancillary matters that modern-day presidents often spend time grappling with. The problem of getting bread and students for his institution was a very real one that few truly knew. As such, he was primarily focused upon his life-long “purpose,”-the greatest 7-letter word-building and firmly establishing the legacy that is now Tuskegee Institute (University).
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
December 2, 2014 · 9:32 am
“My dear Mr. President [Theodore Roosevelt]: If you have in mind the sending in of a special message bearing upon the lynching of Italians in Mississippi, I am wondering if you could not think it proper to enlarge a little on the general subject of lynching; I think it would do good. I think you could with perfect safety, give the Southern States praise, especially the Governors and the daily press, for assisting in reducing the number of lynchings. The subject is a very important and far reaching one and keeps many of our people constantly stirred up […].”
-Booker T. Washington, “January 5, 1902”
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Leo Tolstoy offers the following expression concerning men and women who live according to their conscience, as opposed to the dictates of popular sentiment: “He who lives not for the sake of his conscience, but for the sake of others’ praise, lives badly.” Although Booker T. Washington, founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, might have expressed his views more diplomatically than most men and women of his era who were not situated at the helm of a major institution, he possessed his own methods to express his views nevertheless. And the communication to U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt suggests a great deal about how this institutional president operated in matters of national importance. First, he need not make a public announcement of his views. Booker T. Washington had direct access to the President of the United States. An advisor to President Roosevelt on a number of political matters, his letters reveal an ongoing stream of communication that suggests that his advice and opinion mattered to the President and would be weighed carefully. Second, he used the opportunity of President Roosevelt’s apparent willingness to discuss “the lynchings of Italians in Mississippi” to suggest that he broaden his discussion to encompass to one of his primary constituencies and concerns during the period-the lynching of African Americans. Finally, he alluded to the importance of the President addressing the subject: It was for the benefit of all Americans. He fittingly ascribed his concern to the well being of the country similar to Lyman Beecher Stowe’s sentiment when he penned the following: “Here in America, we are all, in the end, going up or down together.” Here again, the man Booker T. Washington might not have done what many desired him to do and in the precise manner they would have liked for him to do but he did do what he thought was right to do.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
December 1, 2014 · 8:48 am
“I remember one young man in particular who graduated from Yale University and afterward took a post-graduate course at Harvard, and who began his career by delivering a series of lectures on “The Mistakes of Booker T. Washington.” It was not long, however, before he found that he could not live continuously on my mistakes. Then he discovered that in all his long schooling he had not fitted himself to perform any kind of useful and productive labour. After he had failed in several other directions he appealed to me, and I tried to find something for him to do. It is pretty hard, however, to help a young man who has started wrong.” -Booker T. Washington, (1911) My Larger Education
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. offers the following concerning men and women whose actions are similar to the young man described in Booker T. Washington’s aforementioned passage: “Controversy equalizes fools and wise men in the same way – and the fools know it.” And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University provides several important lessons about both the young man-as well as all men and women of his ilk-who seek to establish their name and reputation on the basis of disparaging the name and reputation of others-particularly those whose accomplishments they will only be brought in close proximity to only upon the basis of “controversy.” First, Mr. Washington never ever mentions this young man’s name. While this unidentified young man knew full well that persons might give him a hearing-not upon the basis of his own person and accomplishments-but based upon the person and accomplishments of his topic, “The Mistakes of Booker T. Washington,” identifying or responding to this young man provided not a single, solitary benefit to Mr. Washington and Tuskegee (Institute) University. Second, Mr. Washington understood that the young man’s premises were flawed from the onset, and it is the clearest telltale example of Mr. Washington’s oft-repeated phrase, “Let examples answer.” To be sure, the actions of no man or woman are all “good” or all “bad.” (This is naïve, simplistic and child-like thinking.) Yet, in the face of the clear, overwhelming and documentable evidence that testify to the good that Mr. Washington had done locally, regionally and nationally, this young man titled his lecture series according to what he perceived were the mistakes of Mr. Washington. Here again, what one consistently reads and hears, one will consistently become. And this young man ought to have taken heed to how and to what he was hearing for it ultimately led to what he had become. (For this young man’s attempt to categorize and confine a man of Booker T. Washington eminence and accomplishments to a series of perceived mistakes that his limited training, limited knowledge and limited life experience identified did nothing but demonstrate his failure to understand the significance of the (2) greatest 9-letter words and the single, most dangerous 9-letter word: 1. “Integrity” 2. “Knowledge” 3. “Ignorance;”) Finally, we should consider Mr. Washington’s demonstration of another one of his famous aphorisms: “I let no man drag me down so low as to make me hate him.” The very same young man who sought to disparage and defame Mr. Washington later sought him for assistance, and Mr. Washington “tried to find something for him to do.” (This dynamic needs no additional commentary.) Yet what is deserving of additional commentary is that this young man might have spent his time and work reading, writing, working and building his own legacy and life worth reading as opposed to seeking to denigrate another’s whose legacy and life of building Tuskegee (Institute) University spanned 34 years (1881-1915) and remains and is read to this very day.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
November 25, 2014 · 9:46 am
“In the early days of freedom, when education was a new thing, the boy who went away to school had a very natural human ambition to be able to come back home in order to delight and astonish the old folks with the new and strange things that he had learned. If he could speak a few words in some strange tongue that his parents had never heard before, or read a few sentences out of a book with strange and mysterious characters, he was able to make them very proud and happy. There was a constant temptation therefore for schools and teachers to keep everything connected with education in a sort of twilight realm of the mysterious and supernatural. Quite unconsciously they created in the minds of their pupils the impression that a boy or a girl who had passed through certain educational forms and ceremonies had been initiated into some sort of secret knowledge that was inaccessible to the rest of the world. Connected with this was the notion that because a man had passed through these educational forms and ceremonies he had somehow become a sort of superior being set apart from the rest of the world […]“-Booker T. Washington, _My Larger Education__(1911)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
While the term “esoteric” is not entirely pejorative-it can mean that members within a certain profession or group understand and converse sharing many of the same assumptions or terminology-it is sometimes used to denote exclusivity meaning that information and knowledge is understood by a chosen few. In the present passage, the founding principal and president of Tuskegee University speaks to this latter formulation. Here he laments that often education-the act of teaching and learning-resembles the closing off of knowledge from others as opposed to its wide dissemination among many. Mr. Washington’s idea is that such knowledge ought to have relevancy and application for others beyond the sole possessor of this knowledge. Imagine that. The idea of education should not be exclusive to a limited few but should enlighten and have impact upon others in beneficial ways. Thus, not only are the recipients all the better for having received this knowledge but also the giver of this knowledge is made better. For this man or woman has completed the complete cycle of education. First you learn, master and apply for yourself. (It is is a poor teacher whose words do not resemble his or her works.) Then you proceed to teach others. And such an education can be found at many institutions of higher learning including Tuskegee Institute (University).
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
November 24, 2014 · 9:48 am
“When I left school at the end of my first year, I owed the institution sixteen dollars that I had not been able to work it out. It was my greatest ambition during the summer to save money enough with which to pay this debt. I felt that this was a debt of honour, and that I could hardly bring myself to the point of even trying to enter school again till it was paid. I economized in every way that I could think of-did my own washing, and went without necessary garments-but still I found my summer vacation ending and I did not have the sixteen dollars”– Booker T. Washington _Up from Slavery_ (1901)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
One not only finds lessons in Mr. Washington’s management of a university, his stewardship and cultivation of transformative gifts and donations, his passion as an educator or his affectionate love for his wife and children, one also learns from his life as a student. And here is one lesson that students can learn from the founding principal and president of Tuskegee Institute (University): “It was my greatest ambition during the summer to save money enough with which to pay this debt. I felt that this was a debt of honour, and that I could hardly bring myself to the point of even trying to enter school again till it was paid” To be sure, the price of a university education-particularly an education received from an university as eminent as Tuskegee-is costly. Yet, it is equally costly to have no such education. All the same, Mr. Washington knew what all graduates of post-baccalaureate and graduate institutions either know or comes quickly to know: Education costs and paying for your education is a responsibility for all who desires one. We learn the following from his own experiences at Hampton Institute. First, “I owed the institution sixteen dollars that I had not been able to work it out.” Much like a creditor, an institution is not always able to “work it out” for students. When it does so largely though discounting the tuition bill it does so to its own detriment and opens itself to other criticisms from many of the same students as to why the institution is often unable to provide other services. Second, “It was my greatest ambition during the summer to save money enough with which to pay this debt.” He knew that a tuition bill would be there when he returned to school in fall. In spite of his obvious poverty as a formerly enslaved person, he did not expect that he would be able to “work it out”. Rather, he worked and “saved”. Whether an internship, summer research program or any other noteworthy summer endeavor, each student should bear in mind that fall is coming and any unpaid tuition bill will await them. Third, “I felt that this was a debt of honour, and that I could hardly bring myself to the point of even trying to enter school again till it was paid.” Honor is nothing but integrity. Hear again: “Integrity is the greatest 9-Letter word.” Mr. Washington would not allow his words to be inconsistent with his works for he had received an education at the expense of the institution that paid the salaries of the professors who educated him. This was a transaction. He received the education and in turn he owed the institution its money so that it might continue to pay his professors to educate others. Last, he “economized in every way that I could think of.” The founding principal and president did not frivolously spend his summer monies knowing full well he owed on his tuition bill. Rather he “economized.” He counted the cost and did his best to make it right. In the end, Mr. Washington did secure sufficient monies. He did not give up. He was resourceful, and he went on to not only graduate from Hampton Institute but to go on to lead from 1881 to 1915 what remains one of the finest institutions in the nation-Tuskegee University-“the pride of the swift growing south.’
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
November 21, 2014 · 9:36 am
“As I have said before, I do not regret that I was born a slave. I am not sorry that I found myself part of a problem; on the contrary, that problem has given direction and meaning to my life that has brought me friendships and comforts that I could have gotten in no other way.” -Booker T. Washington, My Larger Education, (1911)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Booker T. Washington had more reason than most to decry the circumstances of his upbringing. (For he was born enslaved.) Yet, Mr. Washington’s reference to himself as “part of a problem” was not owing to any intrinsic qualities of his own person. Rather, it was akin to W.E.B. Du Bois’s expression: “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line.” All the same, the fact that Mr. Washington was born into such a difficult period did not ultimately deter his ambitions; Instead, it fueled them. And this is clearly one of the most singularly important lessons of Mr. Washington’s life and career-long work at Tuskegee Institute (University) evidenced in his most quoted aphorism: “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” For the satisfaction gained in spending one’s life transforming seemingly insurmountable obstacles into long-standing triumph and achievement is, after all, the definition of an overcomer.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
November 20, 2014 · 9:15 am
“Dear Gen’l [Armstrong]: Mr. [Albert] Howe stayed with us 4 days and no one’s visit has done us the real good that his has. His suggestions were valuable and criticisms frank. He has been especially helpful in his suggestions regarding our land and brick works.” Tuskegee, Alabama, April 29, 1885
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
The founding Principal and President of Tuskegee Institute (University) offers here a noteworthy and rare commendation for one Mr. Albert Howe. While it is true what the Greek Historian Plutarch writes concerning friends and acquaintances-“I don’t need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better”-it is equally true that simply offering a criticism does not make the criticism valuable. Of the many eminent visitors and well wishers-invited or not-that Mr. Washington received at Tuskegee Institute in the first four years of his Presidency, “no one has done [Tuskegee] the real good that [Howe] has.” Mr. Washington states unequivocally that unlike other suggestions that were offered, Mr. Howe’s were “valuable and criticisms frank.” To be sure, uttering a frank criticism was the not the sole characteristic of Howe’s suggestion when a man of Mr. Washington’s position assessed the value of Howe’s recommendations as compared to those of others. Instead, Howe’s suggestions came directly to bear upon how the institution managed two of its most important resources at the time-it’s “land and brick works.” One has to simply pause here to consider the regard Mr. Washington must have held for such a person who after spending “4 days” with him at Tuskegee, was able to be regarded as the single most helpful visit in his early four-year tenure. For it matters not whether the person offering a suggestion deems it valuable, but whether the person who receives the suggestion regards it as valuable.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
November 19, 2014 · 10:05 am
[To Gilchrist Stewart]…I will tell you in a word what we want in the position that you are now attempting to fill. We want a man who puts his whole soul in the work-who gives it his thought night and day-who can teach the theory of dairying in the class room, and who is not afraid after his teaching to put on his dairy suit and go into the stable and remain with the students while they are milking, and then go into the creamery and take hold in a whole souled way and show the students who to do their work. We want a man who is so much in love with the work that he thinks it is just as important for him to remain with students while they are milking and separating the milk as it is for the academic teacher to remain with his class while they are reciting arithmetic. We want a person whose soul is so deeply in love with his work that it is a pleasure for him to co-operate and obey orders, who looks so closely after every detail of his work that matters will not get so out of order that others will have to be constantly calling his attention to defects and to whom orders will not have to be continually repeated by the farm director or myself. We want one who is continually planning for the improvement and perfection of his work. This is what we want in this position and we can accept nothing less.”-“November 9, 1897,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Esteemed author and educator, Parker Palmer, writes the following regarding finding one’s purpose and passion in connection with one’s work: “It is not easy work rejoining soul and role.” And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, Booker T. Washington thoroughly outlines in this letter to Mr. Gilchrist Stewart the kind of employee he sought to assist him in his work at Tuskegee. Expounding upon his conception of “heart (calling), head (competence) and hands (capable),” Mr. Washington wanted someone to “take hold in a whole souled way,” and “whose soul is deeply in love with his work.” While Mr. Washington’s passage needs no additional commentary, and one might argue that he offers a 19th century notion of work, we are able to glean two important lessons for the 21st century from his remarks to Mr. Stewart. First, Mr. Washington wanted someone “who gives [work] his thought night and day.” Now, there are a great many employees whose work ends as soon as the bell rings, yet there are some who give constant thought and deliberation to how their work might be improved and made better. To be sure, work-life balance dictates prudence in these matters. Notwithstanding, the student, scholar, professor, staff member and administrator who is constantly turning about in their head how to make things better will likely become the person who surpasses those whose work is done at the close of the class period or the business day. (For this man or woman is working while others are talking or sleeping, and when they become successful, it is only a surprise to those who do not know the supreme value of works as opposed to words.) Second, Mr. Washington wanted someone “who looks so closely after every detail of his work…whom orders will not have to be continually repeated…[and] one who is continually planning for the improvement and perfection of his work.” Herein lies the (3) chief descriptors of any successful man or woman at their craft: 1. They look closely after the details. Contrary to popular opinion, “it does take all of that” to become a man or woman whose work transcends any boundary. Attention to the most minute of details is a characteristic of excellence that is oft-times avoided because it is perceived as additional work 2. They do not need to be told repeatedly what to do. If a supervisor must spend his or her time repeatedly issuing the same instructions and expectations to those within their charge, then they might rightly do the work themselves. On the other hand, if a supervisor can issue a general set of expectations and instructions and never return to the person except when absolutely necessary it enables the supervisor to attend to their own duties and not the duties of others. 3. They are continually planning for improvement and perfection in their work. Note, one will never arrive at perfection which is precisely why an institution and its employees must be in a constant state of “continuous improvement.” It is a poor employee or organization that rests upon past successes or achievement. The best employees and organizations work constantly to achieve and do MORE and MORE. Success-true success-begets more success and, most importantly, continued success. (Success is the 3rd greatest 7-letter word after “purpose” and “passion.”) Every successful man or woman wants to work in a culture of success. And such success is both the tradition and trajectory of Tuskegee (Institute) University.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
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November 18, 2014 · 9:45 am
“After I got so that I could read a little, I used to take a great deal of satisfaction in the lives of men who had risen by their own efforts from poverty to success. It is a great thing for a boy to be able to read books of that kind. It not only inspires him with the desire to do something and make something of his life, but it teaches him that success depends upon his ability to do something useful, to perform some kind of service that the world wants.” – Booker T. Washington, _My Larger Education_(1901)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
The great scholar, literary critic and ‘Narnia’ chronicler, C. S. Lewis, remarks about the value of books upon a young boy or girl’s imagination: “Since it is so likely that (children) will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.” Here again, what one consistently reads, one consistently becomes; Just imagine what one might become when one reads about the lives of great men and women from the time of one’s youth even into one’s mature years. This is what the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University recommends, and it is a recommendation that we would do well to not only just follow, but continuously follow. First, the world needs verifiable, authentic and organic heroes, not simply scripted and fictional ones. Men and women whose lives are grounded in believable and relatable life experiences that one can readily identify with provides great grounds for hope for those who have similar experiences. Second, one can learn from the mistakes made in the lived lives of others. It is simply not true that one must repeat the mistakes of others. (Instead, you read and learn from them.) The triumphant records of men and women that also record both their foibles and follies are useful for persons of any century to learn, discern and comprehend that what happened before may very well occur again. Third, the lived lives of men and women who are no longer amongst us are permanent, indelible and fixed records that will remain ever unchanged. (One may repeatedly interpret and re-interpret their deeds done but there will be no adding nor taking away from them.) And this final thought is one that certainly motivated men and women of the class of Booker T. Washington and should motivate us as well. For Booker T. Washington knew that one has but one life to live, and there would be no do over. When future chroniclers composed the narrative of his life, he wanted to be certain that it contributed to making someone else’s “destiny brighter” not “darker.” The founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) did not simply write correspondence, books and speeches worth reading; he lived a life worth reading not only in his generation but also in the many future generations to come.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
November 17, 2014 · 8:59 am
“We can fill your heads with knowledge, and we can train your hands to work with skill, but unless all this training of head and hand is based upon high, upright character, upon a true heart, it will amount to nothing. You will be no better off than the most ignorant.”-Booker T. Washington, A Sunday Evening Talk
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
In this writer’s opinion, “integrity” is the greatest 9-letter word, “knowledge” is the second greatest, and “ignorance” is-by far-the worst and most dangerous. And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, Booker T. Washington, gives on this Sunday evening talk his oft-repeated conception of “heart-head-hands” to help his students avoid the dread of becoming “no better off than the most ignorant.” One can easily seek the help of professors to develop one’s “head”. (These men and women have as their primary purpose to fill the “heads” of students with “knowledge”.) Likewise, professors are able to help make a student’s “hands”-or their work-“skill”[ful]. (Through repeated instruction and correction a student will either become skillful at their work or they will receive failing grades.) Yet, the matter of the “heart,” Mr. Washington suggests, is one matter where students must begin and complete this work largely alone. (Let no man or woman ever presume to become an expert on the subject of another’s heart.) Of all subject matters, it is the one that is deeply personal and unique to the individual. Whereas both the competencies of the “head” and the credentials of the “hands” lie in full view, the character of the “heart” is always hidden from view. Yet, without it, all else “will amount to nothing.” For Mr. Washington’s complete configuration of Heart-Head-Hands in education is akin to the strength necessary to shoot arrows a great distance even as Tuskegee University has shot forth the sons and daughters of Booker into rewarding and meaningful careers of service for over 133 years. The heart is the unseen and invisible strength that determines how far one can bend the bow to make the arrow go.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
November 14, 2014 · 8:43 am
“Among the most trying class of people with whom I come in contact are the persons who have been educated in books to the extent that they are able, upon every occasion, to quote a phrase or a sentiment from Shakespeare, Milton, Cicero, or some other great writer. Every time any problem arises they are on the spot with a phrase or a quotation. No problem is so difficult that they are not able, with a definition or abstraction of some kind, to solve it. I like phrases, and I frequently find them useful and convenient in conversation, but I have not found in them a solution for many of the actual problems of life.”– Booker T. Washington, My Larger Education (1911)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
We often deceive ourselves by assuming that a word fitly spoken, an opinion boldly proffered, an argument well-written or a critique loosely given is tantamount to leadership–particularly with respect to solving “the actual problems of life.” And this is the idea that Booker T. Washington explained in his observations of men and women who offer words without any accompanying works. Thomas Edison suggested that “A vision without execution is a hallucination.” To be clear, “vision”-the single greatest 6-letter word- requires words for articulating, reasoning, inspiring and motivating. Yet, this is only one half of the deal in leadership. The other half is transforming those words into works. Such works, unlike words, are never philosophical or theoretical “abstraction[s]”. These works are “solution[s] for many of the actual problems” that visionary words propose to solve. Works are the evidentiary and documentable deeds done that substantiate the words of visionary leadership. Works are what can be touched, pointed to and-most importantly-verified, substantiated and authenticated precisely like the presence of Tuskegee (Institute) University that still stands a full century since Mr. Washington’s death (1915-2015). Mr. Washington’s late 19th and early 20th century demonstration of visionary leadership is the complete expression of a leader’s love for “words” that he found “useful and convenient in conversation,” as well as his “work” achieved and completed at Tuskegee. And witnessing such visionary leadership is akin to persons upon a ship viewing an iceberg in the middle of a frigid ocean. The “words” are what sit atop the iceberg’s tip until the “works” of the impressive mass that lies beneath comes slowly into view.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
November 13, 2014 · 8:53 am
Mr. E. J. Scott: Please be very careful to see that all electric lights in your Department are shut off whenever they are not actually being used. By giving attention to this, you will save the school quite a good deal.” -Booker T. Washington, “January 14, 1901”
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
If a single individual thinks that leaving a random light on within their singular residential living space, office space, small apartment or home can lead to increased costs upon their electric bill, just imagine what the costs are for an institution the size of Tuskegee (Institute) University when lights are multiplied exponentially. And the founding principal and president, Booker T. Washington, left little to the imagination addressing this issue in a letter to his modern-day chief of staff, Mr. E. J. Scott. Note-it is quite easy to callously disregard or be indifferent to the many costs and expenses associated with running a large organization where these costs are largely hidden from public view. However, Mr. Washington-and many men and women functioning in similar capacities-could ill-afford to do so. Furthermore, Mr. Washington could ill-afford for the persons surrounding him, including his closest lieutenant, to not be aware of their responsibilities to this aspect of fiscal stewardship and responsibility. This 19th century leader, Booker T. Washington, understood a now commonly understood concept for leadership in the 21st century: It is far more profitable for an organization to foster and multiply a spirit of corporate leadership, management and responsibility amongst its employees than to suffer the multiplied costs associated with poor fiscal stewardship.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
November 12, 2014 · 8:58 am
“Dear Sir: Your kind favor of May 2nd, asking if I could be induced to accept the position of President of Alcorn College is received. I am pleased to know that you should think of me in this connection, and of course feel complimented in the highest degree, but I think it best to say in the beginning that I do not think I could be induced to give up my present position. The salary you name is much larger than I am present receiving but I prefer to remain for the reason that I think for some years to come I can do MORE GOOD here than elsewhere, and for the further reason that there are a number of individuals throughout the North who have given and are giving rather large sums of money to this work, based on their faith in my devotion to this work […]”– “May 9, 1894,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Successful men and women of character, competence and credentials are rarely without suitors for their services. And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee Institute (University) was no exception. Mr. W.B. Murdock of Alcorn College approached Mr. Washington hoping that he “could be induced to accept the position of President of Alcorn College.” And what is most remarkable in Mr. Washington’s reply was not his gracious recognition of the “compliment,” but rather his reasons for not acquiescing to the offer and to remain at Tuskegee Institute (University): “[…] I prefer to remain for the reason that I think for some years to come I can do MORE GOOD here than elsewhere…”. Imagine that. A person electing to remain at an institution on the basis of the GOOD he or she might be able to do as opposed to having a larger salary? Perhaps this is an old-fashioned 19th Century notion or perhaps Mr. Washington and men and women of his ilk-unlike many in the present century-were men and women of purpose. And “purpose” is the single greatest 7-letter word.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
November 11, 2014 · 9:17 am
“Mr. Lee: I wish you would arrange so that from time to time all of the students in the higher classes can visit the poultry yard. I very much fear that many of our students come here and go away without really seeing much of the work of the school. I fear that we have students on the grounds who do not know as much about what is going on as some of our visitors. Of course they might get information which they might work into their composition writing. Just now it is especially interesting and valuable for the students to go to the poultry yard. I only mention this as one example.”-Booker T. Washington, “April 1, 1911”
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
It would be a singular travesty for any person who has either attended or worked at Tuskegee (Institute) University to leave without being fully versed in the institution’s tradition. And this was the founding principal and president’s sentiment when he remarked the following: “I very much fear that many of our students come here and go away without really seeing much of the work of the school. I fear that we have students on the grounds who do not know as much about what is going on as some of our visitors.” To be sure, Tuskegee (Institute) University was still building its legacy nearly 30 years since its founding date on July 4, 1881, and Mr. Washington was likely referring to students not knowing about the diversity of disciplines that were offered at the university at the time. In 1911, the university would not have been the destination of visitors, organizations, corporations, foundations and distinguished visitors that it is today. Nonetheless, although daily mundane tasks preoccupy both students and employees alike with the urgency of the present, one would be remiss if he or she did not ever take time to appreciate-and most importantly-learn about both the past significance of this great university. Here again, one cannot walk upon the grounds of Tuskegee without an overwhelming sense of both the sacredness and the great feats of yesteryear. Of course, most are remotely familiar with the feats of Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver; however, the names of Robert R. Taylor, General Daniel “Chappie” James, Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis and countless men and women whose efforts were associated with the university or the renowned Tuskegee Airmen can give one great pause for reflection when one reads about their achievements. An appreciation and awareness of Tuskegee’s great tradition is not reserved for students and employees but for anyone-including “visitors”-who take the time to understand how a great tradition can fuel a great trajectory.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
November 10, 2014 · 9:25 am
“My first task was to find a place in which to open the school. After looking the town over with some care, the most suitable place that could be secured seemed to be a rather dilapidated shanty near the coloured Methodist church, together with the church itself as a sort of assembly-room. Both the church and the shanty were in about as bad condition as was possible. I recall that during the first months of school that I taught in this building it was in such poor repair that, whenever it rained, one of the older students would very kindly leave his lessons and hold an umbrella over me while I heard the recitations of the others. I remember, also, that on more than one occasion my landlady held an umbrella over me while I ate breakfast.” -Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery (1901)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
One need look no further than this passage to understand that great endeavors often start with small beginnings. In June 1881, the founding principal of Tuskegee Normal School, which would subsequently become Tuskegee Institute (University), began making preparations for the school’s July 4, 1881 opening. Upon arrival, he did not find the immaculate, well kept, well-funded and beautiful campus that visitors the world over now recognize as Tuskegee University. Rather, he found a “rather dilapidated shanty.” If it is true what Frederick Douglass spoke first and others later revised that “success is not measured by the heights to which one ascends but from the depths from whence one comes,” then perhaps we have not fully appreciated the accomplishments of Booker T. Washington then or now. Hear again, this man began his life enslaved, and he started an institution of world renown in a shanty. While most would likely point to reaching his destination to become a great institutional builder and leader as success, Mr. Washington’s telling within his autobiography suggests that the real success was in his long and arduous journey to such success. And if this journey is to be properly measured from the “depths from whence [he came]” as opposed to the “heights” he attained, then there is still yet more for us to learn from Mr. Washington’s journey up from slavery.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
November 6, 2014 · 8:58 am
“I have spoken of the impression that was made upon me by the buildings and general appearance of the Hampton Institute, but I have not spoken of that which made the greatest and most lasting impression on me, and that was a great man-the noblest, rarest human being that it has ever been my privilege to meet. I refer to the late General Samuel C. Armstrong.”-Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery (1901)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Some men and women are impressed by bricks and mortar, while others are impressed with fashionable style as opposed to formidable substance. However, the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University was most impressed with flesh and blood, particularly the example set before him in the person of General Samuel C. Armstrong who personally recommended Booker Washington to become Tuskegee University’s first president. It is no wonder that Mr. Washington considered the General “a great man-the noblest, rarest human being that it has ever been [his] privilege to meet.” In addition to being named founding principal of Hampton Institute, here is a man who first distinguished himself through his service at the head of a regime of African-American soldiers during the Civil War. And while it is clear that Mr. Washington held General Armstrong in high regard as progenitor of the Hampton idea, it would not be surprising if his experiences as a military leader impressed him as well. For the qualities of leadership knows no boundaries. Whether in politics, sports, academia, or business, leadership is transcendent. General Armstrong had not only led men upon a field of battle, he also led them on a battlefield of education where the fight was equally strenuous. His courageous and victorious leadership upon both fields are likely what made such a lasting and influential “impression” upon Mr. Washington where works not words embodies his much repeated phrase: “Let examples answer.”
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
November 5, 2014 · 8:49 am
“With few exceptions, the Negro youth must work harder and must perform his tasks even better than a white youth in order to secure recognition. But out of the hard and unusual struggle through which he is compelled to pass, he gets a strength, a confidence…”-Booker T. Washington Up from Slavery (1901)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
The founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, Booker T. Washington, was a man of his day and time–a time that was marked by slavery, racial divisions and its subsequent effects. Mr. Washington’s naming of his autobiography, Up from Slavery, speaks to these conditions and the way in which it shaped both himself and all those who lived within this difficult period in American history. All the same, Mr. Washington makes a pointed observation that others have made before. However, he manages to wring a poignant lesson from it:”…out of the hard and unusual struggle through which he is compelled to pass, he gets a strength, a confidence…” Earlier in the same chapter of his autobiography, he makes the statement that is perhaps his most quoted aphorism: “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” And the connection between the kind of success gained from overcoming obstacles and the “strength” and “confidence” one gains by doing so is a profound one if one is able to grasp it. All suffering, but particularly, willful suffering, produces the kind of “strength” that is very difficult to imagine one might gain especially when one begins an arduous, “hard and unusual struggle” with no clear and discernible reward in sight. Yet, what Mr. Washington tries to impress upon his readers is a very real sense that despite the injustice and apparent suffering that persons from all walks of life are inevitably confronted with-if one learns how to suffer, one will learn how to succeed. Habits of internal fortitude, patience, perseverance, determination amongst a host of other attributes that one develops-if, and only if, one endures suffering-are the very characteristics that in turn are both necessary for and inherently marks persons of success. Whether one is “compelled to pass” through such suffering or willingly undergoes it, the end result is one that serves the sufferer immeasurably more than the circumstances or society that cause such suffering.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
November 4, 2014 · 8:42 am
“I resolved at once to go to that school, although I had no idea where it was, or how many miles away, or how I was going to reach it; I remembered only that I was on fire constantly with one ambition, and that was to go to Hampton. This thought was with me day and night.”-Booker T. Washington. Up from Slavery(1901)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
“Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal,” is a maxim that has survived several revisions, and though it has been attributed to several historic personages, Booker T. Washington’s autobiography is a fine representation of this idea. One need not be reminded that the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University was a man who was formerly enslaved. While his autobiography chronicles his family’s poverty and difficult circumstances, it also chronicles his undaunted courage, persistence and determination “to go to school” in spite of these challenges. Consider the following: Booker T. Washington possessed a “vision”-the greatest 6-letter word-to get an education that would be bound by neither obstacles nor the opinions of others. More than this, “this thought was with [him] day and night.” (At night while others were perhaps sleeping, this man was likely reading, writing and thinking, particularly as he gradually developed this life-long habit.) One can easily imagine the very apparent “obstacles” that might have caused him-as they did so many others-to retreat to a position of resignation that acquiring an education would not be within the grasp of a formerly enslaved young man. Or that somehow his “one ambition” was fool-hearted because others had not done so. Rather, he held fast to his idea to acquire an education when perhaps there was no reason to do so-except for “vision”. (And he did infinitely more than receive the education he long “thought” of and “that [he] was on fire constantly for”.) He was first educated. He next became a teacher and finally, at age 25, he became founding principal and president of one of the preeminent institutions in the world where he served for 34 years.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
November 3, 2014 · 8:49 am
“I used to picture the way that I would act under such circumstances; how I would begin at the bottom and keep rising until I reached the highest round of success.”– Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery (1901)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Robert Hedrick’s translation of Xenophon’s Cyrus The Great: The Arts of Leadership and War captures a rather profound and startling idea about the power of both the mind and imagination in one’s youth. This is particularly evidenced in Mr. Washington’s autobiographical telling of the time spent in his youth thinking of his future: “I created an empire in my thoughts long before long before I began to win an empire in reality.” The founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, Booker T. Washington, tells of not having many flesh-and-blood examples of “success” due to both his poverty and enslavement. Yet, while Booker T. Washington’s “hands” might have been bound, his “heart” and his “head” were certainly not. Though he might have seen but dimly into what his future held, he “used to picture the way [he] would act under such circumstances.” (Note, one can hardly go where one cannot see one’s self beforehand going. And one can hardly do what one cannot see one’s self beforehand doing.) “Vision” is the greatest 6-letter word, and “leader” is the second greatest 6-letter word in this writer’s opinion. And Mr. Washington possessed “vision” enough for himself-without regard to what others might have seen-to see himself as a “leader,” which he later realized for some 34 years at the helm of Tuskegee (Institute) University.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
November 3, 2014 · 7:59 am
“Mr. J. H. Washington: The following matter I wish you to give immediate attention to today. The exposure to girls and lady teachers of the girls water closet is something disgraceful, and I wish you would take hold of the matter at once and arrange so that the boxes and general back part of the water closet can be shielded from view of the lady teachers and girls passing to and from the chapel. -“Booker T. Washington, “December 26, 1903”
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
While the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University was equally concerned with both the sons and daughters of Mother Tuskegee, Mr. Washington was particularly careful with respect to attending to the residential areas of female students. Note, Mr. Washington wanted his brother-his older brother-“to give immediate attention to [it] today.” Living-learning environments need not only be in keeping with standards but these should also be safe and secure. Once again, Mr. Washington demonstrates that the responsibility of the institution’s chief executive officer is an admixture of matters external and internal-not one or the other. The mothers, fathers and family members of those students that were, are and will continue to be sent to Tuskegee University expect no less. Here again, an institution’s vision must connect with its mission, and its trajectory with its tradition, and Mr. Washington was crystal clear that the success of his Tuskegee University students also encompassed the safety and security of his Tuskegee University students.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 30, 2014 · 9:29 am
Personal
“Dear sir: In further answer to your very kind letter of a few days ago making inquiry as to the work of our graduates and ex-students, I would say that one of our officers is employed almost continuously in visiting and inspecting the work being done by the men and women that we turn out, and he makes periodical reports to me of what he finds, and I take the liberty of enclosing to you a copy of the last report which he sent in. An analysis of this report will show that 57 cases are covered. Four are engaged wholly in teaching, 27 work wholly at their trades, 26 teach in connection with working at their trades. Yours truly,”-Booker T. Washington, “July 9, 1903”
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Nothing is more exhilarating-aside from reporting and conveying high rates of alumni giving percentages-for a president of a university to take delight in reporting about his or her alumni than reporting upon their individual successes in their fields of study. Make no mistake, the pride and strength of any institution is its students and its graduates for these individuals represent the core mission and vision-the tradition and trajectory-of any institution of higher learning. Long before the nomenclature of an “outcomes-oriented organization” became commonplace in American higher education, here you find the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University providing data-informed responses to inquiries with respect to his graduates. Note, there is not a single day in the life of a university president where he or she is not requested to provide documentable, evidence-based and outcomes-based responses regarding the successes of their institution. Though somewhat rudimentary in 1903, Mr. Washington, all the same, provided “facts” not “floating tales” in the form of a “periodical report” that he is able to readily provide to any would-be supporter or detractor concerning his work at Tuskegee (Institute) University. Here again, it is an extension of Mr. Washington’s often quoted maxim: “Let examples answer.” (It is simply unwise in any endeavor to offer words without accompanying and supporting works.) In this respect, Mr. Washington did not merely suggest that the sons and daughters of Mother Tuskegee were the very best and the brightest, he demonstrated it.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
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October 29, 2014 · 8:51 am
“[To William Edward Burghardt Du Bois] Mr. Booker T. Washington will be pleased to have you take dinner with him at his home, “The Oaks,” at 6:30 o’clock this evening.”-Booker T. Washington, Tuskegee, July 6, 1903
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
There are a handful of historic dinner-time conversations that the writer of this commentary would ever wish to be transported back in time to listen in upon. And this one, occurring on the evening of July 6, 1903, between the eminent and distinguished founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, Booker T. Washington, and the eminent and distinguished, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ranks near the very top. For in 1903, these two men were, arguably, at the very zenith of their spiritual (heart), intellectual (head) and physical (hands) strength. W.E.B. Du Bois would have published his signal work, The Souls of Black Folk in this same year, 1903, and Booker T. Washington would only be two years removed from publishing Up From Slavery in 1901. One can only imagine the earnestness, frankness and thoughtfulness of their discourse on that evening. (“Depth” and “breadth” is the greatest 5 and 7-letter word combination, and this conversation would have certainly fit this description-completely opposite of a conversation that is flat, flippant and frivolous.) All the same, one would be deeply mistaken to assume their ideological differences were so deep-seated that these two men could not come together for dinner and discussion. One would hardly ever invite someone to dinner who one disdains and distrusts into the confines of one’s home, particularly into one as auspicious as “The Oaks,” and amongst one’s family. These men likely expressed their differences with one another, but they assuredly did so honorably and respectfully in the presence of each other. In the end, one might never learn what the conversation was about; Yet, the singular invitation to invite one who has commonly been regarded as his chief adversary-possessing equal ability, stature and renown-speaks to the magnanimity of Tuskegee’s Booker T. Washington, who demonstrated one of his oft-quoted maxims: “I let no man drag me down so low as to make me hate him.”
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 28, 2014 · 8:35 am
“You cannot hope to succeed if you keep bad company. As far as possible try to form the habit of spending your nights at home.”-Booker T. Washington, “A Sunday Evening Talk: On Influencing by Example”
The adage that one is known by the company he or she keeps is an oft-expressed one, but the founding principal and president of Tuskegee University, Booker T. Washington, extends the adage even further both in the aforementioned passage and in another commonly quoted passage: “Associate yourself with people of good quality. It is better to be alone than in bad company.” Moreover, his additional suggestion to “try to form the habit of spending your nights at home” is a very practical one worth noting. Insofar as it is possible to discern from his autobiography, correspondence, letters, speeches-and more importantly his accomplishments-the man, Booker Washington, apparently did little else but read, write, work and stay at home with his family. And while it is easy to regard Tuskegee (Institute) University’s founding principal with an overwhelming sense of awe, one can begin to appreciate and understand him in view of his own self-discipline and self-sacrifice. (Everyone suffers but few suffer voluntarily. Yet, if one learns how to suffer, one will learn how to succeed.) One need not be reminded that everyone has the same 24 hours in a day, but how one spends those hours is what ultimately distinguishes men and women. (One would simply be amazed at how much more time can be committed to a meaningful mission or a purposeful project if time is not spent in (un)meaningful and (un)purposeful ones that do not result in progress.) Clearly, recreation, fun and leisure have their place but not if these things come at the expense of sustainable success. (Mr. Washington suggests that it is even better when one’s recreation, fun and leisure become part and parcel of one’s work.) For when an individual can transform his or her home into an extension of their workshop, these men and women have the advantage of continuing, doubling and multiplying their labors when others have ceased from theirs.
October 27, 2014 · 9:14 am
Dear Gen’l [Armstrong]: Soon after our conversation in Phila.[delphia] I arrived here and found a letter announcing that the Misses Mason had given us $7000. Faith and hard work, I find, will accomplish anything. Yours &c” -B.T. Washington, November 26, 1885
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
For some, “faith” is the single most important attribute for success-absent any personal diligence, integrity, work and sacrifice; (All of these things are critical to achievement and accomplishment in addition to faith.) And, for others, “hard work” is the all-encompassing characteristic that is sufficient for all things achieved in life. However, Mr. Washington suggests that both are required, and our daily lives suggest the same. There are a great many pursuits that we have diligently “worked hard” towards that have not yielded expected results. And there are those pursuits where “faith” exercised towards an expressed desire was all that one could do under the circumstances, and it produced unexpected success. (And the resulting success was more times than not unmerited.) All the same, the two qualities listed here in Mr. Washington’s letter-“faith” and “hard work”-are the highest ideals in daily accomplishment leading towards long-term success. For our words of sincere desire must always work together with our works of sincere effort because when daily difficulties push the one, the other stands ready to push back.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 26, 2014 · 5:43 pm
October 24, 2014 · 8:55 am
“It seems appropriate during these closing days of the school year to re-emphasize, if possible, that for which the institution stands. We want to have every student get what we have-in our egotism, perhaps-called the “Tuskegee spirit”; that is, to get hold of the spirit of the institution, get hold of that for which it stands; and then spread that spirit just as widely as possible, and plant it just as deeply as it is possible to plant it.” “Last Words: A Sunday Evening Talk,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Upon the last Sunday evening talk given at the close of the academic year, Booker T. Washington encouraged his hearers to come to learn of, embrace and finally disseminate the “Tuskegee spirit.” (There is something different about Tuskegee University.) It cannot be singularly explained by the eminence of its founding principal and president. It cannot be explained by the eminence of George Washington Carver. It cannot be explained by the aura associated with the “Tuskegee Airmen” whose feats are now known and respected worldwide. One simply cannot come upon the campus of Tuskegee University and not immediately be confronted with an overwhelming sense of the past meeting the present in deeply profound ways. For the “Tuskegee spirit” is what bounds not only its students and alumni but also its faculty, staff, administrators and presidents. It is a living, breathing pride in its beginnings, its present and its future-a future that is interwoven within the lives of every individual that has come upon the grounds of this sacred land. The “Tuskegee spirit” is none other than the spirit of a people-a great people embodying the very best and brightest in any and every tradition the world has ever known.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 23, 2014 · 10:30 am
“Dear Mr. Washington: Your favor of June 11th to my father enclosing check for $249 being the balance of his pledge authorizing the expenditure up to $34,000 for a boys dormitory, which balance you state was not required in the completion of the building, is received. My father is gratified to know that the building has been constructed so well within the estimated cost, the more so since it so frequently happens that the opposite is the case. He takes pleasure in returning the check for $249 desiring that the same be applied as you may see fit.” -Very Truly, John D. Rockefeller Jr.
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
In John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s follow up to Booker T. Washington, who on June 11, 1903 returned an extra $249 to his father, Mr. Rockefeller not only expressed his “gratitude” for Mr. Washington’s gesture, but he did something more. He confirms and affirms that the actions of the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University were atypical-even unusual-completely unlike what the Rockefellers had been used to: “My father is gratified to know that the building has been constructed so well within the estimated cost, the more so since it so frequently happens that the opposite is the case.” Note, it was and continues to be no small matter to receive commendations and endorsements from major donors, significant external constituencies and foundations within the class and/or influence of the Rockefellers. These contributors are among a select group who are able to either offer transformative gifts to an institution to help further its mission and vision-its tradition and trajectory-or who are able to recommend an institution to similarly situated persons and organizations. Mr. Rockefeller’s affirmation of both the manner and method of Tuskegee (Institute) University’s then-operating principles carried the kind of weight in the kinds of circles that institutions want to be well regarded in. Moreover, the senior Rockefeller went still further: “He takes pleasure in returning the check for $249 desiring that the same be applied as you [Booker T. Washington] may see fit.” Whether the founding principal of Tuskegee expected this gesture or no, it is clear that the Rockefellers held Washington in such regard that not only did they return the unspent funds but permitted him to use these funds in an “unrestricted” manner. Institutions will make use of all kinds of funds “restricted” or “unrestricted” but “unrestricted” use is particularly helpful for an institution and its president when granted this unique opportunity because it allows these funds to be used “as you see fit.” “Trust,” one of the greatest 5-letter words is a key component of institutional integrity. Like any strong relationship, it takes time to develop and it is often developed through stewarding smaller gifts until the donor trusts that the institution will steward larger gifts-“here a little, there a little.” Here, it is clear that the Rockefellers trusted that this man, Booker, would do what he said he would do, and that he would do no more or no less. And herein lies an object lesson for persons in the 19th, 20th, 21st century or any century. It is never the “quantity” of endorsements, affirmations and commendations received from signal constituent groups but the “quality” of the individuals and organizations that offer them.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 22, 2014 · 9:51 am
“My dear Mr. Rockefeller: I am sorry that the amount left over after the completion of Rockefeller Hall is not as large as I thought it would be, still I take great pleasure in returning to you in the enclosed check Two Hundred and Forty-nine ($249.00) Dollars. You do not know how very grateful we are to your father for this generous help. It has made a very large number of our boys much happier and placed them in a position to do better work than they have ever done before. I hope at some time your father can see the school that he has done so much to put upon its feet. The students and teachers would give him a great welcome if he could ever see his way clear to come. Yours very truly.”-“June 11, 1903,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
We find repeatedly in Booker T. Washington’s letters and writings to major donors and foundations three characteristics that are often looked at long before such donors and foundations make commitments to institutions and the men and women who lead them: Accountability, Stewardship and Sustainability. As to accountability, donors and foundations do not simply give to institutions and positions but to the persons in back of them. Firstly, accountability is akin to transparency. The founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University did not merely make requests for such donations, but he clearly expressed for what reason he was making such a request and for what purpose shall the donation be put to. Mr. Washington apologized in part that the request he had made was beyond what he anticipated: “I am sorry that the amount left over after the completion of Rockefeller Hall is not as large as I thought it would be…” (Here again, “integrity” is the single greatest 9-letter word and Mr. Washington was clearly panged that somehow his estimation was slightly above what he had communicated. A man of conscience, he did not think this a small matter to make such an apology. Rather he admitted this oversight on behalf of either himself or the institution.) Secondly, stewardship is the silentsister of accountability. As a “steward” indeed-anothergreat 7-letter word-he indicated thus: “…I take great pleasure in returning to you in the enclosed check Two Hundred and Forty-nine ($249.00) Dollars.” This man made no presumption that the additional $249.00 might have been spent for other purposes or placed within another institutional account to be used for other purposes. (He adhered to the twin sisters, accountability and stewardship, in all of his dealings so that there would be no questioning either his “integrity” or his “knowledge,” the second greatest 9-letter word.) Lastly, Sustainability is a nearly absent consideration for those engaged in the advancement and development of an organization. Donors and foundations seek to be associated with success and continued success. One gives to what can be sustained. (Has anyone ever given his or her dollars to an individual or an organization merely to waste without any sustaining power?) Givers desire to be continuous contributors to the on-going work and success of an individual and organization. As the individual and organization’s success is sustained, so is the reputation of both the giver and the gift. Hence, the founding principal and president’s parting request for Mr. Rockefeller to visit the campus directly: “I hope at some time your father can see the school that he has done so much to put upon its feet. The students and teachers would give him a great welcome if he could ever see his way clear to come.” Booker Washington knew that such men and organizations desired to “see” for themselves the effects of their giving; For what is sustainable can not only be seen,but also supplemented with future gifts for continuous, on-going success.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 21, 2014 · 8:55 am
“After I got so that I could read a little, I used to take a great deal of satisfaction in the lives of men who had risen by their own efforts from poverty to success. It is a great thing for a boy to be able to read books of that kind. It not only inspires him with the desire to do something and make something of his life, but it teaches him that success depends upon his ability to do something useful, to perform some kind of service that the world wants.”-Booker T. Washington, _My Larger Education_(1901)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
The great scholar, literary critic and ‘Narnia’ chronicler, C. S. Lewis, remarks about the value of books upon a young boy or girl’s imagination: “Since it is so likely that (children) will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.” Here again, what one consistently reads, one consistently becomes; Just imagine what one might become when one reads about the lives of great men and women from the time of one’s youth even into one’s mature years. This is what the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University recommends, and it is a recommendation that we would do well to not only just follow, but continuously follow. First, the world needs verifiable, authentic and organic heroes, not simply scripted and fictional ones. Men and women whose lives are grounded in believable and relatable life experiences that one can readily identify with provides great grounds for hope for those who have similar experiences. Second, one can learn from the mistakes made in the lived lives of others. It is simply not true that one must repeat the mistakes of others. (Instead, you read and learn from them.) The triumphant records of men and women that also record both their foibles and follies are useful for persons of any century to learn, discern and comprehend that what happened before may very well occur again. Third, the lived lives of men and women who are no longer amongst us are permanent, indelible and fixed records that will remain ever unchanged. (One may repeatedly interpret and re-interpret their deeds done but there will be no adding nor taking away from them.) And this final thought is one that certainly motivated men and women of the class of Booker T. Washington and should motivate us as well. For Booker T. Washington knew that one has but one life to live, and there would be no do over. When future chroniclers composed the narrative of his life, he wanted to be certain that it contributed to making someone else’s “destiny brighter” not “darker.” The founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) did not simply write correspondence, books and speeches worth reading; he lived a life worth reading not only in his generation but also in the many future generations to follow.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 20, 2014 · 9:07 am
“More than that, a school that is content with merely turning out ladies and gentlemen who are not at the same time something else — who are not lawyers, doctors, business men, bankers, carpenters, farmers, teachers, not even housewives, but merely ladies and gentlemen — such a school is bound, in my estimation, to be more or less a failure.”-Booker T. Washington, _My Larger Education_(1901)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
In keeping with his constant emphasis that “style”-however impressive to the eye or palpable to the ear-will never ever be a replacement for “substance,” Booker T. Washington here speaks to the central purpose of a university education. Make no mistake, appropriate dress and eloquent speech is quite essential for the university-trained man or woman. Grades alone without accompanying poise, presence and posture will not assure one’s entrance into career fields where appearance often factors into personal prejudices and/or preferences. All the same, “knowledge,” which is the second greatest 9-letter word after “integrity,” is one of the single most important attributes to be in possession of for the university-trained man or woman for not only the successful entrance into a field of activity but a successful stay. Whether in the 19th Century or the 21st Century, one has to know something. In an increasingly knowledge-based economy and society, “knowledge” is the chief currency and substance in fields of activity where performance enables one to transcend multiple work environments. And the institution that is more concerned with what is upon the backs of her students than what is between the ears of her students, is in the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University’s “estimation…more or less a failure.”
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 16, 2014 · 9:00 am
“Mrs. Washington: Please let me know by bearer if you will go driving at five o’clock.” “May 27, 1904,” -B.T.W. (Booker T. Washington)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Though expressed in his customary formal tone, this is perhaps one of the most touching communiqués from the founding principal and president of Tuskegee Institute (University), Booker T. Washington. Addressed to his loving and supportive wife, Mrs. Margaret James Murray Washington, Mr. Washington-a man whose time was consumed with the care and concern of a great university-here finds time to go driving, likely by horse and buggy, about campus and town with his lovely wife. Note, it is a great matter of refreshing, rest and repose to be able to recreate within the confines of family and love ones. (There is no better place of refuge and retreat than one’s own family. And Mr. Washington’s principal family consisted of 4 primary persons: Portia, Booker, Earnest and Mrs. Washington). A leader of a vast organization such as Mr. Washington certainly acquired a great many friends, acquaintances and associates-particularly upon his ascendancy to such a renowned post-yet here he makes it crystal clear that there is but one he would invite to join him for a relaxing ride-Mrs. Margaret James Murray Washington. Incidentally, she replied, “Yes-Mrs. W.”
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 15, 2014 · 8:42 am
“[To Charles Winter Wood] Fear Booker still unwell. Go Wellesley at once and have full consultation with Mr. Brenner. If you and he think wise and necessary have good physician give Booker thorough examination and do whatever is best for him at any reasonable expense. Have all your dealings with Mr. Benner and do nothing he does not approve. Find out how Booker getting on in every way. Telegraph answer my expense after you have been to Wellesley.”– “May 21, 1904,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
In still another correspondence demonstrating the paternal regard he had for his son, Booker during his tenure at Wellesley school for the boys, the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University once again demonstrates concern for his son yet without undermining the authority of Mr. Brenner, the principal and chief administrator of Wellesley. It is clear that a man of Booker T.Washington’s eminence, renown, position and wealth might have easily sought to “go around” the principal to have his designate attend to his son. However, he did not do so. As a principal and president of an educational institution himself, he fully understood policy, process and protocol. (How could he have otherwise expected others to respect his authority and process as principal of Tuskegee Institute if he did not respect the authority and process of Mr. Benner, principal of Wellesley?) He did not seek advantage upon the grounds of patronage, parentage, position or prominence with respect to young Booker. Instead, he instructed his designate, one Mr. Charles Winter Wood, as follows: “Have all your dealings with Mr. Benner and do nothing he does not approve.” Here again, “integrity” is the greatest 9-letter word, and one’s words ought to necessarily be synonymous with one’s works. What Mr. Washington expected from others during his tenure at the helm of Tuskegee (Institute) University is in turn what he expected of himself.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 14, 2014 · 9:04 am
“Dear Mr. Benner: Please tell Booker that I am to be here for a week, and that I should like to hear from him. He has a tendency, I have noticed, to stoop over when he sits, and to stand not at all erect when he walks. I hope you will do all that you can to correct this habit. Very truly yours.”– “May 5, 1904,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
The founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University was not only an affectionate father who wanted to hear from his sons, he was also a father that provided instruction to them as well. His namesake attended the Wellesley School for Boys in Wellesley, MA, and Mr. Edward Augustine Benner was principal of the school during young Booker’s tenure. Similar to his stewardship over the affairs of Mother Tuskegee, he equally considered important the stewardship over his children as a father. A consummate educator, his letters, speeches and writings demonstrate that he used every incident occurring in the walls of the university to provide object lessons to his students–the “sons and daughters of Booker and Mother Tuskegee”–for their betterment. Similarly, he used the opportunity to inquire of his son’s well -being while simultaneously requesting that the principal make note of his recommendations concerning his son’s posture. Like a good teacher, Mr. Washington well understood that paternal love is not constrained to a demonstration of empathy and concern, it also involves correction. For love, empathy and concern properly understood involves both.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 13, 2014 · 8:41 am
“I hope that each of you as you go out for the summer, whether you go out with the view of returning here to finish your course of study, or whether you go out as graduates of the institution, I want each of you to remember that you are going to go backward or you are going to go forward. It will be impossible for you to stand still. You will either go upward or you will go downward, and as you go upward, you will take others up with you, or as you go downward, you will take others with you.” “Sunday Evening Talk,” “May 13, 1900,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
In life, leadership and a host of other endeavors, one can hardly expect to move “forward” or “upward” while “stand[ing] still”. As the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University eloquently articulates in one of his “Sunday Evening Talks” with students, “you are going to go backward or you are going to go forward.” To be sure, Mr. Washington’s idea of moving “forward,” “backward,” “upwards,” or “downwards” is not an absolute formula. There are a great many occasions where perceived “backward” movements propel individuals and organizations “forward,” and perceived “upward” movements move individuals and organizations “downward.” Notwithstanding, the idea contained in Mr. Washington’s aforementioned formulation speaks most precisely to “activity” or “inactivity,” which is otherwise known as, “stand[ing] still”. History and contemporary society are replete with examples of men, women and organizations whose constant activity have led to a single monumental success after many repeated failures. Yet, what is constant in both the successes and failures is “activity.” Mr. Washington has also described it as, “going”. And while it is true that busyness is not the same as effectiveness, it is equally true that the man, woman or organization that is busy “going” is more likely to become successful as opposed to those who are “standing still.”
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 10, 2014 · 8:53 am
Personal and Private
Dear Sir: I am not active in politics and do not expect to be, and have no claim upon your time or attention. I simply write to assure you that I am doing in a rather quiet way whatever I can in connection with our mutual friend, Mr. Clarkson, to bring about your nomination for the presidency at St. Louis Convention […]. “April 10, 1896,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Booker T. Washington possessed many detractors who railed against the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University for not being “active in politics.” In spite of this, we repeatedly find in his letters and correspondence that he was simply not “active” in the precise manner at the precise time that persons wanted him to be. Such was the case in his communication to William Boyd Allison. Although Mr. Washington was not loud, boisterous nor public in communicating the whole of his ideas and activities, he moved “in a rather quiet way” as demonstrated in this letter marked “personal and private.” Unlike those without such responsibilities, many leaders of large and vast organizations like Booker T. Washington are not at liberty to publicly communicate all of their opinions or activities directed towards particular ends. Whether in the 19th century where leaders communicated through pen and paper or in the 21st century where men and women communicate via email or social media, you will rarely find the most effective leaders revealing the whole of their minds and the whole of their undertakings upon a matter. (The weightier their position, the weightier their word.) It is a small and insignificant thing for a person who possesses no public reputation or great authority to offer opinion on highly charged political matters. Yet for a man in Booker T. Washington’s position, every move and word was scrutinized because of the eminence of his role and institution. For some 34 years, he was not simply Booker Washington; He was Booker Washington, principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University. As such, prudence dictated that he move “in a rather quiet way” on a great majority of matters for a great majority of his 34 years at the helm of Tuskegee (Institute) University.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 9, 2014 · 9:49 am
October 9, 2014 · 8:51 am
“Mr. Saffold: I send you by bearer a sample of the bread which was given the students yesterday for their dinner. You can easily see that such cooking is not only a great waste but is very injurious to the health of the students. I am sure that we are paying enough now for service in connection with the boarding department to have things in first class condition. I do not think there is any necessity for giving the students so much fat meat as that on this saucer would indicated that they are given.” – “September 28, 1898,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
This piece of correspondence from the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, Booker T. Washington, gives new meaning to his oft-used expression: “Let examples answer.” Although he sent Frank E. Saffold a “sample of the bread which was given the students,” Mr. Washington sent something far more important; He sent his concerns about food that “is very injurious to the health of the students.” Here again, the president of any university has a great many responsibilities and the quality of food services for its students is near the top. Mr. Washington clearly understood that promoting life-long health and wellness for students begins during their matriculation at a university, and made certain that he was equally meticulous in his oversight of the food he was serving as he was with the funds he was raising.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 8, 2014 · 2:43 pm
Dear Mr. Logan: War now seems sure. Buy nothing except absolute necessities. Live on the farms in every way as far as you can. Yours sincerely. “April 5, 1898,” -Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Abigail Adams wrote: “Great necessities call forth great leaders.” And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, Booker T. Washington was such a leader. Mr. Washington’s communications to his modern-day equivalent of a chief financial officer, Mr. Warren Logan, was likely in reference to America’s 3-month long war in 1898 with Spain. As evidenced in an earlier letter, Booker T. Washington’s far-reaching political connections into the halls of government, provided him a tip on the impending war, and Mr. Washington took immediate action to respond. Like a good leader, he prepared and planned, erring on the side of caution and prudence. He did not know that the war would last only 3 months, but prepared as if it would last for 3 years. He cut spending, and he urged Mr. Logan to rely upon Tuskegee University’s own resources-its own farms-“in every way as far as you can.” For Mr. Washington well understood that “great leaders” in times of “great necessities” focus upon “absolute necessities.”
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 7, 2014 · 7:10 pm
October 7, 2014 · 8:46 am
“I have great faith in the power and influence of facts.” -Booker T. Washington, _Up From Slavery_(1901)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Men and women who possess leadership responsibilities beyond their own persons would be hard pressed to find any better ally or supporter than facts. And men and women of the ilk of Booker T. Washington, founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, marshaled both favorable or unfavorable facts to similar ends. It is simply not true that one should keep one’s eyes open to favorable facts while closing one’s eyes to unfavorable facts. Mr. Washington’s penchant for earnestness, frankness and directness in his communications to donors and external constituencies always commingled both favorable and unfavorable facts. As to favorable facts, one ought always communicate what the organization does well in a clear, documentable and evidentiary fashion. (An outcomes-oriented organization need not rely upon fables when facts are present.) On the other hand, communicating unfavorable facts is equally important. Whether one concedes it or not, everyone knows when something “is not right.” A plain statement and admission of an organization’s current environment is one of the clearest telltale signs of organizational integrity. (Here again, “integrity” is the single greatest 9-letter word.) For Mr. Washington did not merely state that all things were always favorable. (Why would anyone seek outside help if all things, as they currently exist, are favorable? Any petition for aid immediately pronounces the opposite. For no one asks for help when there is no need for it.) Instead, he oft-times made a plain statement of the organization’s current environment while positively projecting its target environment. In this regard all successful outside entities have empathy towards such an organization because a right understanding of one’s current environment with a view towards its target environment necessitates a commingling of both facts that are favorable and unfavorable.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 6, 2014 · 9:09 am
“[To Gilchrist Stewart]…I will tell you in a word what we want in the position that you are now attempting to fill. We want a man who puts his whole soul in the work-who gives it his thought night and day-who can teach the theory of dairying in the class room, and who is not afraid after his teaching to put on his dairy suit and go into the stable and remain with the students while they are milking, and then go into the creamery and take hold in a whole souled way and show the students who to do their work. We want a man who is so much in love with the work that he thinks it is just as important for him to remain with students while they are milking and separating the milk as it is for the academic teacher to remain with his class while they are reciting arithmetic. We want a person whose soul is so deeply in love with his work that it is a pleasure for him to co-operate and obey orders, who looks so closely after every detail of his work that matters will not get so out of order that others will have to be constantly calling his attention to defects and to whom orders will not have to be continually repeated by the farm director or myself. We want one who is continually planning for the improvement and perfection of his work. This is what we want in this position and we can accept nothing less.”-“November 9, 1897,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Esteemed author and educator, Parker Palmer, writes the following regarding finding one’s purpose and passion in connection with one’s work: “It is not easy work rejoining soul and role.” And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, Booker T. Washington thoroughly outlines in this letter to Mr. Gilchrist Stewart the kind of employee he sought to assist him in his work at Tuskegee. Expounding upon his conception of “heart (calling), head (competence) and hands (capable),” Mr. Washington wanted someone to “take hold in a whole souled way,” and “whose soul is deeply in love with his work.” While Mr. Washington’s passage needs no additional commentary, and one might argue that he offers a 19th century notion of work, we are able to glean two important lessons for the 21st century from his remarks to Mr. Stewart. First, he wanted someone “who gives [work] his thought night and day.” Now, there are a great many employees whose work ends as soon as the bell rings, yet there are some who give constant thought and deliberation to how their work might be improved and made better. To be sure, work-life balance dictates prudence in these matters. Notwithstanding, the student, scholar, professor, staff member and administrator who is constantly turning about in their head how to make things better will likely become the person who surpasses those whose work is done at the close of the class period or the business day. (For this man or woman is working while others are talking or sleeping, and when they become successful, it is only a surprise to those who do not know the supreme value of works as opposed to words.) Second, Mr. Washington wanted someone “who looks so closely after every detail of his work…whom orders will not have to be continually repeated…[and] one who is continually planning for the improvement and perfection of his work.” Herein lies the (3) chief descriptors of any successful man or woman at their craft: 1. They look closely after the details. Contrary to popular opinion, “it does take all of that” to become a man or woman whose work transcends any boundary. Attention to the most minute of details is a characteristic of excellence that is oft-times avoided because it is perceived as additional work 2. They do not need to be told repeatedly what to do. If a supervisor must spend his or her time repeatedly issuing the same instructions and expectations to those within their charge, then they might rightly do the work themselves. On the other hand, if a supervisor can issue a general set of expectations and instructions and never return to the person except when absolutely necessary it enables the supervisor to attend to their own duties and not the duties of others. 3. They are continually planning for improvement and perfection in their work. Note, one will never arrive at perfection which is precisely why an institution and its employees must be in a constant state of “continuous improvement.” It is a poor employee or organization that rests upon past successes or achievement. The best employees and organizations work constantly to achieve and do MORE and MORE. Success-true success-begets more success and, most importantly, continued success. (Success is the 3rd greatest 7-letter word after “purpose” and “passion.”) Every successful man or woman wants to work in a culture of success. And such success is both the tradition and trajectory of Tuskegee (Institute) University.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 3, 2014 · 4:58 pm
October 2, 2014 · 9:47 am
“Dear Sir: Your favor of May 28 informing me of the desire of Harvard University to confer an honorary degree upon me at the next Commencement-June 24, is received. In reply I would say that the information is a great surprise to me. I shall be present at the time you name. Yours Sincerely,” “June 1, 1896,” -Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Indeed and of a most sincere truth, “a prophet is not without honor except for his own hometown.” Although the founding principal and president of Tuskegee Institute (University), Booker T. Washington, experienced many dark days, many other days were alighted. And such was the day when he was notified that Harvard University would be conferring upon him an honorary degree. To be sure, nearly halfway through his tenure at Tuskegee University-some 15 years into his presidency (1881-1896)-Mr. Washington was appreciated within his university for the strides he had made to build a university. Notwithstanding such appreciation, when one receives commendations from external persons and entities-particularly in the class of Harvard University-it is especially heartening for a leader. For such commendations provide validation and confirmation that excellent and visionary leadership, which is the best leadership, transcends all boundaries.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
October 1, 2014 · 8:53 am
“Mrs. Logan: For some time I have had in mind having some one come to Tuskegee with a view of looking thoroughly through our class room work and reporting on its condition. I have not however up to the present, arranged with any outside person to do this. It occurs to me that perhaps you might be able to take a week or ten days in making this investigation. At the outset I am trying to say that it is very difficult to find person to do such work for the reason that there are such few persons who can entirely separate themselves from the individual whose work she is looking into, such an examination means nothing unless the examiner is strong enough, I might add has a heart hard enough to shut her eyes against everything except facts…I want to know just whether or not we are doing the best work, and the only way to know is to have it thoroughly looked into by an outside person once in a while.”-“March 7, 1895,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
It is often difficult to receive objective and impartial facts regarding functions within a vast organization the size of Tuskegee Institute (University). For all too often-feelings, not facts and functions-are the paramount concern for administrators and employees alike who might not reveal or disclose areas of non-strength within the current institutional environment. All the same, its founding principal and president, Booker T. Washington, employed then in the late 19th century, what is now a common practice in higher education. He brought in an external consultant. Now, external consultants are in abundance, and they hover around institutions seeking to secure contracts for their services. Many of these add immediate value while others not so much. Yet, Mr. Washington did not simply want another consultant seeking proverbial “bread” or salary. Instead, he desired someone who would help him to ascertain in no uncertain terms “just whether or not we are doing the best work…” And such a person would need to be both “strong enough” and “heart hard enough” to provide such an examination without regard to intimate associations with employees within an organization. (How can any external examiner impartially and objectively assess an institution’s on the basis of personal relationships, and feelings as opposed to functions?) Here again, it is the function not the feeling when administering organizational change management, and external reviewers are often used for such purposes. For these external men and women help ensure institutional integrity. And “integrity” is the greatest 9-letter word.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
September 30, 2014 · 9:18 am
“I would not be doing my duty to the school did I permit the present state of things to exist, especially in view of the fact that I am compelled to be away from the school a large part of the year and I am compelled to perform my work almost wholly through the members of the Executive Council and there must be only such persons as I have my complete confidence in and share my desires as to the policy and work of the institution.” “March 26, 1895,”-Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Of the many important decisions leaders of large organizations must make, deciding upon one’s senior leadership team is perhaps the most important. For these men and women become extensions of a leader so that he or she might be in many places at once. And this is the founding principal and president of Tuskegee University’s idea when he writes the following: “…I am compelled to be away from the school a large part of the year and I am compelled to perform my work almost wholly through the members of the Executive Council and there must be only such persons as I have my complete confidence in and share my desires as to the policy and work of the institution.” First, Booker T. Washington’s travel often took him away from the home front so that he might represent the interests of the institution both near and abroad. No leader can ever feel comfortable when absent from the organization unless he or she is most certain that affairs will be conducted in a manner that reflects his or her management when they are present. Second, the broadest and widest tents have more than one pole. It is a poor leader who seeks to be the sole source or “pole” of leadership within an organization or unit. (How shall a tent become enlarged with only one pole?) The more poles, the larger the tent, and the selection of many poles enable a leader to expand and “work almost wholly through the members” of his or her “Executive Council.” Third, Mr. Washington suggested, “there must be only such persons as I have my complete confidence in and share my desires as to the policy and work of the institution.” Note, competence is good but character plus competence is better. (Here again, integrity is the greatest 9-letter word.) Men and women who work with integrity will perform their work in view of the organization’s mission and vision, its tradition and trajectory without regard to the presence or absence of the leader. Moreover, these men and women must possess the confidence of the leader. (How can a quarterback call plays in a huddle of teammates only to discover that the teammates are giving the plays to the opponent?) Much rather, teammates are selected on the basis of their commitment to a common goal, and a leader’s selection of teammates suggests much about who he or she has “complete confidence in,” and who “share[s] [his or her] desires.” For it is “the policy and work of the institution”-not the individual leader or team member-that makes for a highly functional and highly successful organization like Tuskegee Institute (University) during the 34-year tenure of Booker T. Washington.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
September 29, 2014 · 8:49 am
“Mr. N.B. Young: Please send into my office by the 16th of Dec. a report showing what progress has been made in dovetailing the academic work into the industrial in the manner that I suggested to you and Mr. J.H. Washington sometime ago.”- “December 4, 1895,” -Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Among the many other documented and demonstrated leadership qualities he possessed, Booker T. Washington, founding principal and president of Tuskegee University, was consistent, communicative and collaborative. Apparently, Mr. Washington had offered a suggestion or idea in the direction of “dovetailing the academic work into the industrial.” Mr. Washington’s consistency amongst his constituency-great or small, brother or stranger-enabled him to routinely make request of others for he was without respect of those within his charge. Moreover, great leaders do not only make requests but also offer suggestions about how one might carry out such a request. It was clear that he provided guidance about how Mr. Young might proceed. Besides this, great leaders inspect what they expect. One of the cardinal mistakes leaders can make is to make assignments without any regard to checking the progress of completing such assignments. (This was not the case of Booker T. Washington.) For this man would not permit anyone to remark, “I did not know what you expected of me.” Rather, he committed to writing his expectations, and most importantly he communicated a deadline. Lastly, he was collaborative. What some employees consider “extra work,” other employees consider “opportunity.” When a supervisor gives an employee an opportunity to demonstrate his or her value to the organization, it is an opportunity to take heed to. For it provides a documentable opportunity to “let your light shine.” For lights are not designed to nor ever can be hidden. And Booker T. Washington was such a light during his 34-year long tenure at Tuskegee Institute (University), and he had a great many other lights to come along to assist him.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
September 26, 2014 · 8:47 am
“My position in respect to the students and the public is peculiar, and I must see that everyone does the highest service in benefitting the students, and must get rid of any obstacle that prevents this result.” “March 26, 1895,” -Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
There is no clearer statement that ought to mark both the mission and vision, the tradition and trajectory, of any institution of higher learning-especially as evidenced here from the founding principal and president of Tuskegee Institute (University)-than one that has its first and foremost focus upon STUDENTS. Student success, student engagement, (parent)-student satisfaction within a university environment is akin to a business’s focus being squarely upon its customers. (Who would offer a different focus for where an institution of higher learning’s resources should be otherwise directed?) Any alternative suggestion flies squarely in the face of the work and function of a university and reveals far more about the individual who offers an alternative suggestion as opposed to the mission and vision of an institution. At many American institutions-except for the most exceptionally endowed ones-the institution’s primary revenue stream derives from the net tuition revenue received from its students. To be sure, faculty research and philanthropic giving also provide additional streams of revenue, but even here these opportunities are largely premised upon the business of educating students in a living-learning environment. For where there are no students, there is no university, and where there is no university there is no purpose. A university’s mission is to educate her students, and Mother Tuskegee is committed to educating her students-the sons and daughters of Booker.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
September 25, 2014 · 9:12 am
“Dear Mr. Logan: I am very sorry about the loss of the barn and especially the cows and feed. We have needed for some time a larger and better barn and now I hope we shall get it. I leave matters regarding the barn to your judgment. I am going to have the loss published in all the papers and I hope there will be gifts to make up the loss. Will write more fully later. Yours truly.” -“November 24, 1895,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
One can either confront challenging situations with a sense of despondency and despair or with a sense of unbridled hope and optimism, and the founding principal and president of Tuskegee Institute (University) chose the latter in the incident of “the loss of the barn.” Without question, the loss of a barn in the late 19th century was a significant financial loss. Mr. Logan, Mr. Washington’s treasurer-a modern-day chief financial officer-had indicated to him in a prior communication that the “insurance” loss was totaled at “fifteen hundred.” All the same, note Mr. Washington’s response to his CFO. First, he empathized with his colleague over the loss. He knew that Mr. Logan was both faithful and loyal to the university, and that had probably taken the loss personally. He recognized this in Mr. Logan but did not dwell upon the darkness; he proceeded to the decision. Second, Mr. Washington took action. Creatively, he turned a negative incident and made it positive. He went to the papers to publicize the loss. One’s supporters-true supporters in both words and works-are often anxious to provide support if they are able to understand what the difficulties are. Lastly, he possessed hope that the loss might be leveraged into gain. He hoped that “there will be gifts to make up the loss.” Here again, the “Wizard of Tuskegee” was not merely a manager of the micro matters confronting the institution. Behind the curtains, indeed, he was a wizard at communications via the media to leverage a negative into a positive, which is the attribute of every successful leader of any successful organization.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
September 24, 2014 · 8:52 am
“In the early days of freedom, when education was a new thing, the boy who went away to school had a very natural human ambition to be able to come back home in order to delight and astonish the old folks with the new and strange things that he had learned. If he could speak a few words in some strange tongue that his parents had never heard before, or read a few sentences out of a book with strange and mysterious characters, he was able to make them very proud and happy. There was a constant temptation therefore for schools and teachers to keep everything connected with education in a sort of twilight realm of the mysterious and supernatural. Quite unconsciously they created in the minds of their pupils the impression that a boy or a girl who had passed through certain educational forms and ceremonies had been initiated into some sort of secret knowledge that was inaccessible to the rest of the world. Connected with this was the notion that because a man had passed through these educational forms and ceremonies he had somehow become a sort of superior being set apart from the rest of the world […]“-Booker T. Washington, _My Larger Education__(1911)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
While the term “esoteric” is not entirely pejorative-it can mean that members within a certain profession or group understand and converse sharing many of the same assumptions or terminology-it is sometimes used to denote exclusivity meaning that information and knowledge is understood by a chosen few. In the present passage, the founding principal and president of Tuskegee University speaks to this latter formulation. Here he laments that often education-the act of teaching and learning-resembles the closing off of knowledge from others as opposed to its wide dissemination among many. Mr. Washington’s idea is that such knowledge ought to have relevancy and application for others beyond the sole possessor of this knowledge. Imagine that. The idea of education should not be exclusive to a limited few but should enlighten and have impact upon others in beneficial ways. Thus, not only are the recipients all the better for having received this knowledge but also the giver of this knowledge is made better. For this man or woman has completed the complete cycle of education. First you learn, master and apply for yourself. (It is is a poor teacher whose words do not resemble his or her works.) Then you proceed to teach others. And such an education can be found at many institutions of higher learning including Tuskegee Institute (University).
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
