Wednesday, March 19, 2014

True to Mission

Tomorrow is officially spring, which is glorious. Especially considering we got yet more ice yesterday. It all started Monday night, and by yesterday morning the kids didn't have school and Viv was giving me the you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me puppy face when I tried to get her to go out.

Usually, snow days are no big deal. I work in an incredibly flexible place, and with Skype and cell phones I can usually just work from home. Unfortunately, I have been involved in a comprehensive program review the past two days that works much better if I can actually be on campus to talk with people. Monday, when we were talking about the possibility of the weather impacting Tuesday, the dean looked at me and said, "Just bring them. Worse case, I'll babysit them in my office. No problem." The dean folks.

Here's what I love: that is the culture of Meredith College. The kids did come with me yesterday, and they happily played in the corner of the conference room while I did program evaluation. Every single person said hello to them and made them feel welcome. I apologized to every group, because I'm aware that two small things can be a bit distracting, but every group looked at me like I was insane, assuring me children were always welcome. "After all, we're a women's college; it's who we are." True to the mission--even for the faculty and even in the details. And they mean it...even a VP stopped by and actually thanked the kids for coming--genuinely. Humorously, they were a little perplexed by that and while Issa said, "You're welcome and thank you," Evan responded with, "We're not allowed to stay home alone." I guess you could say everyone showed their true colors yesterday.

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