All Posts Tagged With: "heroes"

A few days ago the University of Illinois lost one of its greatest leaders and legends, former Chancellor, Dean and Professor John Cribbet.  Generations of Illinois College of Law alumni treasured Professor Cribbet, and Former U of I President Stan Ikenberry said, “John will be remembered as the most beloved Illini of all time.”  There are several accounts online of Professor Cribbet’s life and legacy, including are articles prepared by the College of Law, the News Gazette, and the Chicago Tribune.  and the College of Law will be having a ceremony to celebrate his contributions on Saturday.

Here with his permission, I would like to share the words of my friend and mentor, Dr. Stan Levy, former Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, who worked closely with Chancellor Cribbet when he led our University:

Today’s e-mail brought the news of the passing of   Chancellor Emeritus and Professor Emeritus John Cribbet.  He had been ill for quite some time.

John was a prince of a person, a one of a kind Illinois original.  Distinguished scholar, teacher, college dean and administrator.  community-minded for both the University and Champaign Urbana communities.  Before it was reorganized the Senate Committee

on Student Discipline was totally college deans, and the junior dean was ‘honored’ in serving as its chair.  John received this assignment during some of the most difficult days at UIUC.   When Bill Gerberding elected to leave the Chancellor’s post after only 18 months on the job, John was asked, almost dragooned, into serving first as Acting Chancellor and then as Chancellor at a time when the University was under great stress, athletic issues and significant budget stresses especially.  John distinguished himself in many ways. In the dark days of his tenure, and there were many, he was the ‘cheerleader’ who always saw the silver lining.  He was always upbeat.  His love for the University; his respect for faculty; his gracious way of dealing with his staff; his respect for the young leaders of the community, students, were always present.  His stories – and his speeches – were always insightful and memorable.  His words were always his own; he wrote his own materials.  And then there were his stories:  Ponca City, General Patton, etc., a small array woven into amazing contexts. He was a craftsman of the first rank in his use of language.

He was a terrific leader, a superb boss, a confidant, a good friend, and amazing supporter of what we sought to do in Student Affairs.  He was a gentleman at every turn and time.  His five years as Chancellor helped to change the face of the Campus.  It was a distinct personal pleasure, and constant learning experience to work for John.

May he rest in peace.

A service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday in Rowe Auditorium at the College of Law.

So I am driving home from a business trip and listening to some classic country music station on AM skip radio, hoping for some Johnny Cash, when a Paul Harvey segment comes on.  Paul Harvey?  I wasn’t sure he was still around.  Maybe he is not because if he is he must be about 150?  It may have been an old recording for all I know, but his story was really cool and got me to thinking.

He talked about a guy named Jim, who was in the middle of the WW2 Allied beachhead landing in Italy, with the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, during Operation Shingle, at Anzio.

Read more…

Seventy five years ago yesterday, on March 4, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt was sworn in to begin his first term. He delivered his famed inaugural address where he declared:

“Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself–nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

My grandfather, like many of his generation from rural Midwest, credits FDR and the New Deal from keeping our family from starving. This speech reminded me that our country has made it through far tougher times. More importantly, it ignited a fury that burns against the politics of winning by making people afraid. Candidates that drum up fears of economic devastation, of never ending war, or of terrorism, should be rejected. We should all hunger for a rebirth of FDR’s optimistic, uniquely American, spirit and resolve.

Update: The brilliant and lovely Dr. Rachel Maddow has a similar post up today. She says, in part:

In January 1941, at a time when the world was at war and the United States was more threatened than we had ever been in our history, FDR stood before the US Congress and hailed freedom from fear. That remains the paradigm of Democratic leadership in a threatening world.

When a politician looks at risks to our country and sees an opportunity for political exploitation, rather than an opportunity to rally the nation around our unified strength and fearlessness, that politician spits in the face of Democratic leadership and patriotic values.

If there’s one thing we ought to have learned from the George W. Bush presidency, it’s that there’s a difference between Democrats and Republicans on whether the American people should be encouraged to cower in fear.

This morning I stumbled across a set of six YouTube videos on a forum that was held by GenerationEngage featuring two of the most famous speechwriters in American history, Ted Sorenson and Peggy Noonan. Sorenson has been described as President Kennedy’s twin soul. Many insist that he ghost wrote at least the first draft of Profiles in Courage, JFK’s pulitizer winner, and he also wrote the bulk of Kenney’s famous first innaugural address. Peggy Noonan wrote for Reagan and the intelligent Bush, and she is a weekly columnist for the Wall Street Journal.