{"id":578,"date":"2010-09-09T11:23:41","date_gmt":"2010-09-09T15:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.wabash.edu\/fyi\/?p=578"},"modified":"2010-09-09T11:23:41","modified_gmt":"2010-09-09T15:23:41","slug":"carolyn-goff-generosity-of-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/2010\/09\/09\/carolyn-goff-generosity-of-spirit\/","title":{"rendered":"Carolyn Goff: “Generosity of Spirit”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Steve Charles<\/em>\u2014From the line that stretched all the way out the door of the Caleb Mills House and the variety of professors, staff, and administrators that packed the place, you might have thought it was the president, not his administrative assistant, who was being honored at Wednesday\u2019s retirement reception.<\/p>\n

But no one knows better than the people who work here just who the women are who keep the place running\u2014as the The Princeton Review <\/em>said with high praise of Wabash\u2014\u201clike butter.”<\/p>\n

And no one has done that with more disarming grace\u2014working for two presidents with such different personas and styles\u2014than Carolyn Goff.<\/p>\n

(Click <\/em>here<\/em><\/a> for a photo album from the reception.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Andy Ford traveled from Wheaton, IL with former First Lady Anne Ford to honor this daughter of a Russellville, Indiana farmer whom he hired when he began serving as the College\u2019s 14th president in 1994.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom day one we noted the professionalism that you brought to the job and to the College,\u201d Andy said. \u201cWhat we didn\u2019t realize was that it was wrapped in such incredible patience.\u201d He smiled, adding: \u201cWhich we, on rare occasion, put to the test.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were always there, being a friend to everybody. Discrete. Always making impeccable judgments. We had a great time here at Wabash, and you were at the very heart of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

First Lady Chris White may have gotten the biggest laugh in an afternoon not short on humor when she presented Carolyn with an art pin with the likeness of Kokopelli, a deity which, she acknowledged, is venerated by some Native American cultures as a fertility god. That statement prompted Carolyn\u2019s husband, Gary, to snatch the box holding the pin in a mock attempt to keep it away from his wife.<\/p>\n

As the laughter subsided, Chris referenced Carolyn\u2019s love of Southwestern art and explained: “You have given life to so many of our events here, and certainly been the heart and soul of our work with so many different constituencies. You\u2019ve been a wonderful leader in the president\u2019s office.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carolyn\u2019s current boss, President Pat White, called her \u201cmy assistant, my advisor, my memory, my sounding board, and my pal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin her kindness and generosity resides a cool sense of reason, a tough commitment to do things well and to do things right, a political savvy, and an indefatigable energy all wrapped up in an enormous love of the College.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A Tale of Two Bosses: Carolyn poses with the presidents she worked with\u201415th President Pat White, and 14th President Andy Ford. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAs much as she\u2019s loved this College, she\u2019s loved the students even more,\u201d Pat said as he turned to Carolyn. \u201cYou\u2019ve helped so many on this campus. We\u2019ve relied on your sense of organization, and your commitment to the students as the center of the College. You made the president\u2019s office a warm and welcoming place, you\u2019ve made this president a better president than I could have been without you, and Wabash College and all who work here owe you a debt of gratitude that cannot be repaid.\u201d<\/p>\n

I shouldn\u2019t have been surprised when Carolyn spoke the most moving words of the afternoon with a poise few people could muster while at the center of such an emotional occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll never forget any of you, and I\u2019ll never forget Wabash,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s something about each one of you that makes you special\u2014that\u2019s why you work here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sincerity with which Carolyn spoke those words and has lived them out during her time at Wabash may be her greatest gift. \u00a0\u201cA generosity of spirit,\u201d Andy Ford called it. The ability to see something special in each one of us while graciously overlooking or forgiving the \u201cnot-so-special.\u201d<\/p>\n

The office of the president of a country, corporation, or college\u2014like any place of power\u2014can be intimidating. Carolyn\u2019s hospitality reminded anyone walking in that door that it was also a human place, and that good things can happen, especially at Wabash, when people sit down for a conversation face-to-face.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it is Carolyn\u2019s disarming way of seeing and bringing out the best in others that brought all those friends and colleagues to the Caleb Mills house yesterday. Or just the sudden realization of how much we\u2019re going to miss her voice and warm greeting when we walk into that door.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steve Charles\u2014From the line that stretched all the way out the door of the Caleb Mills House and the variety of professors, staff, and administrators that packed the place, you might have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"w_featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2010\/09\/carolyngoff1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}