Flynn has always viewed his life as being one of service to others, and the prospect of becoming the president of an institution that valued service to others was exciting. And what he saw at Springfield College was a place where all constituencies embraced the longstanding mission and lived it on a day-to-day basis.
becoming the president of an institution that valued service to others was exciting. And what he saw at Springfield College was a place where all constituencies embraced the longstanding mission and lived it on a day- to-day basis. These two notions—service and leader-
Grand Marshal Mimi Murray and President Flynn lead the New Student Assembly procession
Flynn. So Dick and his wife, Jani, bought a maroon Jeep, drove 1,352 miles from omaha and, on Sunday, Feb. 28, 1999, arrived on campus in a torrential rainstorm, not knowing that weather would be a consistent theme in his presidency. To Springfield College, he brought his
leadership experience as the dean of the College of education at the university of nebraska at omaha and acting president at nebraska’s Peru State College, where he had managed large educational enterprises and successfully raised money for his school. Also significant was his reputation—both national and international—for his expertise in facilities planning and design. And when he arrived on campus, Springfield College was in need of each and every one of these attributes.
The Arrival
In the early months of 1999, as Dick Flynn began to seriously contemplate the job of president at Springfield College, what most appealed to him were the College’s longstanding commitment to holistic health and wellness, its Humanics philosophy, and its reputation for preparing leaders in the human helping professions. Flynn has always viewed his life as being one of service to others, and the prospect of
8
ship—have long been inherent in the College’s mission: To educate students in spirit, mind, and body for leader- ship in service to others. So, it’s no surprise that the foundation of Flynn’s vision for the College was loyalty to the mission. At his inauguration on oct. 24, 1999, Flynn described the mission of Springfield College as “timeless and enduring.” “our goal of educating
time and knew the place intimately. Flynn saw clearly the wave of dramatic
change then beginning to sweep across higher education. He concluded that the private colleges that succeeded in the future would be those that maintained an apprecia- tion and respect for their history and traditions while putting forth a clear vision
the whole person in spirit, mind, and body will never diminish in relevance or go out of style,” he said. “As long as there is a desire for a caring and just society, as long as there are people who strive to be the best they can be, and to bring out the best in others, and as long as there is a respect for the multifaceted essence of life, there will be a need for Springfield College and a demand for what it has to offer.” The new president immediately immersed
himself in the College’s historic mission and the essentials of the Humanics philosophy. Beyond his very pertinent previous experi- ence, Flynn seemed to lock in to the Springfield College ethos early on in his 14- year presidency. every decision he made seemed to emanate from the mind of a person who had been here for a very long
President Flynn and Trustees John Odierna (center) and Doug Coupe look over the campus master plan prior to graduate commencement in May.
and plan. This plan, he further reasoned, should reflect an understanding of the changes necessary to take them from where they were to where they needed to be.
The Visionary
establishing the vision was front and center from the beginning. Flynn rapidly embarked on a wide-ranging listening campaign to solicit the viewpoints of all key College constituencies regarding their positive and negative feelings about the institution, their resource requirements, and their hopes for the future of the College. For Flynn, it was a matter of listening carefully, and then synthe- sizing. In time, he was able to assess where the College stood and where he and others
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