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COVER STORY: A WORD BEFORE YOU GO
A Word Before You Go Dr. Kendall Blanchard reflects on his eight years as GSW President
By Stephen Snyder
“No one tells you how much work it is to retire,” said Georgia Southwestern State University’s outgoing President Kendall Blanchard in jest when discussing the amount of paperwork involved in the retirement process. “If I had known it would be this difficult, I would have never made this decision!” The truth is that Blanchard did feel it was the right time to wrap up his tenure at Georgia Southwestern and pass the baton to someone new. “Connie and I have decided it is time to move on,” he said in a campus-wide note earlier this semester announcing his retirement. “I have enjoyed immensely my tenure here and will miss the University and my many friends and colleagues who have made this job so pleasant, but it is time for new leadership at Georgia Southwestern; someone younger, more energetic, and with a new vision.” As it relates to vision, Blanchard has always felt the calling to be on a college campus.
Majoring
in
College
“I got into higher education because I wanted to teach at the college level,” he said. “Initially, I thought I was going to be a theologian, and I was going to teach at a small private college like the one I went to, Olivet Nazarene College. But, gradually I shifted from theology to anthropology, obviously quite a different perspective on the human condition. Throughout all of that, I knew whatever the field, I would end up teaching somewhere at a college or a university.” From Dallas, Texas to Americus, Georgia, and many places in between, Blanchard has been teaching or serving as an administrator on a college campus every year since 1971. “I enjoyed the classroom; I enjoyed research; I enjoyed writing,” he said. “So, there was a great appeal to that scholarly life, and there is something about working on a college campus, particularly as a faculty member. You are working with a group of people who are perpetually young. As a result, it kind of keeps you young. It keeps you in tune
