NEW BEGINNINGS WITH DEAN LEBLANC NEW BEGINNINGS DEAN’S NEW HELLO

BY LINC LUKE

Following Dean Wiltgen’s departure this October, a space was left in campus administration. But who could fill these shoes? Meet Michael LeBlanc, the acting dean of Hendrix College. Previously, he served as Assistant Dean, and before that, Director of Public Safety. As we welcome LeBlanc into his new position as the acting Dean of Students, we’ve gained an opportunity to learn a bit more about him.

Michael LeBlanc started his career working in Administration at his alma mater, Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa. He worked as the Head of Public Safety but unfortunately had to leave as they were closing down the campus he was working at. After searching for a new job with no luck in Iowa, he was drawn back to Arkansas where he once lived and worked as a police officer in Rogers for six years. He applied to Hendrix college and, little did he know, he would be in for a two day long interview including interviews with heads of departments, senior leadership teams, a forum with the students, lunch with students and dinner with senate members. “The red brick building reminded me of Ashford.” He recalled, when talking about his first Hendrix experience. He started as the Director of Public Safety for three years before he was promoted to the Assistant Dean’s position.

Michael LeBlanc joined the Air Force at 17 years old, straight out of high school in Winedot Michigan. After basic training, he got the job he wanted as Security Police. Halfway through the police academy, there was an opportunity to join the K-9 corps. 13 people tried out to get in and only three got in, including our very own Michael LeBlanc. He spent the next 6 weeks in K-9 patrol school then he went to his first duty station in Idaho for 2 years. He then received orders to go to Korea as a perimeter defenseman for a year before returning to the US and being stationed at an Air Force base in Arizona, where he met his wife. There he went to bomb dog school, “ I loved being a dog handler with the Narcotics and the patrol stuff but once I got [to the bomb school] I was like this is my bread and butter, I enjoyed the excitement of it.” After this, LeBlanc spent three years in England where he handled another bomb dog and a patrol dog while also going through the English K-9 search school. The dog would not listen to him as he didn’t have a British accent. Leblanc had to put on a British accent to get the dog to follow his instructions. He got to do secret service for two different US Presidents including George W. Bush. After that, he went back to Arkansas with his family freshly out of the military to go through the police academy and worked construction until he got a job as a policeman. LeBlanc returned to Iowa and got hired as a policeman for 19 years with the Dewatt police department. During that time, he also went back to the Military where he became a sergeant in the National Guard. He oversaw special operations. After September 11th, 2001, LeBlanc was put back into active duty hours after the event, where he stayed for the next three years and multiple deployments. He then went back to school, getting his degree in Emergency Management and Homeland Security. “I enjoyed school so much, I took about a month’s break then I started Grad School, then I got my teaching degree in teaching and learning with technology.” Then he got his job in Ashford University. “That’s my life in a nutshell.”

On an average Saturday, LeBlanc can be found spending time with his family and his dogs, two pure bred Great Danes, Harlow and Hadley. He describes himself as a major foodie who loves to cook. He loves to cook for his family and does 90% of the cooking in his house. He also loves going to antique shops and auctions which he and his wife picked up in England, they love thrifting, and he loves looking for a deal. LeBlanc is also a guitar player, he was even in a band in high school called Pike Stoody and The Wogs, the band got disqualified in his high school talent show because they played so many encores for the cheering crowds that they had to pull the plug. He has ten guitars in his collection and three amps, he plays just because he loves it and it’s relaxing. His movies of choice are Somewhere in Time, which is his favorite romantic movie, and Battleship, a movie he’s seen over thirty times. His favorite colors are Air Force blue and deeper shades of green.

Leblanc was a founding member of Emergency K-9 Operations: Search and Rescue in Iowa. This is a nonprofit organization that did searches for drowning victims and retirement homes. “We had a lot of finds, we were able to bring closure to a lot of families who have lost loved ones.” Additionally, he has two half sleeves of tattoos that were done by his son-in-law’s tattoo parlor here in Conway, Black Hare Tattoo.

His favorite tradition at Hendrix College in SOCO54, but he also loves that there are so many people at Hendrix from “different walks of life and that everyone’s different in their own special way and that Hendrix embraces that.” His words of advice to the student body are that communication is key. If you communicate effectively, problems can be solved quickly. Efficiency goes down if you don’t communicate. Talk things out, everything can be solved by talking.