Board of Trustees

Judge Ronald E. Spivey reflects on his engagement with the NC State Board of Trustees and his excitement in meeting members like Roy H. Park.

Interview on 2014-12-15 00:00:00 -0500

Transcript

00:00:00.000 Again, it was amazing to me because, you know, I'm a guy from a small town, and I come to NC State and somehow manage to be involved in Student Government like this, and as a part of that office you are an ex officio member of the Board of Trustees.
00:00:14.883 It was remarkable to me how seriously they took my role in that because I think it would be so easy if you're a great leader, like the great leaders that we had at that time, it would be so easy to say:
00:00:30.231 this kid's got these ideas, but we're going to do what we want to do. It really was not that way. They were all willing to listen to me.
00:00:36.523 They all wanted to know what was going on, on campus. Frequently during breaks in the meetings they would take me aside and say, "What's really going on, on campus? What's important to students right now?"
00:00:45.485 I thought again, was a reflection of our university, that our leaders were willing to listen to the students and really find out about the students, and not only our leaders on campus but leaders from around the world that were on the Board of Trustees.
00:01:03.016 I'll never forget. One of my early meetings I was walking into the McKimmon Center, and there was a helicopter flying nearby and it kept getting closer and closer and closer,
00:01:13.534 and it ultimately landed over near the McKimmon Center, just out in this field, which is not a field these days. Out jumps this guy with giant eyebrows,
00:01:25.167 that's what I remember about him, and he started walking into the building and I thought well, gosh; they must have a problem. I'm like, "Is everything okay, sir?" and he says, "Yeah, yeah, I'm just here for a meeting. What's your name?"
00:01:35.221 I said, "Ron Spivey," and he said, "Well I'm Roy Park," and it was Roy Park, who had flown in to attend the Board of Trustees meeting.