May 26, 2005

Inscription for new Student Center:  The vote is complete.  As you know, voters were asked to rank the following five quotations from #1 (least acceptable choice) to #5 (the best choice).  Voting occurred on May 23-24 and 358 people voted. The College Council has reviewed the results, and we will be sending a recommendation to the Board of Trustees in June.  The Board will make the final decision.  The three options we are forwarding, ranked in descending order based on the vote, are these:

• You must be the change you wish to see in the world. — Mahatma Gandhi                                                         

• Study as if you were to live forever.  Live as if you were to die tomorrow. — St. Isidore of Seville               

• The highest result of education is tolerance. — Helen Keller                                                                              

Thanks to everyone who helped with this process–Donna Bestock for the original idea, Donna Elliott for the posters, the College Council for their advice on the process and their work in identifying the short list upon which we all had a chance to vote, the many people who submitted proposed quotations, Doug Henry for his work with the architects, the librarians for their research on the exact wording and authorship of the short list of quotations, Linda Ghio for her help in coordinating the process, and Chris Case for the website and the electronic voting process.

Thank you for the wonderful luncheon!  This month has been a particularly busy time for all of us, but well seasoned by some great fun such as we had on Tuesday at the annual luncheon.  Thanks to the many people who brought us this very Skyline event:

• Mike Williamson, the perennial chair, genial MC and food arranger;

• Sue Lorenzo: decorations/display and Scholarship Raffle;

• Kathy Fitzpatrick: decorations and setup;

• Char Wulbers:  Scholarship Raffle ticket sales;

• JoAnn Koenig:  pulled out of retirement to do the raffle presentation;

• Nick Kapp:  Academic Senate presentation and coordination of the election for the special recognition awards for faculty and the Meyer Award;

• Donna Elliott:  Classified Council presentation;

• Kathy Zbikowski-Taylor:  coordination of the election for special recognition awards for classified and ordering of award plaques;

• Theresa Tentes:  coordination of the retiree awards;

• Mike Fitzgerald:  creation of the award plaques;

• Barbara Daley and the Library staff:  shockingly fine desserts;

• Pat Carter, Tiffany Reardon and Donna Bestock:  the "Emergency Task Force"

• Tadashi Tsuchida:  photography display;

• Jude Navari:  entertainment by the students of pieces from "Hairspray";

• Michaele Benedict:  piano accompaniment;

• Academic Senate, Classified Senate and ASSC:  donations to the budget for the event;

• All Divisions and Offices:  the donation of the creative and spectacular Scholarship Raffle baskets.

Best wishes:  Tomorrow, of course, is Commencement and I am excited about participating in it. This event, the contact with students that leads up to it, and all that Commencement symbolizes are what I missed most during my time in Sacramento.  Best wishes for the summer for those of you who will be away, and the same to those of you with whom I may cross paths during the next few months.  It has been a terrific six months for me here at Skyline.  The more I learn about this place, the more I love it and the prouder I am to be a part of it.  Thanks to all of you who help to make it such a uniquely student-oriented place to learn.

Victoria P. Morrow, Ph.D.
President, Skyline College
650-738-4111
morrowv@smccd.net
3300 College Drive
San Bruno, CA  94066