Schools can issue no-contact directives

10 March 4, 2020 | Campus Voices | Media | News | Activities | News | A Day in the Life| News | Locker Room Talk | Sports A DAY IN THE LIFE: PRESIDENT

KHIRSTIA SHEFFIELD REPORTER I t’s 6 a.m. and as the sun slowly inches across the sky, her eyes gently open. The faint noises from her dogs crack through the morning silence as they hear their food clang against the metal bowls. President Suzanne Shipley’s day has just begun. After she spends time with her dogs, she challenges her body with weight training at the Wellness Center then enjoys the most important meal of the day. At 9 a.m., once she enters her spacious office, the real work begins.

“[Being president] means that I’m the most responsible for the most things so that when a crisis happens, I’m in charge of making sure we respond adequately,” Shipley said. “I’m the landing point of anything serious, but I’m also a symbol of the university. It can be a very sobering life when you’re navigating a lot of highlevel sadness, as in people’s lives or difficult situations.”

After spending years as a professor, Shipley said she decided early on that she was more talented in administration.

“When I was coming up there weren’t many females that had access to the higher forms of leadership, and early on I decided that’s what I wanted to do,” Shipley said. “I was lucky that out of the four presidents I worked with on my different jobs, two were female. This allowed me to see not just what a president did, but what a female president did. I saw how a woman translated the halls of male power into representation. I felt more empowered to develop my own persona with power that a lot of women didn’t have access to.”

Since growing up in Lubbock, Texas, she said the South has always had a special place in her heart. Shipley said she had always kept her eye open for Texas positions knowing that her mother’s mental and physical health was deteriorating. “I already knew all about this university, so when this position opened up I said that’s the one place I’m going to apply for. I never thought [being president] to a Texas public liberal arts university would happen. I was going to keep flying back from West Virginia every couple of months, but I knew someone would need to begin to look after [my mother],” Shipley said.

Shipley described that since becoming president of Midwestern State her attitude toward life has changed.

“It’s made me happier,” Shipley said. “This is a very happy place and not all universities are. It’s a place where people are willing to change and grow. It’s fueled by pride, and it’s a place where people seem to delight in their work and education. Of course, we have challenges and difficulties, but I just think it’s a very optimistic place to be, and that’s made me more optimistic and hopeful about the future.”

Although the presidency position requires her attention at most times of the day, Shipley said she works hard to maintain a balance between her work and personal life. “I attended a preparation for presidents with my husband and we learned about how to set goals together,” Shipley said. “We communicated pretty well on what type of presidency we would both like to be in and what he needed from me to feel like we had a balanced family life despite the 24/7 nature of the job.”

Through that open communication, Shipley said she has received immense support from her family. In spite of the support from her family and the positive nature of this university, Shipley “When I was coming up there weren’t many females that had access to the higher forms of leadership” SUZANNE SHIPLEY UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT PHOTO COURTESY SUZANNE SHIPLEY’S INSTAGRAM PAGE : @ SHIPLEYSUZANNE1 University President Suzanne Shipley poses with her mom in a post she made on her Instagram page. PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON President Suzanne Shipley sits down to talk. Feb. 28.