Inaugural Address

Inaugural Address
 Dr. Don C. Killingsworth, Jr.
 April 9, 2021



Governor DR. Ivey…

Chairman Jones…

Trustees…

Honored Guests…

Faculty…

Staff…

Students…

Alumni…

Family …

Friends…Thank you for being here today. And thank you for entrusting me with the tremendous responsibility and great honor of leading Jacksonville State University as its 13th President. 

Governor Ivey, I would like to thank you for your kind words and for all that you do for this university, for education, and for the people of the great state of Alabama. I am deeply honored that you have joined us today and happy that you have now been formally inducted into the JSU Family. 

Chairman Jones and members of The Board of Trustees: Thank you for your unfailing support of this university, for selflessly giving your time, resources and talents to this institution, and for giving me the opportunity to serve in this important role. I pledge to carry out my duties with honor and to strive to deserve the faith you have placed in me. 

To our many honored guests, including:

  • Alabama State Superintendent of Education: Dr. Eric Mackey
  • Representatives from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education: Dr. James Purcell and Mr. Stan Nelson
  • Alabama Higher Education Partnership Executive Director: Mr. Gordon Stone
  • Members of the Alabama Legislature
  • And our peers from colleges and universities throughout Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee

…Thank you for sharing this important day with us. We are happy you have joined us in the spirit of friendship and collegiality. 

To our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends: thank you for the kindness you have shown me and my family as we have moved to campus and started this new chapter. Thank you for your support as we have settled into this new role. And thank you for all that you do to make JSU so special. Today is dedicated to you. 

I would also like to take a moment to thank the President’s Cabinet and the President’s Office Staff. A leader is only as strong as those who stand next to him, and I am fortunate to have an outstanding group of Vice Presidents and administrative professionals supporting me each day. If you are a member of either of these two groups, please stand and be recognized for your dedication to this university. Thank you. 

Also, I would like to thank Provost Shelton and the Inaugural Committee for their hard work organizing today’s ceremony and all of the events surrounding the inauguration over the past two weeks. My family and I thank you for your efforts in providing a wonderful calendar of events for the JSU family. 

And finally, I would like to thank my family, including my parents Don and Janice, my sisters April and Miranda, my nieces and nephews, my extended family of Aunts and Uncles, my mother in-law, and family friends; all of you have had a part in providing a solid foundation that propelled me on the path to this role. 

The home is an intricate part of the success of any university president. I could not embark on this journey without my wife Kristi and our children, Collins and Jack. To Kristi, thank you for being the rock and solid foundation in our home. As I leave the house early in the mornings and usually don’t return until late in the evening, it is you who has to manage a 5-year-old and 2-year--old every day, while I get to go to work! At this time, I ask my wife and children to stand and be recognized. 

As I said on the day that I was selected for this role, it takes the commitment of an entire family for a person to be successful in a position that is so public and all-encompassing. I appreciate the love, support and sacrifices of my entire family. I would not be standing here today without all of you. Again, thank you for your love and support. 

Over the next few minutes, I would like to share with you why I think JSU is so special, why I have wanted to serve as its president for my entire career, and what I hope we can accomplish together…

Today’s theme is "One University. One Family. One Legacy." 

First, let’s reflect on this great University… 

Jacksonville State University traces its roots back to 1883, when the Alabama Legislature created the Jacksonville State Normal School with just 12 acres of land, a single brick building, and three faculty. Its mission was to train teachers to educate primary and intermediate school children throughout the region. Among its graduates, in 1927, was my great aunt’s father, Jack Bell. At that time, Dr. Clarence William Daugette, was president. Today, his grandson – JSU business alumnus Mr. Clarence William Daugette III – serves on our Board of Trustees. 

Under President Daugette’s leadership, the college survived the Great Depression and grew into one of the largest teachers’ colleges in the state. Generations of Alabamians were educated by our alumni. In 1957, the institution broadened its scope and became known as Jacksonville State College. By the time my father arrived on campus as a student in 1969, the college had been granted University status. 

For the past 138 years, JSU’s purpose has remained the same – to uplift Northeast Alabama by providing its citizens a better life through the power of education. We meet students where they are academically and help them attain their educational goals. Many of them come from our 11-county footprint in Northeast Alabama and are first generation college students from families with varying degrees of income, juggling jobs and classes. Our faculty and staff understand this and choose to teach and work here because they can make a life-changing impact on their students. I am one of the many alumni whose life was changed by a JSU employee. When I arrived on campus in 1994, it didn’t take long for me to find a good group of friends and start enjoying college life. In fact, I enjoyed it a little too much. When my grades started to suffer, my faculty advisor in Delta Chi – a man named Bill Meehan – intervened. He took me aside and said “Mr. Killingworth, college may not be for you.” Granted, I gave him every right to say what he said, but it was the wakeup call that I needed. I was adamant that I would not leave this campus without a degree, and I promised to turn things around. I got serious about my studies, and I realized that I was surrounded by supportive faculty who wanted to see me succeed. Some of those favorite professors were Dr. Rayford Taylor in History, Dr. Rodney Friery in Sociology, and Dr. Howard Johnson, Dr. Kelly Gregg, and Dr. Ted Klimasewski, all in what was then the Department of Physical and Earth Sciences– who helped steer me in a positive academic direction. Dr. Ted Klimasewski tried to convince me to become a weatherman, but by that time, I realized that a career in higher education was where my heart was leading me. 

If I had been a student at a larger, supposedly more prestigious university, I doubt I would be able to recall such a large number of faculty members – more than 20 years later – who made a direct impact on my life. Even more unusual, would be for those faculty members to remember my name. But they do, and many of them are with us here today. I believe our faculty’s investment in their students is why JSU is known as the “Friendliest Campus in the South.” 

In addition to the support of my professors and advisors, another reason I was able to get my life on track was JSU’s student organizations, particularly the Student Government Association. My involvement in the SGA and Fraternity Life taught me maturity, leadership skills, and the importance of giving back to a community you believe in. In fact, it was through the SGA that I got the wild idea that I might want to be president of this university one day. I happened to be serving as SGA president when the university inaugurated none other than my former academic advisor and later, mentor, Dr. Bill Meehan, as its 11th president in 1999. I was able to represent my classmates on the inaugural committee, just as Mr. Jerod Sharp has done today. A seed was planted in my mind. Who knows? We may be swearing in Mr. Sharp as JSU’s president one day. Our students are allowed to have dreams like that at JSU with the hope of seeing them come true. 

But while I got the idea that I might want to be president from watching Dr. Meehan participate in a ceremony such as this, it was watching him lead this campus over the next 16 years that provided me an example to follow – not as a figurehead, but as a caretaker of this university and its people, a protector of its mission, and leader of the JSU Family. Dr. Meehan, you are a JSU treasure and we thank you for being here today. Please stand and allow us to recognize the contributions that you have made to this university over the many years. Thank you. 

A Family. That is what we are. The thousands of students, faculty, staff, and alumni who make up this university constitute a family. According to Merriam-Webster, a family can be defined as “a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation” or “a group of things related by common characteristics.” 

What is the common thread that binds us at JSU, besides the obvious fact that we have all attended, worked at, or have been otherwise associated with this university? I believe it is our shared identity. Since 1883, the people who have been affiliated with this institution have had a few things in common: 

  1. We, for the most part, come from modest backgrounds
  2. We overcome the obstacles in our path
  3. We defy expectations
  4. We work hard
  5. We succeed, against all odds 

I will give you a few examples: 

  • JSU didn’t just survive the Great Depression but, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama, thrived during this time – awarding its first bachelor’s degrees, gaining accreditation, and constructing numerous buildings that would become the footprint of campus. 
  • In the 1960s, when other Southern universities fought to uphold segregation, JSU integrated peacefully – enrolling Mrs. Barbara Curry-Story as our first African-American student in 1965. Then, just seven years later and years before our peers, the student body elected its first black SGA president, Mr. Richard Reid, in a landslide victory. 
  • During the recession of 2008 and the years that followed, JSU navigated many years of Pro-ration and funding cuts to reemerge stronger and leaner, ready to foster a student-centered learning environment while maintaining an affordable cost of attendance for students. 
  • Let’s skip ahead to 2018, when our campus took a direct hit by an EF-3 tornado, resulting in the largest claim against state property in Alabama history. Today, just three years later, our campus looks beautiful. In the fall, we will open the doors to a state-of-the-art business and industry building.  And across campus, we see all the repairs and  renovations that have taken place. While we have a few projects left that we wish to complete, on the whole, JSU has healed from the wounds of March 2018 and has grown stronger. 
  • It’s highly unusual for an institution to be faced with a global pandemic just two years following a natural disaster, but that was our fate. We would come to realize that the lessons from 2018 would aid us in our response. While many colleges and universities across the US saw a drop in enrollment in the fall due to the pandemic, we posted our highest numbers in nearly a decade. 

JSU seems to bloom in adversity. Like our mascot, the Gamecock, JSU is small but mighty. I believe that is because we are a Family. We pull together and, as I mentioned before: Overcome the Obstacles, Defy Expectations, Work Hard, and Succeed Despite the Odds. That’s who we are. That’s who we’ve always been. 

But how will we add to this Legacy? 

In the words of Lin-Manuel Miranda, a legacy is “planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.” Each of us will leave a legacy on this earth – in our homes, our communities, our workplaces. What Legacy will we leave at JSU? Years from now, many years from now, when JSU is inaugurating a future president, what do we want future generations of Gamecocks to look back and say about us? 

I have a proposal. For this next chapter of university history – the time we have together to make our impact on JSU – let’s double down on our reputation as a student-centered institution and make Student Success and eliminating barriers to access our top priorities. 

As the educational leader of this 11-county region, it is JSU’s responsibility to ensure that college is accessible to all. 

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for a bachelor’s degree recipient is twice that of a person who earned a high school diploma alone. Multiply that, over the course of a career, and the average college graduate will earn a million dollars more in a lifetime. That money, infused into Alabama’s economy, has the power to lift families and entire communities out of poverty. 

To realize this vision, we must eliminate the barriers impeding college success. From the moment students arrive at JSU, they should be surrounded by a campus community that supports them through every step of their college journey – from enrollment to graduation.

While I served as acting president, we established the new Division for Student Success to facilitate the academic and personal success of our students. Through the new Student Success Center, located in the Houston Cole Library, students receive centralized services and programs, including tutoring and academic support, to accompany the outstanding education they are receiving in the classroom. I look forward to seeing how this initiative grows over the next few years and improves our students’ outcomes.

These topics may sound familiar to one person in this audience. During my Doctoral work at the University of Alabama, Dr. Stephen Katsinas served as my academic and Dissertation Chair. He taught me about higher education policy and what it really means to eliminate the barriers to access for all who wish to better their life through higher education. Thank you Dr. Katsinas for representing The University of Alabama today and for your teachings and advice over the years.

Any discussion about college accessibility would be incomplete without mention of the importance of diversity and inclusion. When I said it is JSU’s responsibility to ensure college access for ALL, I really did mean everyone. That is why we have grown our Diversity and Inclusion programs over the past year, hiring both a director and coordinator to lead us in fostering a sense of belonging for all students, faculty, and staff. 

To remove barriers to college access, we must remain committed to keeping JSU affordable for the people of Northeast Alabama. According to the College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees at a public, four-year university has nearly tripled over the past 30 years. While the cost of attending JSU remains much lower than the national average, we must not lose sight of who our students are and where they come from. Most of them juggle multiple jobs to pay for college because their parents simply cannot afford to help. I worked my way through school, waiting tables at the Top of the River in Gadsden. One semester, I found myself a bit short on funds, so I had to take out a title loan on my car to cover my tuition. I am not sharing this to elicit sympathy, but rather to illustrate a point. This is who our students are, and we must not lose sight of that.

We must work to keep costs low, cutting spending when possible and being creative in our fundraising. This inauguration, for example, is paid for by private donations from friends, family and university supporters. We must ask our friends to continue to establish student scholarships and help us fund special programs, like our Bridge the Gap Scholarship that assists students facing financial hardships.

We must also look for ways to make daily challenges easier for our students. The Gamecock Market is an excellent example of this. Located in the basement of Ivo Sparkman Hall, it provides free food, clothing, and hygiene products to students in need. I challenge us to continue to support our students holistically. I am particularly interested in exploring the possibility of improving life on campus for students with children – from offering expanded childcare options to family housing. Students will be more successful if all their basic needs are met.

We must recognize that infrastructure is key. Starting very soon, we will embark on the creation of a new campus master plan to guide us as we plan the future of the university. One exciting new addition to the campus map will be the Randy Owen Center for the Performing Arts. Thank you again, Governor Ivey for generously allocating 15 million dollars of funding to this important endeavor.  This facility will not only recognize a true state treasure, JSU alumnus and trustee, but will also transform music education and performance in Northeast Alabama.

The new JSU South complex will bring new teaching and learning opportunities to our nursing, respiratory therapy and athletic training students.. Once our School of Business and Industry moves into its state-of-the-art new building this summer, the School of Education will move to the former Kitty Stone Elementary School property. This pivotal move will allow JSU to return us to our roots as a teachers college. We will work closely with our K-12 partners and JSU alumnus and state superintendent of education, Dr. Eric Mackey, as we work to address the state teacher shortage and create new programs to help us grow as a region and a state. Finally, I would like to discuss JSU’s important role as a regional economic engine. The 11 counties in JSU's primary East Alabama service area have a combined population of 700,000 people. Two of our biggest cities, Anniston and Gadsden, have been challenged by technological shifts and both have experienced a major population decline since 1980. There are no private colleges in our service area, and only 4 community colleges. Our rural Appalachian counties are losing population. 

Yet our area is one of great natural beauty, bound by Alabama's highest peak, Mt. Cheaha, and lowest point, Little River Canyon in Dekalb County. The Chief Ladiga Trail connects to the Silver Comet Trail in Georgia, allowing cyclists to ride from Anniston to Atlanta, and the Pinhoti Trail connects us to the start of the Appalachian Trail. JSU is proud to hold the distinction as the state’s only public university situated next to a national forest. We love our region of this great state and stand ready to assist in growing tourism, stimulating the economy, creating jobs, providing workers, and retaining our graduates in this great state.

On that note, I am happy to announce that talks with the City of Oxford are going well so that JSU can open a Business Incubator in Oxford that will help foster new businesses and jobs for our area.

In closing, this is the Legacy that I want us to leave JSU: A University that comes together as a Family and ensures that our students are successful in college and in life. Successful students change their communities and help lift families out of poverty. We are "One University. One Family. One Legacy." Thank you for your time this morning. Thank you for your support of Jacksonville State University. And again, I am honored to be serving in this role and I look forward to what the future holds for our university.