Jarrett Thompson 0:00
It's awesome. Okay. All right. Thank you for taking the time to interview with me today. Dr. Jenkins. So you've been at the University for 32 years, like you're saying a really long time.

Dr. Keith Jenkins 0:14
I have been here for 32 years. And there are people, there's not many, but there are a few people who've been here longer than I have. But in that period of time when I first came, there was like 9000 students, really and so we've seen a lot of change both by our student population in terms of the number of enrollees and also the fiscal side of the whole institution, it has grown substantially,

Jarrett Thompson 0:40
right. So as my projects every as I mentioned before the Parker Plaza, kind of the whole mall area in general and the clock tower, how would you describe like what did the area of the mall look like on your first day? I can't because I know there's a lot of different buildings in my race that are now non existent have been destroyed

Dr. Keith Jenkins 1:00
before I answer that question. When you say the clock tower are you referring to the clock tower, the bell tower bell towers, excuse me, because we do have a button tower and one of our Loomis gave the money for it and then we have the bell tower. So it's kind of all three together. I mean, we know that's the President's tree that sits right out here, right? When I when I first came, right before I came, this used to be a main street right right where we call our mall and there were four residential halls between here and lead drain. There were there was frozen Wilson. That's what everybody remembers. And then there was Rick's and departmental. So you asked me what I saw. First of all, I wouldn't be sitting in my office right now. But you had there was no Plaza. What we only had was what used to be a city street between and between that wall and where that person just walked that wall in the building. That's all we had. That was our mall.

Jarrett Thompson 1:59
Now is your mall just like that? Was

Dr. Keith Jenkins 2:00
it where the residence hall was right where those signs were right there. And so you can see you can see that there was no Plaza it was dorm, resin Hall resin Hall, resin Hall resin Hall. And so this didn't exist.

Jarrett Thompson 2:16
The whole open space was just non existent.

Dr. Keith Jenkins 2:19
It didn't exist, it did not exist and so over time under the president, Dr. Ghana, we started tearing down several of those residence halls. They were just old. It was time for him to go. But they also served they held up as long as they did because when we renovated the administration building, whether you're renovating the student center those what used to be dorm rooms ended up being a temporary offices for the people in different buildings. Why why the buildings were being renovated. And so when I first came, what we call the plaza, the mall which is right in front, right no longer existed and so now today and 2022, there is no such thing as the mall. Everything between here and lead drain, the the bell tower, Smith Hudson College of Business, this whole area is called Parker Plaza.

Jarrett Thompson 3:15
Definitely has changed a lot and your time here. Oh, yeah.

Dr. Keith Jenkins 3:19
100% true.

Jarrett Thompson 3:23
This applause a differ from what you kind of imagined it or was there like different plans for when

Dr. Keith Jenkins 3:28
there were when we started this with Dr. Gatton, who was president. There were several renditions of what it could be now I will tell you there. A lot of these trees, some of these trees were here for long. The ones that are the tallest have been here the longest, but a lot of these trees were planted and some weren't planted as as they've grown up. People think, oh, it's been here the whole time, which it had. And so there was a lot of discussion in terms what the plaza would look like, because everybody had an affair. No one was wrong. Everybody's right. But you can't do everything everybody wanted. So Right. Certainly Dr. Gatton at the president at the time he kind of endorsed the final plan. And we I believe it's worked out pretty good. One of the things that we tried to envision was this just to one of your questions. The number one activity for college students. It's not believe in not it's not going to classes. It's not an extracurricular stuff. It's hanging out. We had no hanging out or gathering places and so one thing Dr. Get and I talked about quite a bit was how can we create something that serves as a centerpiece, a center core for the university and a gathering place that we can hold activities like the Tree of Life ceremony, or a variety of other functions that have taken but really ahead of all those? When students come out of classes, or they pick up food, where can they gather, and we really get ahead that place. And this has become that place. Now we see student fairs organizations to an organization's activities, major events take place. Everybody's pretty clear that this is the center of campus when you talk about Parker Plaza, you're talking about being the center of campus.

Jarrett Thompson 5:12
Yeah, so as a student every time I walked through Parker Plaza, there's always something going on. There's always it anytime of the day

Dr. Keith Jenkins 5:19
and that's pretty cool in it is cool, you know that activity level. Just kind of, you know, kind of kind of bears till you were university. I've been through several master plans over time. And the latest one that we're going through right now, envision this corridor and the and there's another corridor that's gonna go down by the Raven statue. And so you have a walking like a lot of campuses have a walking corridor? Well, we really don't have a walking corridor to this was created then from the administration building, to the bell tower, all the way up to the library, and then at some point, that's going to turn and then we'll have another walking quarter which, which won't be down in the library, but kind of between like ch SS and the lead drain as it goes down that way so that we want to try to keep this flow going because people come out of buildings. This is cool. Everybody likes to walk out to this kind isn't. It has certainly met my expectations and the grounds I give credit for grounds. They do a great job of making sure that your flowers die, they replant they really trees and they keep it lively everybody who walks across campus. They see this when we finished the renovation on the Student Center. And the student center is known as the living room on campus and it has served with the addition it's it's nice as you're gonna see in the country rally is so between the students center and Parker Plaza right here in the middle of the corridor. Not that there's not life at every other location on campus, which there is but the true living room and outdoor patio, is this extension that the indoor facility and the outdoor facility really complement this area very well.

Jarrett Thompson 7:08
It's really the central the heart of campus.

Dr. Keith Jenkins 7:10
It is you know when people when people talk about where's the center of campus, if they're not here, people say go to the park or Plaza. Park and Plaza is still new, so there but over time, it'll just we go to Park Plaza. And from there you can go the student center you can go to Chick fil A, you know, admission then you look up here and you got the administration building, you got the library, you know you got to somebody it's truly, truly the center campus.

Jarrett Thompson 7:35
It really is. So I know you kind of mentioned earlier about the one the most notable changes with the plaza is now that students have an area to hang out in kind of like central area to meet up. Yep or were there any other notable changes that you notice to just besides that they can think of?

Dr. Keith Jenkins 7:51
Well, you know that you truly for me, I've always tried to tell people there's a lot of great programs on campus that like indirect support, so the student activities or athletics, there's a lot of great programs but truly the number one activities to hang out and it has met that goal it really has and so but in addition to that goal, then whenever we have these outdoor unifying events, and I'm going to use the tree of light ceremony, which sets out here and if we hadn't have a cool day, then students come out here from here to Smith Hudson, see HSS people standing up there by the fountain by the Bell Tower, they're looking down. And you can see this energy or synergy of people, students, faculty, staff, alumnus, and it's really cool, especially from this office, to see to see that interaction. And so yes to gatherings Yes, institutional both student and university wide events take place in this plaza, and it's a perfect place to do it.

Jarrett Thompson 8:54
Is there one thing that you would wish to add to the plaza or like just to its design when it could be like a personal preference, so you like a little better?

Dr. Keith Jenkins 9:03
You know, I think you see where that tree is. It'd be hard to describe this. That one that sits in that sets in that in case right there. And all by itself, kind of wish that tree would have been replanted with a crisp a permanent Christmas. Tree. And then you had the permanent Christmas tree. All season you take off the bulbs on season you have it right in the center instead of that type of tree for the tree of lights or the tree of lights. We set up another one on the other side of that but if there's one thing that I probably would have done differently, I would have done a lot of different here because it's achieving the goal right you know the ledge. That's where students sit on the brick right all around. But that's the one thing I think of course I see it every day. Yes, that's the one thing that type of tree. I wish it would have been a Christmas light tree and so during the year, it's naked during the Christmas season is closed. It has that way we wouldn't have to put up another tree to hit that and that's probably the one thing that I would have done different is put a Christmas tree and have it grow. Maybe Maybe we take that out and plant one when it's big enough then then becomes a Christmas tree but right now we have to bring in a temporary tree that sits in on the other side.

Jarrett Thompson 10:19
It takes I'm sure days to put together you can watch it

Dr. Keith Jenkins 10:23
takes time and takes space takes money. So I think that that's that's the thing that I would have. I would have done much different because I still like to have the trees. I still like to have them floral. still like to have this heading. So you want to you want to keep that alive. That's the one thing that I do different right and that square is a perfect place for the Christmas tree right

Jarrett Thompson 10:47
there. I agree that makes a lot of sense. So with the whole renovations of the plaza and it's in its current form, what is your favorite like part about is there a specific section or? Or is there just so you can really narrow down one place

Dr. Keith Jenkins 11:03
what I've narrowed down? That's really hard because the one goal I had for this is that what I wanted to achieve was openness and inviting from multiple directions, which makes it difficult when somebody says okay, I'll meet you at the entrance. Well, the entrance, right? That's the challenge if you're trying to get directional into one location. What I like about it is the engagement from a variety of different directions and the openness you know, as I sit here and you're seeing what I see here, yes, I'm seeing people come from all directions. And I liked it. It kind of reflective of the diverse population we have we have a diversity of interests. Logistically, it gets me challenged because there's no single engine. But on the other side of the coin, it really matches that we're trying to reach everybody from every direction, no matter where they are. They're walking live, and I like that.

Jarrett Thompson 12:05
I like that. That's a great answer. How do you think the atmosphere of the university has changed since the construction of the plaza?

Dr. Keith Jenkins 12:13
Oh, people who never knew it before? See that's the kicker. People who never knew it and it was used to a dorm dorm dorm room dorm. They never saw this. When alumni come back and they say they sit in a lot of alumni come to office and they say this is one of the best things University has ever had. It's fantastic. The students who were here before this fantastic students who've never known anything else it was what a college what so we'd like it. It's important, but they have no point of reference. But anybody who's been here before, say this is one of the best renovations that he has to ship ever did. And we have some nice facilities as responsible for the student center. And we tore down two dorms back here to build a side and it's fantastic. But it's indoor day in and out whole hot weather. Cold weather rain, no rain. People see Parker Plaza, right and so people come back who've never who who weren't here when it was here said I wish you were here when we were it's that good. And so really is the whole space. The whole design for the exception tree. The whole design, I think hit the mark I think you did too. And so yeah, I get really excited about that because when it's raining or cold weather Yeah, the indoor facilities like the student center is very nice. But when the buildings closed, we have people on campus and I know this to be true because I've just been here when this building's been closed, and there's still people out in the plaza. It's a neverending story, right in that

Jarrett Thompson 13:51
it really is my uncle way here in the mid late 70s. And he when he came back for my orientation, I think he came up with me, and he was telling me all these stories about how this area used to look so kind of exactly as you were saying exactly. Alumni and he liked this study he did.

Dr. Keith Jenkins 14:08
I did get to see one here one alumni say wow, this is awful. I never heard that. Okay, everybody says this is so fantastic. And they'll go into nice buildings like G pack or a lot of other nice buildings. Oh, they're nice, but they come here and they see this and they say this is just unbelievable. And so it really is. That's really all you hit the mark. And I think in my opinion, there are some buildings that hit the mark and some did this hit the mark.

Jarrett Thompson 14:38
This one definitely hit it that's for sure.

Dr. Keith Jenkins 14:42
So what's definitely the center of campus. Oh, for sure.

Jarrett Thompson 14:45
Is that how you one word you would use to describe it like the center campus or office?

Dr. Keith Jenkins 14:49
I would definitely say the heart of campus to campus. Yeah, that's more than one word. Yeah. And I will call it the heart of campus from the heart of campus. In the living room. And so if people ask me in three words, let's see. Yeah, make sure I got three words for campus hard words. And they're nice buildings around the outside, but the heart it's right here in the just like our body. Here's our heart. And everything is surrounded by everything surrounds the heart. That's the heart that everything surrounds the heart, just like your body.

Jarrett Thompson 15:27
I would agree with that statement. Yeah, like you said, I've never seen this area before Parker Plaza. They're referred to like current form. Let's just say because I got here in 2019. Yep. So I witnessed the back half I guess to save the LLC renovation. When I first came on campus. This whole side was blocked off the wall right there so I never got to see what it was like before. But it definitely, really it feels like the heart to say of campus. It's really it's really cool to go back through my research and see what it looked like before. Well, that's cool. I found a lot of like, wow, I found some of the, I guess, right as it was created in 2007 and just kind of started taking its current form. The clock towers just up the old there's a building right here, the communications building or one point something there's a little building right there. Yeah, that was really cool. Just find all those photos and kind of like watch it progress just through time.

Dr. Keith Jenkins 16:26
It's interesting when people get leadership positions. Somebody had to have this vision. Right. And, and I was part of those conversations. So it wasn't one single person. But when we started taking down the residence halls, we got this open space what we want to do and the conversations, we don't have a heart to campus for a long time when schools law. What was considered the heart was a quadrangle between the administration building and Austin home and St. Paul and Thompson right. And so that was it. And so if you go back in time, that's where they did a lot of STEM, one of the several the first ring ceremonies, that's where they were held really before they moved to the Coliseum. And so a lot of the the first several when it first started, they were held right there in front of Austin Hall. And there had chairs sitting in the quadrangle, you know, passing statutes and that's where it was. It got to be so big that it moved over and they had to move it. That's exactly right. But that was the original what they perceived to be the heart. Transition is just the vein. It's just the vein, okay, is this

Jarrett Thompson 17:42
important if you consider it as a part of it? In a way it's all connected as you're kind of saying with the corridors it is?

Dr. Keith Jenkins 17:49
It isn't. So that's where a lot of people architects included, somebody has to vision said okay, what you're looking for openness, holiness, living rooms, corridor, gathering places, and when you have all these buildings, it's sometimes hard to envision that right? It's not everybody's a visionary and there's nothing wrong with that. But I have that vision speaks volumes. That really, all that this happened under under Dr. Ghana when he was president.

Jarrett Thompson 18:19
So with the clock tower nowadays, it's kind of become like the kind of like this cynical or like center piece to say it. Was that kind of like the original intention when it was created, or did you just happen to work out that way and just suddenly become kind of in a way you could argue this interferes?

Dr. Keith Jenkins 18:37
Well, when he took the when he took the bell tower over here, excuse me, because a lot of people call it the clock tower, but there's a different clock right within the alumni garden, but the bell tower when that was created they wanted something to you know the car where they used to have those figures and set Oh things and so there was a discussion because that's the example somebody use and I forget all the different type of cars but some people would have lady sitting on top eagles, you know, that headpiece, right and so at the time that conversation says, We need a head piece for the administration building. Okay. And then they said it'd be nice because a lot of places, schools and other people that had experienced in other schools where they are chimes where they heard bills, and all this was starting to come together. And they were saying, Well, can we get the headpiece that can bring us the chimes and the bells, right, we hear the bells and chimes from time to time, and the controls are in the administration building. And so we don't hear him as often as it was that first year we heard Chinese.

Jarrett Thompson 19:51
They're playing everything they had on those bills.

Dr. Keith Jenkins 19:53
Pretty cool, you know, if you walk across campus and you get a challenge, because a lot of schools have that right to embed the traditions and the and the home situation writing and so the bells gave it that had gave it that one gave it that headpiece that they wanted to lead into the administration building and so it served that purpose. And then as this envision this start playing out, it made good sense to say you know what, this is working out pretty good here here in here. And so it just kind of fell into place just fell into place just didn't happen. A lot of people there was a lot of people involved in this lot of conversations. Everybody trying to have a vision because not everybody can see beyond the woods. Everybody's gotta be have a vision and so as it turned out, and a lot of Dr. Ganders envision he was able to have multiple visions I've had the fortunate somebody asked me how long you've been here. I say six presidents. That's how old I am. Obviously, we're Dr. Bowers of the President, really and then we went from Bowers to ours to add his mind to marks to get in there to Gibson Hoyt to white. And six, six presidents. Somebody says Wow, you must be Oh, so six presidents. And each one of them had their own vision and each one of them put their own put their own print on this campus kind

Jarrett Thompson 21:23
of expanded upon the work of their, their predecessors, they should say certainly,

Dr. Keith Jenkins 21:29
in each one of them and I can you know, I had somebody who was doing an interview with me as well. Can you tell us a little bit about your experience with each president from a construction standpoint? We I went through that journey with him. And that's it. Well, this is what this person accomplished in this with this one accomplishment. And so there was a series of staples to each presidency, as the institution continue to grow and that's always been pretty cool. And that's why I'll take when I leave, it'll certainly that history will go with me. But anyway, back to your point. The bell tower just worked in just really nicely from the statute and from the Smith Hudson, to the plaza normal. Keep in mind, people used to call that bluff. That yard is the mall I like this a lot better. With five years people never heard of the mall. They will they'll just say Parker plus

Jarrett Thompson 22:18
so it's fully from here right at the LLC all the way across. It's Parker.

Dr. Keith Jenkins 22:23
Parker Plaza, but it didn't always used to be that way here that brick was was the mall

Jarrett Thompson 22:28
students like for me like me and my fellow students, we kind of use different terms as the mall term absolutely exists, but like you said, I'll probably work its way out. The more people say Parker, the more it'll slowly phase out and it's

Dr. Keith Jenkins 22:44
as more as as the freshman class comes. In. That's what they're told from day one on. Oh, go to park and Plaza Park Plaza. By time they were seniors, they would have only known as Park couple. Exactly. So it'll just move on from there

Jarrett Thompson 22:59
and move on. Do you have one specific for my final question here. Do you have one specific memorable moment or experience that you kind of like having experienced at the Plaza there's just like your Tom moment of kind of like what the plaza I guess, is or that's a good?

Dr. Keith Jenkins 23:17
That's a good question or something you

Jarrett Thompson 23:19
can use to kind of like

Dr. Keith Jenkins 23:21
capstone of that. You know I've seen this used for banquets for special events like, like the tree of life. I've used seen it for organizational fairs. I've seen it used for protest. I've seen it used for for preachers and I've seen it use for so the highlight for me as when I see that thing packed with people, I like it.

Jarrett Thompson 23:56
Big thing doesn't matter what it doesn't matter. It could be a bunch of little thing. It could evil out there.

Dr. Keith Jenkins 24:01
And I like it because it tells you it's life. And activity is life. You know, there's this everybody gets tired. I can tell you this because I've never talked to you so I can tell you this. In the show The Shawshank Redemption I don't know if you ever saw that shows with Morgan Freeman and somebody. Anyway, in the scene he he says in life, you're busy doing one of two things. You're either busy living or you're busy dying. And organizations are the same way either organization is dying, or it's growing and living. And what this shows to me this is a growing and living organization, organ organization. It's It's scientific amoeba, it continues to grow. And that's what we want institutions of higher education. To be is organizations for life. And it's just not about learning how to balance a checkbook. It's about finding out who we are. It's about finding how we can be productive members of society. It's about finding out about other people. It is sometimes we get lost in what the mission is for higher education, but that's why they call it higher education. This is an opportunity to learn and grow. And I think the plaza Parker Plaza reflects that especially when you come out there as an organizational fair, there's a special bit. University should be living and ever changing environments. And I think that's what that represents.

Jarrett Thompson 25:37
I think that's a very great way to put it. Amazing. Way to in that. So yes, thank you for taking the time to interview with me today. It's fun to answer all my various questions that I had. It's all


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