Before I became President of Clinton Community College, I worked at another community college. In the room where the Board of Trustees met, a poem was framed and posted on the wall. It made a favorable impression on me, and I post it here in hopes that it may also make a favorable impression on you.
THE BUILDER1
I saw them tearing a building down --
A team of men in my hometown.
With a heave and a ho and a yes yes yell,
They swung a beam and a sidewall fell.
And I said to the foreman, "Are these men skilled?
"Like the ones you'd use if you had to build?"
And he laughed and said, "Oh no, indeed.
"The most common labor is all I need.
"For I can destroy in a day or two
"What takes a builder ten years to do."
So I thought to myself as I went on my way...
Which one of these roles am I willing to play?
Am I the one who is tearing down
As I carelessly make my way around?
Or am I the one who builds with care,
To make the world better because I was there?
1The author is unknown to me personally, and also to all others whose reprints I have researched for attribution. Please e-mail me at presidentsblog@clinton.edu if you can find an attribution.
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