Finding Tim
A Fourth Alternate Reality

 by: Charlie

© 2005-2008

 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Episode 77
Arrivals

Aging is inevitable, but not necessarily desirable. One can learn to accept the weakening of the body - even Tim can't dive today like he could at age 18, and he doesn't ever want to be reminded of how long he could once hold a "T" position on the rings. The weakening of the mind is harder to accept. But we all understand that the memory isn't what it used to be, the quick retort is more likely to be thought of fifteen minutes too late, the puzzle answer looked up instead of deduced. So here I am in 2008 trying to remember which members of the Gang got to Grand Forks before Tim and I did, when the others arrived, and what they were doing regardless of where they were. I suspect my readers, of all ages, may find that their memories of those events, though having been told here, are unclear. Here then, for all who are willing to admit their memories aren't what they used to be (all others, please skip down a couple of pages) is a rundown of the Gang:

Tim and I arrived in North Dakota in June of 1974.

Jim, Andy, Amy, and Kara were already there. Andy worked for Fred. Jim had worked for the University, but was entering the Graduate School of Education to work on a teaching certificate and a Masters in Teaching. Amy and Kara were teaching, but hoping to set that aside in favor of motherhood.

Hal and Sue were on their way, expected within a month. Hal would be an Assistant Professor of Physical Education. Sue's plans were unsettled. I wondered if motherhood wasn't in her mind as well.

Franklin and Phil were headed to Grand Forks, planning to arrive in the summer of 1974. Franklin was working with Fred on the financing of a residential drug treatment program. Phil would be job hunting, armed with a Ph.D. in English.

Tom would complete his Air Force service at the end of the year and planned to move to Grand Forks, where he and Nancy would go job hunting.

Ron, along with Kyle and Sharon were still at Stanford, would love to come to Grand Forks, but also wanted to remain theoretical physicists. They hadn't as yet resolved that conflict, and in the meantime were making a good reputation for themselves in the field of particle physics.

Carl and Carol were in Bismarck. He expected to set up his own architectural design firm in Grand Forks before too long, but hadn't set a date.

Tina and Merle were settled happily in Paris, with no immediate plans to go anywhere. Merle was doing very well with his painting. Tina had sold several articles to various magazines, but hadn't yet sold any fiction. She had a number of short stories submitted various places and had high hopes. Merle was encouraging her to attempt a novel.

Billy and Sara were at Indiana University where he was a graduate student and assistant diving coach. Sara was, happily, a stay-at-home mom, taking care of little Willie.

Fred and Marty were falling in love in Grand Forks. Marty was in his second year of graduate school and working seriously on his gymnastics skills.

Tim's parents, Norman and Betsy. were living happily in Minneapolis.

Hal's parents, John and Hazel, were living happily in St. Paul.

Jim's parents, Walter and Trudi, were living happily in Flint.

Andy's parents, Curtis and Melanie, were living happily in Alma. They enjoyed fun and games with Walter and Trudi fairly often!

Tom's parents, Sam and Beverly, were living happily in Detroit.

Ron's parents, Frank and Adele, were living in Madison, but they missed Ron who was so far away in California, and had made it clear that they were going to miss having Tim and Charlie close enough to visit from time to time. They were getting restless.

Franklin's parents, Peter and Norma, were - we thought - living in Chippewa Falls and getting restless. Peter had already told us that they might head for Grand Forks when Franklin and the Gang did.

Hal's high school track coach and his wife, Herb and Phyllis, were happily living in St. Paul. Herb, Phyllis, John, Hazel, Norman and Betsy were known to have played more than bridge together! More than once!

Billy's parents, Bill and Martha, were living in Fargo. We had a feeling that Bill might move his law business to their Grand Forks office.

Paul and his wife, Amanda, were living in Ironwood, where he was teaching and coaching high school and she continued to supervise environmental programs for the Ironwood schools.

Jeff and Dick moved back and forth between Detroit and Camp White Elk. Dick would be a senior at Wayne State University in the coming year. We were pretty sure that they would come out at the camp after Dick graduated.

The Gang now numbered 45, and it looked like quite a few of them would be living in Grand Forks within the next year or so. Who knew, maybe one day we'd all live in Grand Forks. It didn't seem likely that we'd hit 100%

Our first surprise came just a couple of days later. Our doorbell rang and we opened the door to find Peter and Norma standing on the front porch. Peter said, "Hi, neighbor. Welcome to the neighborhood."

Tim said, "Hi you two, it's great to see you. But what's this neighbor business? You live in Wisconsin."

"Not any more. We live about a block up the street. Moved in about ten days ago."

"What?"

"We told you we...."

I said, "Wait a minute. Come in. It sounds like we're going to hear a good story. Tell it in a comfortable chair in the living room."

Peter and Norma came in and we settled in the living room. Peter and Norma accepted Tim's offer of iced tea, and I fixed Tim and me Cokes while he brewed fresh tea. All settled in with nice big, icy drinks, I said, "OK, tell your story from the beginning."

Peter said, "You know I told you a long time ago that I thought we might move with Franklin when he finally settled down with the Gang. Well, we knew that Franklin was planning his move for this summer when you two would arrive. So Norma and I flew out last January thinking that we'd look the place over and see if we might find a house to live in. We drove by your house and noticed a house in the next block with a 'For Sale' sign on it. We stopped, knocked on the door, and were invited in. The house was for sale by a widow whose husband had died a couple of years before. She showed us around, it was very nice and we told her we were interested. Then she called up her real estate agent and told her what was going on. The agent almost had apoplexy that she'd let strangers into the house, hadn't called her, and so forth. The woman was quite calm and simply said, 'You do things your way, and I'll do things my way. Since I'm paying you, I really don't care what you think. Now if you're interested in the commission I'm paying you, get over here right away. Otherwise, consider our contract cancelled.'"

I said, "Tough old bird. That must've been Mrs. Terry. Her husband was pretty sick when we left five years ago. I'm sorry that she's leaving the block."

"It was Mrs. Terry. She is a tough old bird. My kind of lady. And you can bet the agent got there pretty fast. By then we'd decided to buy the house and had agreed on a reasonable price with Mrs. Terry. The agent was again upset that the principals had talked price directly with each other. Apparently in the real estate world that's a no-no."

Tim said, "It wouldn't have been for Mrs. Terry. She knows her own mind."

"In any case, all that was left for the agent to do was write up the contract. She wanted to put all kinds of clauses in to protect Mrs. Terry, but she simply said, 'KISS. Keep It Simple Sister.' The agent finally got the message, and by late that afternoon we had our house. We closed in two months and allowed Mrs. Terry to stay in the house as long as she wanted as long as the redecorating we wanted could proceed. The agent started talking about her paying us rent after the closing, and it was our turn to tell the agent for forget it. I can't imagine a more agreeable house sale."

"So how come we're only now learning this?"

"We decided to keep it a surprise, especially from Franklin and Phil. They have no idea."

"Do they think you're in Wisconsin?"

"No, we told them we were going on a long cruise in the Carribean. They're expecting us to come visit them as soon as they get moved in here."

"And you're just going to walk up to their front door and say, 'Hi, neighbor,' like you did to us?"

"Exactly."

"Where're they going to be living?"

"They've rented an apartment."

"How did you learn that?"

"From Marty. He knows we're here, and I'm sure he's told Fred. But they're sworn to secrecy."

"What about the foursome?"

"They don't know. We had to cut it off somewhere, or the word would've gotten to Franklin. But we couldn't resist knocking on your door. Don't spoil our surprise for Franklin."

I said, "Peter, you aren't retired. How can you just up and move when you want to? You know, I'm not sure that I have any idea what you do for a living. What do you do? And how can you be so mobile?"

"I design trusses. For roofs not for female garments. It's a very technical engineering job, and I design them by contract for architects all over the country. Specs come in by mail and truss designs go back by mail. I can work from anywhere convenient to a post office."

"Did you work from home in Chippewa Falls?"

"No, I rented space in the office of a local architect. He had very little truss work for me, but it was a good office; I could use his draftsman after hours when I needed him; and he got free consulting on simple roof issues when he was designing custom houses. I'm hoping that I can work out a similar deal here."

Tim said, "I would think you could with Carl. He'll be moving here before too long."

"I should talk to him. I will, as soon as the big surprise for Franklin is past. Right now, I am working out of my basement. It's OK for a while."

Norma said, "Come see our house. It's just a block. In fact, why don't you eat dinner with us?"

Tim said, "We'd love to see the house, but it's a little short notice to expect you to feed us."

"Nonsense. Come on."

The four of us walked the block to their house and we were invited in and given a tour of the house. When the Terrys had lived there it'd gotten a little run down; they were aging and simply didn't have the energy to keep up the decorating. The wallpaper especially had been in bad shape. All that was now replaced, and the house was lovely. When we got to the dining room the table was set with four places. Tim laughed and said, "It looks like you were expecting company. What would you have done if we couldn't have come?"

Norma said, "We'd have eaten at the ends of the table tonight and sat down at the sides for lunch tomorrow." We all laughed.

It wasn't a fancy dinner, but quite nice. The conversation was delightful, and we were glad to catch up on their lives, and Franklin and Phil's, as we hadn't really had a good report on either in quite a while. They knew more about our comings and goings, but were glad to have us fill in the details. I asked, "Any idea whether any of the other POGs are planning a move to North Dakota?"

Peter said, "I'll bet most are. But most, like us, are in their early fifties. I'd guess that most won't be able to move until they reach retirement. Most people aren't lucky enough to have the kind of mobility I have. We'll just have to wait and see."

Tim said, "I don't know. The pull of the Gang is strong. But there's going to be a next generation coming on before long, and the pull of grandchildren will be even stronger than the pull of the Gang. But you're right, we'll just have to wait and see."

The conversation continued for a while till it was interrupted by the doorbell. Peter got up, saying, "I wonder who that is," and opened the door.

In walked Phil, saying, "Hi, Pops. Got enough dinner left for us? Franklin's parking the car."

Peter was speechless. Norma handled it quite well, saying, "No, we don't, but I'll call for a pizza right now." She got up and made the call.

Franklin appeared in the door and said, "You don't look like you were expecting us."

Peter was getting his wits about him by this point and said, "You weren't expected till the end of the month. How... How did you find us here?"

"You weren't expected until next year, but here you are. And here we are. Let's eat."

Phil said, "We're going to have to wait for a pizza delivery. These four have consumed all of the food."

By now Tim was hugging Franklin, and I was hugging Phil. Soon Tim and I were replaced by Peter and Norma, who was now crying tears of joy. We stood in the hall talking until the happy reunion was broken up by the doorbell again, this time rung by a pizza delivery boy, bringing two very large pizzas.

We settled down at the table, by now set for six, and traded stories - starting with the answer to Peter's question, "How did you know we were here?"

Franklin had happened to call home last January and got no answer for several days. He continued his story, "We guessed that they might be in Grand Forks, and wondered how to find out. We decided to subscribe to the Grand Forks Herald by mail. We enjoyed reading the local news and learning about the town, and we watched the real estate transactions column. Sure enough, last March you and Mom closed on this house. When we got to town this morning we drove by and could see it was occupied. Funny, you're supposed to be on a Carribean cruise. I guess you missed the boat."

"I'll be damned," said Peter. Tim, Norma, and I just laughed. It was a great start for life in Grand Forks with another Gang family.

The conversation continued. Phil commented, "My brother Jerry's going to be living with us this year."

Tim said, "I know you've talked about Jerry. What's he going to be doing here?"

"Working on a masters degree in psychology."

"Why is he coming here? It's not the most logical place for a kid from Kansas?" said Tim.

Franklin said, "I thought that you were going to try to sell UND as the best place for a kid from anywhere."

"I am. But you know it's going to be a hard sell. And regardless of how good the school may be, it hasn't got a reputation beyond this region of the country, and that doesn't include Kansas."

"He wants to be with us. He's become totally estranged from Mom and Dad. They resent his coming to visit Franklin and me, and he's become very alienated because of their rejection of me and Franklin. I think he could manage to stay on good terms with all of us, but he isn't willing to try. He's just fed up with their attitude toward us. He says he wants to get to know us better. I think he's still looking for acceptance after feeling rejected by our parents - though they really didn't reject him. It's complicated. The Gang is going to be an eye-opening experience for him. I think he can handle it, and I think it'll be good for him. Regardless, he's coming. But he won't get here until fall."

"Where did he go to college?"

"The University of Kansas in Lawrence. He did well."

"Girlfriends?"

"Nothing serious."

"As I remember your stories, he's not gay, right?"

Phil replied, "He's straight, but he's had a couple of gay encounters. Nothing serious. Nothing he's ashamed of. I think he's sexually pretty well adjusted. But his relationship with our parents is a mess, and my sexuality is the basis of that problem."

I asked, "Is he as tall as you are?"

"I think he's finally grown his last, and he ended up about an inch shorter than me."

Franklin added, "His dick's a lot shorter though."

We all chuckled. I looked over at Norma and saw that she'd accepted the anatomical comment without flinching. Franklin saw me glance her way and said, "I'm just assuming that the Gang is the Gang. Mom, a few years ago I would never had made a remark like that in front of you. Does it bother you?"

"Good question, Franklin. The answer has to be, 'No.' My first reaction - hidden, I hope, Charlie - was, 'My God, my son's talking about another boy's penis size in front of me!' Then I realized that that's what we agreed being part of the Gang was all about. It's changed our relationship, and I think for the better. We asked to be treated like you treat other members of the Gang. Thank you for doing so. Is penis size important to you, Franklin?"

Franklin replied, "Not really. I know mine is big. So is Phil's. We're used to being kidded about it from time to time. It doesn't bother us. The comment about Jerry's size just came to me when Phil was talking about his height, and I blurted it out."

Peter said, "I'm just curious. How do you happen to know that?"

Phil said, "I guess you're going to hear the whole story." He told it, in considerable detail. So much so that I think he was really testing them. They passed easily. Norma said, "You know, there aren't any incest rules standing between Jerry and me, and he's straight."

Franklin said, "Mom!"

She said, "Gotcha, Franklin. But in a way I'm serious. What do you think, Peter?"

"I think Jerry better be warned."

Phil said, "If I were to give Jerry such a warning, he might decide it was an opportunity."

"Perverts. Every last one of you!" said Franklin.

"I guess he'll be number 46 in the Gang," Tim said.

"It's by no means certain that he's going to want to be part of the Gang. He's straight...."

"Oh, Phil, don't be stupid. He wouldn't be coming to Grand Forks if he weren't interested in meeting your friends and being with them. Once he meets us, he's sure to like us. He'll be joining the Gang. If he isn't a member six months after he gets here, I'll be your sex slave for a month."

"No bet," said Phil.

Norma said, "What's this 'sex slave' business?"

"That's Franklin's game," I said.

"I'm not currently available," said Franklin.

The conversation refused to rise above that level for quite a while. We did, however, eventually return to serious discussion. We heard about Franklin's plans, and Phil's ideas for a job search. He was interested in eventually teaching at UND, and had been watching their openings. There was nothing right now. He was going to look for a high school English teacher position. He knew, for sure, that there was one open right now in East Grand Forks, the small Minnesota town across the river. He had an appointment for an interview in a few days.

As the evening was drawing to a close, Tim took the bull by the horns and broached the unspoken subject. "OK, the relationships here don't suggest that six in one bed would be a good idea tonight, and besides these two guys, with their huge penises, wouldn't leave any room for the rest of us. I'm the littlest, so I'll fit between them the easiest. Take me home with you, oh ye of the giant dicks, or come to our house. Charlie, I think you might get an invitation to stay here."

Norma said, "Indeed he would. I've been wondering how this would work out. Thanks, Tim."

Tim answered, "You know, you aren't supposed to have to wait for me to express your wishes. Speak right up."

Norma responded with, "OK. Peter and Charlie, you both get to fuck me tonight. How's that, Tim? Forward enough?"

"Suits me," I said.

"I don't get a choice," said Peter, "but it sounds like fun."

It was.

The next weekend we had a grand gathering of the Gang at our house - a picnic in the back yard. To our two we added Phil and Franklin and his parents, Fred and Marty, the foursome, Bill and Martha from Fargo, Carl and Carol from Bismarck, and Tim's folks from Minneapolis. I don't know where he got it, but Fred produced a whole pig which we roasted for most of the afternoon on a spit over a wood fire in the yard. We cut a circle from the sod and laid it aside; then dug a pit to build the fire in. A couple of 2 x 4s driven in the ground held the spit, which we turned every fifteen minutes or so. We all sat around in the yard watching and feeding the fire, arguing over how long it would take to roast the pig, and enjoying the idea that having this size gathering of the Gang was now going to be routine, rather than something that only happened on special occasions. Tim and I got a lot of questions regarding our plans for remaking the University of North Dakota. We both fended them off by saying that, first of all, we hadn't been invited to remake the university, and second, we didn't have any idea what we'd be doing in the coming year. I don't think people believed us, but it was really true. We hadn't been stewing about UND for the past five years, we'd had busy lives to lead. We'd be starting now to see how we could contribute to the school. Tim had, of course, been thinking about university fundraising, and he had studied the question of teacher evaluation and alternate teaching methods, but he hadn't reached any conclusions about how what he'd learned might fit at UND. We each had Monday appointments, he with Prexy and me with Hamilton. We reported these to the group, and said that our planning would probably begin at those meetings.

By the time the sun was setting and the evening ending, the group had quizzed everybody about their near-term plans. In virtually every case, it was clear that thinking and planning was still going on. This would be a summer of serious planning for a lot of Gang members. The fire was out, the pit filled, the sod replaced, and evidence of the picnic erased. Wonderful memories last much longer. As Tim and I went to sleep that night we both felt completely nourished by these close friends. We slept well, and didn't need more than a hug, tickle, and wiggle to get there.

Monday morning we slept late - 7:00 a.m. - and took a little run together before breakfast. Tim missed morning practice so that we could enjoy a real breakfast together before we headed off to campus. My appointment with Hamilton was at 9:30, and I didn't want to be late. On the other hand, since my office had no furniture - I was going to visit B&G that afternoon - there was no point in arriving early. It was too warm to run and not arrive all sweaty, so I took a leisurely walk over to the law school and arrived at Hamilton's office right on time.

Hamilton didn't waste any time on preliminaries - those had all been taken care of the week before. He started right in, "How do we make this place better? I hope that you agree with me that it's a pretty good law school. But anything can be improved. We both know we have the issue of reputation. Name counts for a lot among law schools - almost more than any other profession - and North Dakota hasn't got the name. Probably never will."

I said, "I know all about names. I didn't have a big name law school behind me, but I was able to appropriate a president's name to push me. I will say, once I got the interview with Sherm, he gave me full opportunity to show who I was and what I could do."

"I know; you wowed him."

"Yeah, I did. I wasn't afraid of him, and I think that made all the difference. But it was certainly true that UND Law on the resume didn't help; no, it actively hurt. And that says nothing about the quality of the school or the education it provides. The people that reject UND on a resume haven't the slightest idea about the quality of this school, and they have no interest in finding out."

"In other words, we could beat ourselves to death, spend scads of money, do a superb job, and our graduates wouldn't be much better off in the halls of big name law, the supreme court, and places like that?"

"I think you're right," I lamented.

"Then that isn't a battle that we want to fight, so we need to look elsewhere when we think about how to improve this place. Where do we look?"

"I think we need to remember our mission. We aren't training supreme court clerks or Harvard law professors. We're training the lawyers that'll practice in North Dakota and the surrounding area. They'll be working in our courts, our corporations, law offices, legislature, everywhere. Will they be as good as they can be? Will they be upright and ethical? Will they do the pro bono work that the profession expects? Will they grub for money or have loftier goals? Obviously the answers to those questions won't be uniform. But it seems to me that we're doing our job if the general run of lawyers in North Dakota meets those high standards."

"What do you think? Do they?"

"I can't answer. Can you?"

"Not really. I know we graduate some smart young men and women. A lot stay in the area. But I don't have any data, only impressions."

"Perhaps that's where I should start. Let's see if we can find out just how good the lawyers of North Dakota are, especially the ones that we trained."

"How on earth would you do that?"

"Ask a lot of questions of a lot of people. Let me think about it for a while."

"You know, you aren't working for me until September."

"I know. That means it's OK to take long lunches, not show up on Friday, wear jeans to the office, and duck out of unpleasant tasks. But I'll be around most of the summer, and thinking about this problem will be interesting."

"Welcome home, Charlie. I remember the first day you were in my office. I think I started the interview with 'Who the Hell are you?'"

"You did."

"I'm still trying to answer that question."

"So am I. I think the only person who's happy with his answer to that question is Tim. He truly thinks I walk on water. I could never live up to his image of me, and the successes that have come my way are all the result of trying to live up to that image. It's been quite a life."

"You are so very lucky, Charlie. To love and be loved as you and Tim love each other is rare. Hang on to it."

"I certainly will. And, Hamilton, thank you for your faith in me and your support. I hope that my time here will be productive and supportive: of you and of the university."

"Thank you, Charlie. We've blown most of the morning. Let me get a little work done and let's go to lunch. We'll eat at the faculty club, and maybe some of the rest of the faculty will join us. You need to meet them all again, this time as peers instead of teachers. It'll take some getting used to."

I spent most of an hour in the Law Library, reading nothing of importance. Hamilton met me there and we walked to lunch. The law faculty was totally absent from the lunch scene, but we joined a group of scientific sorts, none of whom I knew from my student days. Very quickly I learned that they all knew me - and Tim, of course. They knew of our return and our new positions. There might've been a hint of envy, but everyone was cordial. It was very clear to me that I was going to have to earn any respect that I would get from the faculty. I started in by being a good listener in the group. I limited my comments to answering their questions. I think maybe they were expecting someone who would pontificate and make all kinds of suggestions about how the university could be better. The closest I got to that was to turn one question around, from "What would you change around here?" to "I don't know, but I'd be interested in knowing what you would change." They had a long list. Some of their ideas were worth filing away in my memory and sharing with Tim.

I said goodbye to Hamilton after lunch and headed to Buildings and Grounds to check on furniture for my office. The warehouse was on a corner of the campus so I had a little walk. As I looked around I thought, "It really is a pretty campus in the summer. It's too bad that it's the usual drab winter for most of the time the students are present." It was now the summer term and there were only about one quarter the usual number of students in residence.

I was greeted at the warehouse by a man named Gilly Burns, who looked like he'd had the job since mustering out of the Army after World War I. My conversation with him yielded the fact that he'd had the job since 1933 and would be retiring in October. He knew who I was, connected me with Tim, and went out of his way to thank both of us for the endowment that had boosted his salary by more than 20%. "You can't imagine how important that's been for me and my wife."

I'm both glad and sorry to say that my life experiences have been such that I really couldn't imagine living at a level that the roughly $1,500 added to his salary made a significant difference in his life. Glad, because I was fortunate enough to have been born into a family with no money worries; sorry, because it showed the narrowness of my life experiences. I understood how difficult it was, and would continue to be, to truly understand the real life situations of much of North Dakota and America, not to mention the rest of the world.

Gilly led me through the warehouse to a door at the rear. He said, "This is the V.I.P. room. As a dean you qualify, but I'd let you in anyway, Mr. Charlie."

"Gilly, call me Charlie, please."

"OK, Charlie." He unlocked the door. Inside were executive desks, bookcases made of wood instead of metal or particle board, and similarly upscaled office furniture.

I choose a nice set of bookcases, four very comfortable arm chairs that pulled up to a round table, a sofa and coffee table, and two leather chairs that would sit by the fireplace. However, I'd passed a large metal desk in the main warehouse that I liked. It was huge, sturdy, and had a sort of solid character that said, "North Dakota" if any piece of furniture could. Gilly was distressed that I didn't want one of the nice wood executive desks, but I stuck to my guns for the metal one. I didn't find a desk chair that I liked, and decided that I'd talk to Hamilton and see if there was budget to go pick out a new one at an office supply store.

When I told Gilly my plan, he said, "You don't have to talk to the Dean. My boss can authorize that purchase. Let's go talk to him."

John Randon looked like he might be Gilly's father. He was one of several purchasing agents for the university, and office furniture was part of his portfolio, as was managing the furniture and supplies warehouse. He was equally aware of Tim's and my role in his salary increase, especially Tim's standing down the Trustees in their plan to put a percentage cap on the increase that would've hurt the low wage workers. The cap wouldn't have affected John, but it would've affected many of his friends. John said, "Go downtown to Schneider's Office Store, pick out the chair you want, and tell them to call me for approval. Now, Mr. Charlie, you pick out a good one."

I thanked John and Gilly, and after being assured that the stuff I'd picked out would be moved as soon as possible, I headed downtown. As I walked along I thought about my conversations with John and Gilly. Tim and I hadn't realized how much of an impact we'd made on the staff when we'd moved to add them to the faculty salary endowment. The staff were generally much lower paid than faculty, and adding almost $1,000 a year to their salaries was a big deal. Now it'd risen to almost $1,500 and was an even bigger deal. Tim and I could expect a real honeymoon in dealing with the staff. I made up my mind right then, and I shared it with Tim at dinner, that we'd do everything in our power to continue to merit the respect of the university staff employees. Principally that meant always treating them fairly and being a model employer.

I did pick out a chair. I'm pretty picky when it comes to office chairs, as an administrator is likely to spend quite a bit of time in a desk chair. They've gotten fancier today, but I easily found one that was comfortable. It was also quite expensive. When we got John on the phone to approve the chair purchase, he just laughed at my hesitation to spend that much. He said, "Mr. Charlie...."

"John, call me Charlie."

"Mr. Charlie when I see some of the dumb things that we spend big bucks for around here, I don't even bat an eye over approving your chair. A skinny guy like you needs a soft spot to rest his ass. Welcome back to the University of North Dakota." I did feel welcome.

Tim's day went as well as mine. He spent most of the morning with Prexy, going over his ideas for a development office. Prexy hadn't solved the problem of where to put it yet, but he was working on it, or at least thinking about it. Tim would be given time to meet the Trustees at their September meeting and seek their approval for his plans. As long as Fred was willing to assume the risk that the Trustees might not approve Tim's plans, it was obviously OK for him to hire people - they wouldn't be university employees.

Prexy did remind Tim that since the contract employees would be in the employ of Development Consulting they wouldn't be eligible for health or retirement benefits through the university. Tim had told Prexy that Fred and his lawyer had already dealt with that; they'd be the legal employees of the sporting goods business, and the benefits there were superior to the university. Fred was good to his employees. Development Consulting would then contract with the sporting goods company for their services, and then sell the products of their services to the university. Tim thought it was pretty clever. Prexy rolled his eyes but said nothing.

Tim spent the afternoon in the Alumni Office. He spent most of the time talking to Mary Robbins, the Director of Alumni Relations. Mary knew her stuff, had excellent lists of alumni and their current addresses. She'd also sought to assemble a list of back-up addresses of persons likely to know how to contact the alum. Her staff followed up on every letter that came back with a bad address. The percentage of alumni giving was pretty good, standing at about 30% of undergraduate degree recipients, compared to Harvard's approximately 50%. Tim responded, "I don't like to work with comparisons, but with the right support we can beat Harvard. It ought to be up around 70 or 80 percent, but I guess that's wishful thinking."

Mary had replied, "Wishful or not, it's wonderful to hear someone thinking in those terms. I've thought that for years, but the university hasn't been willing to provide the resources needed to realistically seek that goal."

"How would you do it?" Tim asked.

"It's not just a matter of asking. We do that every year. We have to make the alumni feel a part of the community. We need better communication, more timely. We need to tell our story well, and not shy away from the controversial stuff."

Tim said, "Are you familiar with the magazine Arizona Highways?"

"Sure. It's a beautiful magazine, very expensive to produce I would think."

"Yes, it is. Beautiful and expensive. I envision a university magazine of that quality, published four times a year. Sent free to donors and by subscription to all others. Make it beautiful, but really tell the university story. It'd be a fantastic tool for development and alumni relations. It'd easily pay for itself through increased giving. What do you think?"

"I think you're a visionary. Just what this place needs. Mind you, Prexy's good. He started with a good solid university when he came, and he's improved it. In particular he's worked very hard to make this place function as a community rather than simply a place to work. That was the crux of his vision, and he's done a good job. I suspect that one of the big payoff's of that effort is that you and Charlie came here instead of some other school. Am I right?"

"I think so. We certainly came here because we felt welcome, and that grew out of the community you're describing."

"I think I'm going to enjoy working with you this year."

"How'd you like to work for me?"

"What do you mean? I don't want to change jobs."

"Do you think that the Alumni Office should be part of the new Development Office instead of being part of Administration?"

"I know you're now the Vice-President for Development, but what's this about a Development Office?"

"We'll have a staff of at least twelve and a budget of over a million dollars by the second year. It has to be approved by the Trustees, but it will be. That staff of twelve doesn't include the three of you now working in the Alumni Office. Nor the editorial staff of our new magazine."

"My God, you are a visionary. Does Prexy know your plans?"

"He hinted that you might resist an organizational move for the Alumni Office. The way he said it, I'd guess that your office won't be moved unless you think it's a good idea, but if I request it and you agree, I think it'll be a done deal. I haven't yet mentioned my thoughts on a magazine nor a percentage of alumni giving goal. But I will; soon."

"The Alumni Office would love to hitch its wagon to your star."

"Nothing till fall, and don't talk about it. This idea has to be floated at the right time."

"My lips are sealed, but my enthusiasm isn't."

To be continued...

 

Posted: 08/22/08