Tulsa Junior College, Alfred M. Philips Health Sciences Center Dedication Video, 1990, No. 1

A film of the May 1990 Alfred M. Philips Health Sciences Center Dedication. Dr. Philips was Tulsa Junior College's first President.

[Dr. VanTrease] There are a few seats on this far side… if you would like to find your seats.

Ladies and gentlemen. May I have your attention please. I am Dean VanTrease, president of Tulsa Junior College, and I will be serving as your Master of Ceremonies today.

First, on behalf of Tulsa Junior College, I would like to welcome you to our Metro Campus. You know, we could not have better weather. I was even thinking that the wind’s blowing from the south and were sitting on the north I was thinking about the well known musical Oklahoma, and that song that the verses go, “Oh, what a beautiful morning! Oh, what a beautiful day! I've got a wonderful feeling that everything's going my way!”

This is a great day for Tulsa. It's a great day for TJC. And it’s a great day for the gentleman that we are here to honor.

I appreciate all the distinguished people here today in our audience. And while I can't mention all, I would like to share some groups. All the people that are representing our federal, state, and local government. All of our college and university presidents and regents from throughout the state that have already seen. I'm looking right down in front of me and seeing the Chancellor, Dr. E.T. Dunlap is here, and he was here when we started TJC. He can tell a lot of stories about that. Dr. Dan Hobbes will be here—he may be here—served as Chancellor also.

I appreciate all our TJC regents being here, our former regents and their spouses. The school superintendents and staff, our leaders and professionals from the health and business community, the pastors from our area churches. I don't know if some of you from out of town realize this, but this is sort of a church area of Tulsa. Many churches surround this Metro Campus.

I appreciate the representatives here from HTB, who served as our project architect, and our representatives from TAO, who served as project contractor. I would like to thank B&B Parking today, American Parking, First Presbyterian, and Boston Avenue United Methodist for providing parking for us on this occasion.

I also would like to thank the committee, under Regent Martin Garber, and Mrs. Onita Ryan on our staff, who put this dedication together for us today. And I’ll specifically recognize Mr. Frank Chitwood, who is in charge of HTB in Tulsa, and Mr. Jim Garrett, who was our project president of TAO, our project architect.

Now at this time I would like to specifically recognize members of AL and Jane Philips family. They're sitting here in the front row as I mention their names, would they please stand and remain standing. And I would like for you to withhold your applause until all of them have been recognized.
From Dallas, their son Dale, his wife Laura and their daughter Jenny, and son Justin. From Kansas City, their son Glen, his wife Laurie, and their son Aaron. Isn’t Aaron cute? From Tulsa, their son Craig, his wife Sheila, and their daughters Katie and Cindy. And I would like for Al and Jane to please stand with them as we give them all a big hand.

This is just the beginning, so please be seated, and we’re going to go on. This facility that you see off to your right is a five story Health Sciences Center. It contains laboratories, classrooms, and offices as for nine different health programs. It also has one of the finest computer services labs anywhere in the United States. In addition it has a two-hundred-and-forty seat lecture auditorium.

And I’m going to say it at the end of the program, but please tour it today if you haven’t had an opportunity. We’ll have people all throughout the building. We want you to see how your money is being used by TJC.

Some of the programs that are in that are in that center: you’ll find Nursing, Medical Assistant, Medical Secretary, Respiratory Therapy, and Radiologic Technology. You’ll find Occupational Therapy Assistant, Physical Therapy Assistant, Medical Laboratory Technician, and starting next fall we’ll have our first dental-related program, our Dental Hygiene program.

The dedication of the Alfred M. Philips Center reminds me of how important one person can be in shaping the future of a community. On October 1, 1969, Dr. Philips came to Tulsa to establish Tulsa Junior College, as the first new public institution in Oklahoma higher education in fifty years.

At that, time few people had any idea how successful this institution would become. When Dr. Philips retired on July 1, 1989, he left behind a three-campus system that has now served over half of the families in Tulsa County.

Dr. Philip’s greatest strengths as President were his vision, integrity, and persistence. As president, he was a realistic optimist who set the tone for innovation and change. He accentuated the positive—and people that know him well know that—and gave people the latitude to innovate and develop their own vision. His support of appropriate risk-taking resulted in many outstanding programs.

Creating and developing a successful institution is never easy, and the President sets the tone, how well I know. Al Philips was a do-it and fix-it President. If an idea had merit, do it. If something needed to be changed, and needed repair, fix it. If times changed and it was no longer needed, get rid of it. Innovate and adapt, and he believed the necessary resources would follow.

Much of the extraordinary success of Tulsa Junior College can be directly attributed to this man. Thank you, Dr. Philips, for making a difference.

You’re going to be glad to learn today that there will be no speeches. A little applause, ok. However we’re going to be hearing some brief remarks from a few of our platform guests. How’s that, group? I’m not running for anything…

First of all, I would like to introduce some people on the platform who are very special to TJC who will not be making remarks. And I’d like for you to hold your applause until after they’ve been introduced.

First of all, it’s our unexpected pleasure to have two of our people back from Congress, and Tulsa, after meeting their current responsibilities in the nation’s capital. And I’d like to introduce at this point, and ask him to stand and remain standing, until I introduce to all of this, from the United States House of Representatives, the honorable Jim Inhofe. Hold your applause, please.

The next person is the vice chairman of the board of Tulsa County Commissioners, Commissioner Louis Harris. Next to him is the chairman of the board of the Tulsa County Area Vocational and Technical District, Mr. Layman Jones, and, by the way, this board is the funding board which provided the 4.5 million dollars to fund this facility, based on your favorable vote in August, 1988.

Next to him is the president of the Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Clyde Cole, and next to him the chairman of the Tulsa Junior College Foundation, Mr. Michael Waller. Let’s give them a hand.

Now some of you are wondering why I didn’t introduce Senator Nichols, and this is the reason: I would like to have him come forth if he would, please, on behalf of our congressional delegation, and make a few comments.

[Sen. Nichols] Dr. VanTrease, thank you very much. It’s a pleasure for me to join with you. It’s a pleasure for me to be out of Washington D.C., and it’s really a pleasure to say thank you for a job well done to a friend and a real leader of Oklahoma, Dr. Philips.

On behalf of the Secretary of Education, Lauro Cavazos—I have a letter of his—he regrets that he’s not able to attend. We were hoping that he’d be able to join us at the dedication ceremonies today. From him, and from the Department of Education, dated October 17th, he says:

“To all those celebrating the dedication of the Alfred M. Philips Health Sciences Center at Tulsa Junior College, I send greetings celebrating the opening of the new Alfred M. Philips Health Sciences Center at Tulsa Junior College. Beginnings are like clean slates to fill with our successes and accomplishments. As students enjoying this new facility, you are building an educational foundation that will serve you all of your lives. Take pride in each achievement you make and each goal you reach in your ongoing education. If you can make the most of each opportunity to grow academically and to develop your talents to the fullest. I am confident you will enjoy success. Congratulations as you begin what I hope will be a long tradition of achievement and excellence.” —Lauro Cavazos, Secretary of Education

[Dr. VanTrease] Now, representing the city of Tulsa, I’d like to introduce the honorable Mayor, Roger Randall.

[Mayor Randall] I’d like to say how much all Tulsans appreciate this contribution to the beauty of downtown Tulsa, and the contribution it will also make to the healthcare profession in this community.

The Tulsa Junior College, from its beginning, has been a history of success, and so the fact that we are here today celebrating one new indication of that success doesn’t come to us in Tulsa as a new experience. But the success of Tulsa Junior College, to great degree, is a contribution made by one man. One man who gave the kinds of qualities of leadership that Dr. VanTrease so ably described a few minutes ago.

And so it’s very appropriate that this new building permanently bear the name of Alfred Philips, to be a reminder to us of the kind of value and contribution that Tulsa Junior College has made to Tulsa, to all of northeastern Oklahoma, as a result of the excellent work, and the excellent leadership, and the magnificent vision that Dr. Philips has provided during the time of his leadership.

Before Tulsa Junior College was created, an important event in the life of Tulsa happened in 1964, and that was a court decision requiring the reapportionment of the Oklahoma Legislature in a way that would give to every citizen in Oklahoma one equal vote in the selection of legislators.

And that reapportionment of the Legislature and redistricting and implementation of one man, one vote, really began a process of urban centers like Tulsa emerging into the state of Oklahoma. And the creation of the Tulsa Junior College was the first real achievement of Tulsa gaining its fair share in the state of Oklahoma.

With the enactment of that legislation, the creation of the junior college would not have created what it became if we hadn’t had a leader to take that opportunity, and make into that opportunity, the whole series of successes that Tulsa Junior College has been.

And so to Dr. Philips, on behalf of all Tulsans, we say thank you for the kind of leadership you have given, for seizing a small opportunity and making it into what is today the third largest head count institution of higher education in Oklahoma, and an extraordinary, lasting benefit to the development of Tulsa. We thank you.

[Dr VanTrease] Thank you, Mayor. Our next person at the podium today, it’s my pleasure to introduce the chairman on the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the new owner of the Bank of Oklahoma, Mr. George Kaiser.
[George Kaiser] I’ve always known how persuasive Dr. VanTrease was, but I’m especially impressed this afternoon—or I guess it’s still this morning—shortly it will be afternoon, that he convinced all of us that remarks are not speeches. And, in fact, you notice he stuttered when he started introducing the next speaker. He didn’t call me a speaker, he called me the next “person.”

Looking at all of the eminent public officials on the platform and looking at the fact that this is supposed to be a thirty minute program, I will not make fair claim on my fair share of that time. I’ll try to limit my comments to 90 seconds or so.

Seriously, I’m very pleased to represent the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education at this dedication today. Tulsa Junior College has always been regarded as a jewel in the Oklahoma community college system, and I say that not just from my own personal pride as a Tulsan. This is not a parochial comment because this is a very wide-felt observation by a lot of people. And I think that the reason that Tulsa Junior College has been so successful is well exemplified by this facility today, at least in three regards.

First of all, Tulsa Junior College represents responsiveness to the needs of the community and to the industry which it serves. With my own experience for many years, in association for many years with Hillcrest Medical Center, I’m very much aware of the upcoming and current demand for healthcare workers. And obviously this facility will help us meet this demand.

Secondly, Tulsa Junior College has always represented, and this facility represents, enormous community support, it has engendered enormous community support in Tulsa. Tulsans don’t always look to state government to fulfill all of its needs or perhaps another way to put it is if Tulsa wants something it’s going to have to do it for itself. So I think this facility does well exemplify that historic pattern from Tulsa Junior College.

And third, obviously today we are honoring, leadership, the leadership of Al Philips, the vision that he had and the continuity, because after all, Al Philips 20 years ago, or 21 years ago now had the vision for Tulsa Junior College and he brought with him a management team that survives today.

I think the last presentation we received from Tulsa Junior College pointed out that all the key people were virtually here on the day that the institution opened. Obviously Dean VanTrease is the premier example of that. So I think this building is appropriately named after Al Philips. He had the original vision for TJC, he assembled the team, as I said, which has provided leadership for the institution for twenty years, and that leadership is clearly continuing under Dr. VanTrease. So my wish for today is may this leadership and may this vision never fade. Thank you.

[Dr. VanTrease] The next gentleman I would like to introduce is our exceptional chancellor for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education that is leading Oklahoma into a new vision for higher education, Dr. Hans Brisch.

[Dr. Brisch] Thank you very much. Since I’m exceptional, I’m entitled to give the speech today, and that I will do. First of all—90 minutes, you said?—well, you’re going to get it.

First of all, I extend warmest greetings to all of you from Dr. Dale Parnell, President of the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges. He wanted to be here, but he wanted to make sure that all of you know of his admiration for the talents of Al Philips, and what he and Al Philips have done together. Maybe you can tell us his stories Aaron, but today, he wants to be remembered, and to wish you well.

Well, Thoreau, the dreamer, once wrote that “dreams are the touchstone of our character.” If dreams are the measure of a person, then I’m sure we’d all be quick to agree that Al Philips is a person of stature, a person of very potent dreams. But Al Philips dream is more than a touchstone of his character. It has become a benchmark. Indeed, a benchmark for assessing the quality of community colleges across our entire nation.

I would like to elaborate for one moment on the concept of touchstones. As you recall, touchstones were used when we still had silver and gold, to determine the quality of that metal. In other words the metal was rubbed against the stone, or the stone against the metal, and the resulting streak reflected the quality of that metal.

In much the same way, Al Philips’ dream, which we now know as TJC, has become the touchstone, the standard if you will, for testing quality, and congratulations to you Al for that particular accomplishment.

Yet, as you know, many men dream, some big, some small, and not all are able to accomplish what they set out to do. But Al Philips not only has had the opportunity, but he has taken the opportunity and worked diligently to translate dreams into reality. Yes, he marched forward with it, the dream that started in 1969 with a little more than a few words, which were pronounced through legislation, which led to the creation, under E.T. Dunlap, of TJC here in Tulsa.

I think one characteristic of this truly great leader is to inspire others. That vision that is needed, through teamwork to accomplish what we see here. It has come to fruition, the translation of a dream into reality, and that is indeed one of the most important characteristics that somebody can share with the rest of a team.

I cannot think of a more appropriate facility to bear the name of Alfred M. Philips than this magnificent center. For truly, Al Philips’ dream has, during the past 20 years, brought a new standard of wholeness to the Tulsa community by providing post-secondary education, public education, in Tulsa. For he has raised up a community college here in the purest sense.

And this reveals another characteristic of a true leader, the desire to communicate. Al Philips realized early on that a junior college that has neglected the community it serves has in effect forsaken the soul of what it is all about. By communicating, by asking Tulsa consistently, and earnestly, what do you need from us? How can we better serve you?

That is what Al Philips has done and has built on what he has heard. And today TJC can boast that fifty percent of Tulsa County households have had one or more family members associated with this great institution. And Tulsa indeed can be proud of that.

I’m reminded when we talk about Al Philips and his leadership of a quote by Elton Trueblood, the Quaker theologian. When Elton Trueblood said, “A man is beginning to understand something of the meaning of life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.”

I think we owe an enormous debt, and our gratitude to Al Philips for his inspired dream, for his hard work, and for planting shade trees so many, many generations can benefit from his dreams. And I also want to take the occasion to thank Jane for giving him the courage, the sustenance, so he could go and roll up his sleeves on a daily basis.

Al, congratulations to you.

[Dr. VanTrease] Thank you, Chancellor. And now to officially dedicate the Alfred M. Philips Center, the chairman of the Tulsa Junior College Board of Regents, Mrs. Dorothy Zumwalt.

[Mrs. Zumwalt] As chairman, I get to say a few more words than 90 seconds worth. It is indeed an honor and a distinct privilege to be making the official dedication remarks for the Alfred M. Philips Center at Tulsa Junior Collge.

The Philips Center will be here for many decades to come, and will serve as a teaching and learning facility for future generations of students, who in turn will serve future generations of Tulsans, and people in the Tulsa Metropolitan Area. In the 21st Century, the Philips Center will continue to pay tribute to Dr. Alfred M. Philips as TJC’s first president, a lasting tribute, justly deserved.

Today, we honor Dr. Philips for contributions far beyond being the first president of this institution. Some of his many contributions have already been mentioned. Dr. Philips is one of a handful of educators nationwide, who during the late 50s and early 60s nurtured the concept of a new kind of educational institution called the comprehensive community college.
These visionaries were saying new things about post-secondary education options. They were saying, “Let’s put educational services where the people are, in urban centers.” They suggested innovative programs that offered courses and programs that fit the needs of the students and the community.

The community college would be down to earth higher education, offering class schedules that fit the needs of the students instead of the institution. Whether it be seven in the morning, ten at night, or 2am on cable television. The community college would be a highly flexible, not rigid, institution. The college would be just as willing to drop a program as it would be eager to start a new program. Above all, the community college would be, in the words of Dr. VanTrease, “user friendly.”

Tulsa Junior College has become all of those things as a result of the nationally recognized leadership of Al Philips. In short, he got the job done, and literally thousands upon thousands of students at TJC, past, current, and future, will be greatful. And just to illustrate how many students we are talking about. I’d like to point out that if a TJC logo were placed in the window of every home in the Tulsa area which has had a member of the family attending TJC, every other home would be displaying that TJC logo.

I have a special declaration, that it is a real pleasure for me to read at this time. Dr. Philips would you come up here?

“Whereas Dr. Alfred M. Philips was the founding president of Tulsa Junior College, and whereas Dr. Philips played a major role in the shaping of the health sciences programs that have been acclaimed for their excellence by both state and national health field experts, and whereas, following the announcement of his retirement in April 1989, the Board of Regents for Tulsa Junior College approved plans to name the health sciences center in honor of Dr. Philips, and whereas Dr. Philips’ vision and academic philosophies have affected people throughout the state of Oklahoma for the past twenty years, and through the Alfred M. Philips Health Center will continue to do so for many years in the future, and whereas it is a fitting tribute for the man who led Tulsa Junior College to its current standard of excellence during his twenty years as president, now therefore, I, Henry Bellman, Governor of the State of Oklahoma, do hereby declare November 1st, 1990, as Alfred M. Philips Day in the state of Oklahoma.”

[Dr. Philips] Thank you.

[Mrs. Zumwalt] Now, it is my honor to make the official dedication. On behalf of the Tulsa Junior—Hey!

[Dr. Philips] I thought that you were starting your speech.

[Mrs. Zumwalt] You stay put.

[Dr. Philips] All right.

[Mrs. Zumwalt] On behalf of the Tulsa Junior College Board of Regents, I proclaim this new facility to be the Alfred M. Philips Center. This plaque—you want to come over here?

[Dr. Philips] Sure.

[Mrs. Zumwalt] This plaque will be permanently placed in the lobby of the center as a lasting reminder of the outstanding leadership that you, Dr. Philips, have contributed to this institution during its first 20 years.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the man of the hour, Dr. Philips.

[Dr. Philips] Well, I tell you what, that’s pretty special, in a lot of ways. I was asked, I think it was this morning, by a very dear member of our family that I would like to introduce very shortly, if I had a speech written.

And, Dean, I might say, I’m a little taken aback, I think the Chancellor was too… Anyhow these things are much appreciated. I would like to present to you, if she wouldn’t mind to stand up, Irma Gastman. And Irma is Aaron’s grandma, Glen’s mother-in-law, and Laurie’s mother, and she is with us today.

Now, Dean, I don’t have a hidden agenda of introductions, let me say this. You can’t help but think back and reminisce a little bit in history. I looked out here, I’ve met one of them and I see another one, two of our original regents are sitting out here, and there may be more. But I see Jeannie Wells. Jeannie please stand up. And I see Wayman Humphrey.

Are there any others? Oh, there’s Bill Bovard. There we go. And then I would like to introduce two special ladies who stood back of their regents when they were on the Board, when they were alive, Elizabeth Chapelle, and Lorena Sublin. Would they stand?

You have to remember something. These people, when this started, you know, folks, as has kind of been alluded, this was considered, community-wise, as little shaky. And these people were betting their reputations, along with E.T. Dunlap, the Chancellor. I used to think that E.T. kind of liked to keep me at arm’s length for a little while until he saw whether we caught on or not. And I’m sure he’d appreciate that because he has a good sense of humor.

But, there were some very interesting times. I appreciate Dean so much. Your comment “I wouldn’t be here today…” The building really wouldn’t, you know it might be here but it certainly wouldn’t have my name on it if it wasn’t for a very special lady that has put up with me for over 43 years, and she’s probably going to sit there and weep for a little while now, but I would like her to stand up.
This is Janie. Much of my success I can certainly attribute to her, and also to the boys, whom you met, who put up with Dad when he came home. I have often—people have said “Dr. Philips, you always seem to have a smile. You always seem to be up. Are you ever anything different?” And I had to think to myself that those close to me who saw me at home at times realize that I’m very human. I say things like “oh, fudge,” and I don’t know whether I ever kicked the dog or not, but there were times I felt like it.

So, everybody’s human, but this is something special. Tomorrow’s going to be a horrible let down. I’m really not quite sure what I’m going to do tomorrow. I also have found this, ladies and gentlemen. If and when you retire—hopefully you do when you still feel good—you don’t get asked to make as many speeches as you did once before.

Most presidents have written speeches they have longed to give but they’ve never had an opportunity. I have one today that I just thought I would bring on the chance that you might enjoy it. It’s one of my more recent ones that I took off the shelf—just a minute.

Janie said, “What are you putting that in your pocket for?” this morning. I didn’t tell her. That was a surprise. But, no, I’m not going to burden you with that. You know, presidents and presidents emeritus are very perceptive of human feelings.

I can sense certain things happening out here. My family going, “He wouldn’t do it,” my friends, who have heard me before echoing about the same sentiment, those of you who have come to see the building, something less than thrilled, and those who have come to see the building and have a longstanding habit of eating lunch during the noon hour, even less thrilled at that prospect. So please don’t worry about it.

I could go over so many things historically. I’m certainly not going to take the time to do a lot of that, but if you ever want to get together and you need someone to talk about history, just give me a little call.

Seeing Mr. Cole, Clyde Cole sitting on the platform. Clyde was here when I came, and boy you have to be around a little while, and he looks younger than I do. By the way, I appreciate my high school graduation picture being in here and on the… that’s awfully nice.

Most people aren’t aware of this, but the thing that kicked this thing off, as I recall, was a study that was initiated by the Chamber of Commerce with the wholehearted support of Oral Roberts University and the University of Tulsa, along with the Chamber and business leaders here in town, and that got it going, the state regents, chancellor, moved along into line, and Dean has gone into a little bit of that history.

We came into flower as the first college in the state realm in 51 years to be formed from scratch. Literally. And I often think of what stood on this land. You know, we leased this building over here, which was at that time called the Sinclair building, but right in this spot was the home of the Oklahoma School of Accountancy, and there are a great many people in Tulsa who have received some very fine educational experiences there.

I remember going, at a very early time to meet H. Everett Pope, who was the president, or the owner, or whatever Everett called himself, and sitting back in his office and talking to him, a very, very fine gentleman.

That building subsequently became the first home for the osteopathic school of medicine, and there was some interesting history that goes back of that. I remember the day the osteopaths moved to their new facility, and I didn’t know this, but you can’t move—if you’ve got a medical school you’ve got a few folks around that don’t do a lot of moving. They’re kind of there for scientific purposes.

I see some of you aren’t getting that exactly. There are a few folks that could be called cadavers. And you don’t move cadavers in this state—maybe other states—without having a hearse there. I remember the afternoon several of them showed up out here. I think they thought it was the early demise of the president, the executive vice president, and maybe a few others. But that’s one of the kind of interesting things that came along.

And then if some of you go way back you remember the Slemp Apartments that stood on the corner. They came down at a fairly early stage. We were never quite sure what went on over there. Those are some of the things that age presidents a little bit and age deans. I’m sure Tony Cagle is around and thinking about that too.

There are a lot of things I could talk about, but I’m not going to regale you with those because that isn’t really why you’re here today, to be regaled. You honor Jane and myself by your presence. We are very touched. We appreciate it. You honor our family. Our family honors us by being here.

Did you realize we took up a whole row down here? And that’s kind of unusual for all the Philipses literally—or most of them anyway—to get together. I’m so indebted to so many, many people, it would be difficult for me to mention them, and certainly I’ve mentioned a few by name. The regents, the state regents, the chancellors, on up the line to Chancellor Brisch. By the way, Hans, I hope that all of the things you mentioned in terms of the future, and Mr. Trueblood’s quote, and so on, that you remember that those things that grow take something green to make it happen.

I’m sure Mr. Kaiser took note of that too. Didn’t you, George? Anyhow, I appreciate it. I appreciate the support from our people in Washington, even though they enjoyed coming back. It’s a pleasure, Congressman, and Senator. And Louis Harris. You know, we would never have had a parking lot out on Northeast if it hadn’t been for Louis Harris and the County Commissioners.

He found an obscure law that allowed us to cooperate, strange as it sounds, and we cooperated. And we paid out a little money, and he put out a lot of work, and as a result we quit waiting around in the mud. And that process is still going on as I understand at the Southeast Campus.

The Vo-Tech Board played a tremendous role, and the history of going in and being a part of that district is something very special. I know Jean Anne Rogers is here somewhere in the group. She was chairman. It seemed like Jean was chairman off and on forever. And I was sure sorry—I bet Dean is—when Jean Anne retired recently.

But anyway, Layman Jones is a very able member of the board, and Layman, this wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for your board, which has already been mentioned, because it gives us the local possibility to go out to the people and say “do you want something like this or don’t you?”. And folks have been very gracious in supporting TJC over the years and the TJC foundation and Mr. Waller on the end. You know when you get to be president emeritus and so on, the foundation that you helped begin, I’m now a member of it. They even asked me to come and I really appreciate that. So I’m getting another look at the college from a little bit different perspective.

And Mr. Waller is chairman of the trustees of the Tulsa Junior College foundation. A special group that makes possible things happen that could not happen legally, legitimately in terms of use of funds for this thing today. Much of what what’s gone on today ladies and gentlemen you can’t pay for with state money and woe to you if you do. But foundations can help out. Mike we’re very, very appreciative of all of that. Well this sounds like I’m playing president again, Dean, and I’m really not. You know it’s awful hard to stop. But I am going to stop and say thank you so much for coming today. Thank you Regents who have honored the Phillips and remember this name on here while it’s my name it represents so many, many people. The administration, the board, the faculty, the staff that literally represents everybody who has and is working for TJC. I told somebody if we could put everybody’s name on there that really ought to be on there, the front of this place would look like a newspaper. And that literally is true. But you honor us, thank you. This is a very, very special day.

[Dr. VanTrease] Thank you Al for your remarks. You know that wasn’t a speech. Following our adjournment this great new facility will be open for tours. And these tours will be available up to 7:00 tonight so if you have friends that you’d like to come back later to see it we’d love to have them. And there are two people here from our staff that I’d like to mention if you have questions that work very diligently on it and like for them to stand. Bill Putnam and Will Dyer and I’d like to have Jim Garrett who was the project contractor and Frank Chitwood, is Frank? Frank had to scoot. But if you have questions these are key people that really put this together and did a wonderful job. Again thank you for being with us on this very special occasion, and we’re adjourned. [applause] [susurrus]