Valued educator speaks to Jacob’s Ladder, by Russell Carter, Star-Tribune Staff Writer
Participants in the Jacob’s Ladder Summer Enrichment Program got the chance to listen to James Madison University President Emeritus Dr. Ronald Carrier, 76, during a lecture on Thursday at Chatham Hall.
The students, also called “climbers,” were staying on the school’s campus as a part of a month-long camp. Throughout the course of the day, the 48 “climbers,” ranging in age from 10-14, attend chapel, classes, devotionals, field time, and extracurricular activities such as dance, yoga and art. On the weekends, counselors take the youth on trips to museums, lakes or other location and on Sunday’s to an area church. Carrier was there as a special treat to the students. He stressed the importance of education, and spelled out how to become successful.
“The likelihood of my being president of a college when I was your age was zero,” he told the students.
Carrier recalled a time when his hometown named a street after him in Bluff City, TN.
“I asked several of my classmates, in 1950 if they had lined up 100 people on Main Street, and you had to pick out the one that was going to get a Ph.D. and become a university president where would I be?” he said. “They said ‘you’d still be standing.’” Carrier was president of the school from 1971-1998. During his tenure, he graduated over 65,000 students.
When he first began his career, JMU was Madison College and he was the fourth president of the institution.
He has been accredited with growing the school into what it is today, tripling the student population.
Before he became a valued educator, Carrier struggled as a student – but found his niche in a program like Jacob’s Ladder.
“I wasn’t a very good student in high school,” he said. “I just didn’t study.
“When my mother found out I wasn’t going to graduate high school, she sent me to a summer program.”
Carrier said there he became focused, which was the emphasis of his speech.
“You have to have a vision for your life,” he told the students. “Begin to form some vision for what you want your life to look like.
“Have something beyond yourself, and then have the passion, the love and the enthusiasm to follow through.”
Carrier added that being focused, along with making a list to help remember what you are supposed to be doing and being prepared for your best performance when you are called on are the keys to being successful.
He noted, however, success is not just physical achievements or gain.
“Greatness doesn’t have to be you become the president of the United States or a senator or businessman, it could just be the touch of your hand or the warmth of your hand,” he said.
“It’s measured on whether or not you made someone’s life better.”
Above all things however, Carrier said success begins within the individual. “Success is really a state of mind that begins with you feeling like you’re a success; feeling good about yourself,” he said.
He encouraged those that were listening to figure out a way to find that kind of happiness.
“Love life, but one of the most important things you can do is love yourself, not selfishly but selflessly,” he added. “You can’t give away something if you don’t love it.”
Jacob’s Ladder is a five-year, year-round program for gifted children that would normally not have the funds to attend. Children begin in the program after the fourth or fifth grade and remain in the program until the ninth grade at no cost to them or their families. During the course of the program, the summer enrichment program is held on the campus of an independent boarding school. The first group of “climbers” began in 1992. Jacob’s Ladder is a non-profit organization and is privately funded by individuals, corporations and foundations.
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