Here's what NIC pioneer might recommend
“I think everyone should set out in life to accomplish something worthwhile and plan to leave the world better off than when they entered it. I don’t mean better off financially, better off morally, and leave some mark of up-lift somewhere along their pathway, be it ever so slight.” — Walter S. Rosenberry, July 29, 1938
I am writing today because I, like so many in our community, am deeply upset by what has been going on at North Idaho College. But for me, it’s deeply personal. You see, the drive that encircles the campus, Rosenberry Drive, is named after my grandfather, Walter S. Rosenberry. It would not be a stretch to say he was one of the “Founding Fathers” of NIC.
In the midst of one of the most turbulent times in American history, the Great Depression, two men, Charles Winton and Walter Rosenberry, were co-managing the Winton Lumber Company here in Cd'A. Winton was from a very wealthy and prominent Midwest family with Ivy League educations.
My grandfather was from humble beginnings; a kid who grew up on a farm in Michigan, his father, a Civil War veteran, couldn’t afford to send him to college. But they shared a common goal: to make sure any child in this city they loved could have an opportunity for a college education. Mr. Winton graciously donated that land to the city after my grandfather’s persistence, and NIC came into being in the early 1930s.
It got me thinking. What makes a skilled leader in community and public service?
You hear the usual qualities over and over again: A leader must have vision, strategic and critical thinking skills, be a communicator, authenticity, open-minded, responsible, dependable, etc. etc. And those are all certainly important. I would add the quality of “selflessness” to that list of necessary skills.
Grandfather Rosenberry and my great-grandfather, Hiram Ferris of Illinois, modeled lives of service and inspired future generations, too. Hiram grew up in the countryside of Illinois. He was a sheriff in Siskyou County in northern California and in Illinois. He raised nine children with his wife, Julia. He went to law school, and became a country lawyer in Illinois in the same circuit court as Abraham Lincoln, just years later.
Grandma Ferris served for years on the board of the YWCA in Spokane, was president of the parent teacher group at Lewis and Clark High. My cousin, Sally, served in the diplomatic corps for the United States in some of the toughest and most challenging posts around the world.
My dad, Joel, a newly graduated Harvard student (on a full scholarship), signed up for the Army Air Corps the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed. Years later he was chairman of the board of KSPS public TV and the MAC Museum. His uncle, Joel 1st, served on so many college boards I’ve lost count.
What I learned from these examples, and the reason I mention them, is that you go into community and public service to be of service to others, to leave this world a better place than you found it. Further, you do so with dignity and grace, because you are setting a tone; you are a role model.
Mr. Banducci, if my Grandfather Rosenberry were alive today, he would respectfully ask you to resign for the survival of the college, and for the future of generations of young people he cared deeply about.
The time is here. It would be the most honorable decision you could possibly make.
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Sara Ferris is a Coeur d'Alene resident.
