10/1: Andrew Hsu. College of Charleston

October 1, 2019:

College of Charleston President Andrew Hsu spoke to our club at our at our October 1 meeting, giving us his thoughts on the future of the College under his direction and the role it plays in the Charleston community


President Hsu became the 23rd President of CofC in May 2019. He came to CofC from the University of Toledo where he was Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. Prior to that, he served as the dean of engineering at San Jose State University and as the associate vice president for research and the dean of the Graduate School at Wright State University. He has numerous teaching awards, has published ninety eight refereed journal and conference articles and is a fellow of the American Council on Education (ACE) and is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). In his spare time he enjoys tennis and spending time with his wife and 4 daughters. 

President Hsu started his talk with three questions he wanted to answer. First, why College of Charleston, second, where is the university going and third, why partnerships are important. He has moved around a lot as an academic administrator but the College of Charleston is unique. It has a long history of academic excellence and next year will mark its 250th anniversary. It is the 13th oldest university in the U.S. and next year he wants to take the opportunity to show the world what a great institution CofC is. Celebrations include lighting the Empire State Building and announcing the College of Charleston’s 250th anniversary on the New York Stock Exchange. More than that, it is the most supportive community in such a great city along with the very unique programs the university offers. It has among the best programs in Marine Biology, Hospitality and Commercial Real Estate Finance.

The College of Charleston is already great but President Hsu wants it to be better because Charleston has become such a worldwide destination.  They will be developing a new strategic plan (the last one was 10 years ago) spending 10 months getting input from faculty, staff, alumni and other stakeholders. He quipped that being a college president is like being the groundskeeper of a cemetery, you mow the lawn while whistling a tune, with a lot of people beneath you who are not listening.

Sometimes a great city creates a great university and sometimes a university creates a great city. Charleston has already arrived as a destination for high tech industry, manufacturing and travel. Charleston needs a great university. Partnering will be important for CofC to achieve that goal. The university has been instrumental in the revitalizing of Charleston as it has grown from 360 students in the 1960s to over 11000 today. In the early years students were warned to not venture north of Calhoun Street but growth of the University in the 1970s help promote revitalization throughout the city. The College of Charleston will be increasing its academic research and innovative STEM programs but partnerships will be needed to help the University do a better job. Partnership is crucial to making the College of Charleston a great university in an already great city.

Submitted by Don Baus, Keyway Committee Chair

 IN OTHER MEETING NEWS

      • Past President Digit Matheny gave the Invocation & led the pledge.  
      • Zac Jones introduced visiting Rotarians & guests.  
      • President Sandy Morckel presented Health and Happiness. 
      • Peter Shahid introduced our keynote speaker, Andrew Hsu, President of the College of Charleston. 

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MORE IN THIS WEEK’S KEYWAY

October 8, 2019 | Issue 4942 | President: Sandy Morckel

COMING EVENTS
    • Oct. 8 – Mary Whyte, Portrait of American Veterans (Meeting at High Cotton)
    • Oct. 15 – No Meeting
    • Oct. 17 – Fall Social – East Bay Biergarten
    • Oct. 22 – Chris Singleton
    • Oct. 29 – Mayoral Forum
NEWS BRIEFS

Rotary Club of Charleston History Moment

At each meeting, President Sandy plans to share some of the snippets of our club’s amazing 100 year history and our impact on Charleston and around the world. It will be a fun trip down memory lane and will also be shared in the Keyway.

The 40s (1946-1947)

The Charleston Rotary Club was celebrating the end of the war and members were surveyed as to what changes they thought were coming. Noted among their answers were: end of gas rationing, tires for cars would be available, and auto dealers would be erection new buildings. Never did they envision in 1945, those monstrous auto dealer buildings on Savannah Highway which was then Ravenel farmland. In 1945 the Club was “dead broke” and had to sell its only asset, a Water Works bond. However the Club did manage to help form the North Charleston Rotary Club. A luncheon was held to honor Secretary of State James F. Byrnes. Lady Astor was guest speaker at a Rotary Ladies’ Day Luncheon.

 

Meeting at High Cotton this Tuesday

Please make note that this Tuesday, Oct. 8, we will be meeting at High Cotton (199 East Bay Street).  Members should park as they normally park for our weekly luncheons, walk up the alley past Hall’s Signature Events and across East Bay Street to High Cotton.

 

50/50 Raffle 

We had a winner!  Congratulations to John Bleecker who pulled the winning  ball for the SECOND time in two weeks!  The raffle will start over this Tuesday with a 1 in 10 chance to win, so bring your cash on Tuesday, Oct. 8 and let’s grow the pot. You do need to be present to win. Tickets are available at meetings – 1 for $5 or 3 for $10.  

 

Fall Social at East Bay Biergarten

Members are invited to join us for our Fall Social at the East Bay Biergarten (549 East Bay Street) on Thursday, Oct. 17 from 5:30-7:30pm.  We are not meeting for lunch that week so this is a great opportunity to enjoy fellowship and networking with fellow members. Members are encouraged to bring guests and/or prospective members.  Light appetizers will be provided. Cash bar will be available for beverages.

Club supporting Global Grant

Our club, through your generous donations made to the RCCF, is partnering with the Daniel Island Rotary and other clubs in our District to support a Rotary International Global Grant for a sanitation project in Loma Negra Peru. The total Grant will be in excess of $104,000 and our club was able to contribute $10,000. Water Mission will implement the project on our behalf. The project is anticipated to start this month and be completed in 6 months. 200 sanitary latrines will be constructed. Look for updates throughout the construction phase.  

Program Committee Meeting

The Program Committee will meet this Tuesday, Oct. 8th immediately following our Rotary meeting.  All are invited to discuss speakers for the second half of this Rotary year.

Outbound Youth Exchange Students Needed for 2020-2021

Our District’s Youth Exchange Program needs your support. The District would like to be able to send between 15 and 19 Outbound students a year on Exchange and receive the same number of Inbounds coming into our District. To do that, the District needs clubs, members and local schools to get involved that have not previously been involved.  Children of Rotarians are eligible for this wonderful opportunity. 

Preliminary Outbound applications are now being accepted for the 2020-21 year. Everyone’s help is needed to keep this program strong and change the lives of young people. Please contact Karl Riner, Karen Clark or Richard Sidebottom of our International Committee, if you have any questions or know of someone interested in participating. 

Corporate/Family Membership

District Membership Committee Member and Past President Digit explains the new membership options for friends, family and work colleagues

As we strive to expand our membership, the Board has discussed and approved a new membership category.  We are now able to offer Corporate/Family Memberships for members of the same business, organization or family.  The primary member will pay full club dues of $550 every 6 months. Associate members can also join at a fee of $225 every 6 months including a one-time $100 initiation fee. Associate members will be responsible for paying the $25 meal fee for lunches attended unless the primary member is not in attendance then there is no charge for their meal. Associate members will have all of the benefits of being a Rotarian as the primary member.  If you have a co-worker or immediate family member who would like to be a part of Rotary and join as an Associate member, please contact one of our membership chairs – Digit Matheny [email protected] or Heidi Finniff [email protected] to see how they can join.

Sign up for Rotary Leadership Institute

If you have been to a Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) event recently, please consider coming to an event this year. The next RLI session is in Myrtle Beach (Conway), SC on Saturday, October 19.

RLI is a series of fast-paced, interactive, one-day courses offered to refine a Rotarian’s leadership skills and increase their base of knowledge in Rotary. Courses are fun, topical, interactive, and geared toward busy business and professional persons who want to be more effective leaders in their vocation and club. Participants will not learn everything about all of Rotary’s programs, but they will gain a greater appreciation for the avenues of service and programs of Rotary International.

The RLI session on October 19th will be at the Horry Georgetown Technical College, Building 300, Room 110, 2050 Highway 501 East, Conway, SC 29526. You can register on the district database calendar. Or, you can visit www.rli33.org for the latest RLI Schedule and Brochure as well as registration for this and other RLI events.

Host Tobias, our International Exchange Student

Do you have an extra room in your home?

We are still searching for a third host family for our incoming Rotary Youth Exchange student Tobias, who will be with our club for the 2019-2020 school year. He will be attending school downtown at the Charleston Charter for Math & Science and we are looking for a good family to house him from mid-March through June.

If you are able to help or if you have non-Rotary friends that may be interested in housing an exchange student, please see the information sheet below and contact Richard Sidebottom ([email protected] ) or Karen Clark ([email protected]) for more information.Host family information sheet:

https://yehub.net/cgi-bin/sys-pdf.cgi?PGID=LIB&RID=79&DBID=SC1

Dues Are Now Past Due

Dues statements for the July 1-December 31 period were distributed via email on June 10 and are now past due.  Past due statements were emailed two weeks ago to those who haven’t made a payment. Please be sure to pay from this statement.  If you did not receive a statement or have questions, please contact Carroll.

Our Club is on Social Media

Members are encourage to follow all of our social media channels and share posts with their followers too!  We also need members to send us picture of anything they do that relates to Rotary – service projects, meetings, events, etc.  We would love to keep our accounts full of smiling Rotarians! Photos can be send to Mike Sottak, [email protected], or Rob Byko, [email protected].

Member News

Amy Riley had some exciting news for us this week …. She is engaged!  Congratulations and best wishes to the happy couple!  

Proposed New Members

The following membership candidates have submitted an application and signed letter of agreement to the Historic Rotary Club of Charleston:

Marc Howard – sponsor:  G.P. Diminich, classification:  Banking/Private

Silva Goxhaj – sponsor:  Robert Sullivan; classification:  Banking/Business Development

In the event you know Marc or Silva, please tell a member of the Board how he/she will serve the ideas of Rotary.

 MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Mike Sottak

      • JOINED: December 2017 (joined Rotary in 2003)
      • SPONSOR: Colleen Moring
      • MEMBERSHIP INVOLVEMENT: Co-Chair PR Committee
      • CLASSIFICATION: Marketing
      • PROFESSION: Owner, PR & digital marketing agency 
      • SOMETHING UNIQUE ABOUT YOURSELF: Once built and ran an Irish Pub in the Caribbean (Danny Buoy’s)

Birthdays

  • Oct. 9 – Cleave Ham

By the numbers

    • Attendance on September 17, 2019: 61
    • Not in attendance: Allen. Altman, Baggs, Barry, Beam, Brack, Carico, Ceccato, Clark, Coghill, Cohen. Cole, Cook, Cooper, E., Cooper, J., Cooper, M., Coxe, Deavenport, Drafts, Dukes, Echols, Eckert, Frume, Gill, Hanger, Holmes, Husser, Jones, C., Kaynard, Leonard, Lucy, Morse, Oswalt, Plotner, Prewitt, Riner, Rust, Seguer, Sidebottom, Smith, M., Smith, M., Smith, P., Strickland, Taylor, Tecklenburg, John, Tecklenburg, J., Teller
    • Out of Town Make-ups:  Rob Dewey – Mosel & Rhine Rivers
WELLNESS TIP

Have Fun With Fitness

Improve your fitness this fall: Try a less-conventional workout to spruce up your regimen. 

Break out of your fitness rut by taking a ballroom dance class or a mind-body workout such as yoga, Pilates, or Tai chi. You’ll be energized and more likely to stick with it.

AREA CLUB MEETINGS

Mondays

  • Summerville – Oakbrook: 7:30 a.m., Monday, Westcott County Club, 5000 Wescott Club Drive, North Charleston
  • North Charleston: 12:30 a.m., Monday, Hilton Garden Inn, 5265 International Blvd, North Charleston.
  • Summerville Evening: 5:30 p.m., Monday, Montreux Bar and Grill, 127 W. Richardson Ave., Summerville

Tuesdays

  • East Cooper Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Cooper River Room at Waterfront Park, Mount Pleasant
  • Charleston: 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Hall’s Signature Events, 5 Faber, Charleston
  • Goose Creek: 12:45  m. Tuesday, Gilligan’s, 219 St. James Ave., Goose Creek

Wednesdays

  • Daniel Island: 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Daniel Island Club, 600 Island Park Dr., Daniel Island
  • St. John’s Parish (John’s Island): 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, 2817 Maybank Highway, Unit 1, John’s Island
  • Mount Pleasant: 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, Harbor Breeze Restaurant, 176 Patriots Point Road, Mount Pleasant
  • Summerville: 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sticky Fingers, Summerville

Thursdays

  • North Charleston Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Embassy Suites, 5055 International Blvd., North Charleston
  • Moncks Corner: 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Gilligan’s Restaurant, Moncks Corner
  • St. Andrews (West Ashley): 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Bessinger’s BBQ, 1602 Savannah Highway, Charleston.

Fridays

SOCIAL MEDIA 

Our Rotary club actively uses social media — and we encourage you to interact with us through social media.

  • We’re on FacebookTake a look at our page and be sure to “like us”.
  • We’re on Twitter.  You can follow us @chasrotaryclub.
  • We’re on Instagram.  You can follow us @ChasRotaryClub.
ABOUT THE KEYWAY 

The Keyway has been published weekly as a newsletter for the Rotary Club of Charleston for more than 90 years.

  • President: Sandy Morckel
  • Keyway editor: Don Baus [email protected]
  • Executive secretary: Carroll Schweers, [email protected]
  • Mailing address: Rotary Club of Charleston, P.O. Box 21029 ,Charleston, SC 29413-1029
  • Copyright 2018, Rotary Club of Charleston. All rights reserved.