On Tuesday, I had lunch with Marvin Ellison, Executive Vice President of The Home Depot, who was on campus to speak at the Fogelman College. 

 Marvin is a graduate of The University of Memphis and a native of Brownsville, Tennessee.  Marvin told me that during his freshman year at the University, he was asked to compose a paper in an English class, an assignment that he found to be quite difficult.  That was apparent to his professor who asked to see Marvin after class.  His professor suggested that Marvin was not quite prepared to perform at the freshman college English level, so he told Marvin, “You are going to have to work hard to catch up.  Come see me during my office hours.  I will coach you and give you additional work which will help you have a better chance to succeed.  It will take hard work.  Do you want this opportunity?”

 Marvin took the opportunity, graduated with distinction from the University of Memphis, obtained an MBA from Emory University, and today is an extraordinary business leader, philanthropist, and grateful alumnus.  

 Recently, I was asked by a member of our faculty, “What are you going to do to deal with the fact that students we are asked to teach are often not prepared to learn at this level?”  Provost Rudd answered eloquently on our behalf, “We’re going to teach them.”

 That’s our job.  Thank you for “teaching them.”

 R. Brad Martin