By JIM FAILE

Coker College’s 16th president called for redefining what it means to say that a Coker graduate is ready for the world.

Dr. Robert L. Wyatt was hailed as a visionary leader who will take Coker College to new heights in the coming years as he outlined his vision for “Redefining Readiness” in his investiture address shortly after taking the oath of office during his inauguration ceremony Friday morning.

“At the end of the day, we want our students to be ready,” Wyatt said.

“The world of higher education changes, and it challenges us to move with it,” Wyatt said. “We must rely on the spirit of Coker’s legacy to redefine our own community. At the same time, I challenge you to consider how Coker College might redefine what higher education means.”

He said the Coker community has spent much of this year thinking about the “College of 2020” and how its students will be different.

“It is time we begin to see elementary, secondary and collegiate education as a whole and not just a series of rough transitions,” he said.

“Looking forward, Coker will greet students of a new century, and we must redefine what it means to prepare this generation,” Wyatt said.

He said Coker has already evaluated and updates many of its process, but said much work remains.

To that end, Wyatt said, Coker is looking into offering graduate courses, broadening its offerings of undergraduate courses and offering more opportunities for students to study abroad and to become involved in public service projects in the local community.

“Redefining Readiness” is the name given to Coker College’s new strategic planning effort.

Wyatt said it is critical for academia to set standards and define for itself what readiness means rather that allow government to make that determination.

He also called for redefining what it means to say that Coker students lead by example in the face of scandals constantly in the news. “While some may argue that ethics cannot be taught, it is clear that something can and must be done to prepare our students to be ready to meet the challenge of ethical leadership,” Wyatt said.

And he challenged the faculty to keep students as Coker’s central focus.

“Help us create students who make a life changing difference,” Wyatt said.

Coker must also play a more assertive role in influencing the health of its students and the community. He said South Carolina has some of the highest rates of obesity and diabetes in the nation and said Coker College has a responsibility to address such issues. “Coker must face this issue straight on,” he said.

Wyatt thanked family, including his parents, wife and daughter, and friends for their support throughout his life and career.

As part of the ceremony, Wyatt’s 10-year-old daughter Lara sang “My Favorite Things” from “The Sound of Music.”

Wyatt took over as president of the college in July of 2009, succeeding Dr. B. James Dawson who retired.

Wyatt said that as he has traveled the Pee Dee and South Carolina since then meeting Coker alumni and supporters he has found the institution is held in high esteem.

“We are so proud that we chose him and that he chose us,” said Dr. Patricia G. Lincoln, provost and dean of the faculty at Coker.

State Sen. Gerald Malloy called it a day to celebrate and honor the contributions of Coker College to Hartsville, the Pee Dee and South Carolina. “Coker is a major contributor to the quality of life in our community and our state,” he said.

The college not only contributes to the cultural life of the community but to its economy as well as one of the area’s largest employers and by providing a well-educated work force for the region.

Malloy said the college is critical to providing a well-educated work force for the area.
Hartsville Mayor Mel Pennington said Wyatt will carry on the vision established 102 years ago by Coker’s founder, Maj. James Lide Coker.

“He comes with new ideas that are both refreshing and ambitious,” Pennington said. “As Coker grows, Hartsville grows with it.”

Karen S. Lear, who chairs the college’s Board of Trustees, said that during the search process to find a new president, Wyatt stood out among the field of candidates. She said that after observing him on the job during the last nine months she is more convinced than ever that the board made the right choice.

Rebecca L. Sullivan, president of the Coker College Student Government Association, compared Wyatt as the 16th president of Coker to the nation’s 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. “President Lincoln brought change for the better to the U.S., and Dr. Wyatt is the perfect leader to do the same for Coker,” she said.

Coker College Faculty Senate Chairman Dr. William L. Carswell said the faculty is eager to follow Wyatt’s lead in pursuing and redefining excellence at Coker. “I simply sense that we are on the verge of an exciting decade,” he said.

Lynn Rawls, who chairs the college’s Staff Advisory Council established by Wyatt, welcomed his decision to create the council as one of his first accomplishments as president and said the college’s staff is grateful for the move.

Coker College Alumni Association President Dean S. Legge said alumni are excited about the future of Coker under Wyatt’s leadership.

“It is a remarkable thing that Coker College has attracted Robert Wyatt,” said Dr. J. Timothy Cloyd, president of Hendrix College where Wyatt served for a year as an American Council of Education fellow. “He is one of the emerging leaders in higher education in the U.S.”

“He believes in God. He believes in his family, and he supports his family in all the right ways,” said longtime friend and colleague Dr. Jack C. Shewmaker of the Drury University Board of Trustees, who introduced Wyatt. “He believes in hope, faith, charity and honesty. . . . He believes in Coker or he wouldn’t be here.”