Clemson University President, Jim Barker, at his final graduation ceremony as Clemson President, told this to all present,
We don’t know exactly what life will be like as we begin the next chapter. But we know what we must do. We must think differently to solve the world’s problems, as well as the everyday challenges that we’ll encounter along the way. And we must strive to be brief, be brilliant and be gone — and be gone on to new challenges and new opportunities.
From his very beginning as University President in 1999, Jim embodied ‘cool.’ I know the idea of being ‘cool’ is dated, even cliché, however, some people just have it. Cool is the way they are, how they handle themselves, what they say and what they do. Jim Barker was cool before he was president, during his tenure, and even now. The man is simply, cool. Sometimes cool is just cool. Here are a couple of examples.
Shortly after being inaugurated as President, Jim wanted to emphasize some of the lesser known Clemson sports, so Jim went water skiing pulled by the women’s crew team.
