Speaking up for the sake of SEMO

Cape Girardeau lawyer Don Dickerson doesn't have an office or receive a salary at Southeast Missouri State University. But in many ways, he's been the public face of the institution for nearly a dozen years now as an outspoken member of the board of regents.

Dickerson, who served as board president for more than eight years, resigned as board president earlier this month. His current term on the board expires at the end of the month, and Dickerson doesn't know whether the incoming governor, Matt Blunt, would reappoint him to a third six-year term.

He will continue to serve as a regent until he is reappointed or someone else is appointed to fill the slot on the board.

Dickerson, 73, wants to stay on the board for the completion the River Campus arts school project, which he championed for the past six years, and the start of a technology park on the grounds of the university farm.

Dickerson in many ways has been the architect of both projects.

He has served as a regent since March 1993, making him the longest-serving member on the current board. He became board president in 1996.

Over more than a decade on the board, he has served under four presidents of the school. He was a key player in the hiring of three of those presidents, including current university president Dr. Ken Dobbins and past presidents Dr. Dale Nitzschke and Dr. Bill Atchley. The fourth president he worked with was Dr. Kala Stroup, who later served as the state's commissioner of higher education.

Beyond hiring school presidents, the regents set policies and help guide the school in matters such as budgets and campus building projects.

Since 1993, Dickerson, as a board member, has helped approve every major construction project at Southeast including new buildings for the business college and the polytechnic school plus renovations of the University Center and campus residence halls.

As board president, he helped steer the university through a budget crisis in recent years and this year the adoption of a new nickname and mascot for the school.

"That issue probably got more publicity than any issue we ever had," Dickerson said.

Dickerson said he and other regents weren't sold at first on the idea of dropping the traditional Indian nickname. But he said he and the board ultimately concluded that changing the name to Redhawks was a good idea, both from a marketing standpoint and to avoid offending American Indians.

"It really is about simple human dignity," Dickerson said. "If it offends some people, why do it?"

While the business of being a regent has kept him busy, he also has managed to squeeze in time to practice law. He still works as a trial lawyer in civil cases, and he represented the city of Jackson in dealings with the Missouri Department of Transportation. But he said the duties of board president at Southeast took up much of his time.

Talks with Dobbins are regular events.

"I would venture to say I talk to the president, on average, half a dozen times a week. I meet with him at least once or twice a week," Dickerson said. "It can really take a lot of time."

No rubber stamps

Some in the public may think of the regents as nothing more than a rubber stamp for whoever is university president. But Dickerson said that's far from the truth.

"A lot of issues originated with the board," he said. The regents privately often make suggestions to the university president long before matters are brought up at public board meetings, he said.

As board president, Dickerson has been involved in everything from lobbying state lawmakers for campus funding to making speeches at campus events.

Dickerson doesn't miss many commencements. He figures he has stood on the podium at about 30 commencements since being appointed to the board by the late governor Mel Carnahan, who was a close friend of Dickerson's.

Southeast used to have three commencements a year. Now it holds two annually.

"I know the drill," said Dickerson, who was on stage at the Show Me Center Saturday for commencement as the fall semester came to an end.

Dickerson said his friendship with Carnahan helped secure state funding for a number of building projects on the Southeast campus. "The economy was booming and you had a guy who believed in higher education," Dickerson said, commenting on Carnahan's support for Southeast construction projects.

Dobbins has nothing but praise for Dickerson, who graduated from Southeast in 1954. "He has represented the university quite well," the school president said.

Dobbins said Dickerson was the first to see the potential of turning a former Catholic seminary overlooking the Mississippi River into the River Campus school for the visual and performing arts.

Dickerson said he coined the phrase "River Campus" when he sold then-president Nitzschke on the project.

Dickerson, along with other board members, also promoted development of area higher education centers in Southeast Missouri to make it more convenient for Bootheel residents to go to college. "I think it was one of the really good things we did," he said.

In 1994, the regents held meetings in the region to hear what the public wanted in services from the university. The development of higher education centers and the school of polytechnic studies came as a result, Dickerson said.

As a regent, Dickerson encouraged his fellow regents to speak up at board meetings. An avid debater in high school and college, Dickerson always had plenty to say.

Dobbins welcomed such discussion, insisting that university policies and projects are better because the school has an active board.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123