 Big news out of Hampton University today the longstanding president and Dean of the historically black sector Dr. William R Harvey today with a big announcement his retirement after 40 plus years at the helm of the home by the sea Dr. Harvey graciously extends us time today to discuss this story and reflections on his tenure so we thank you brother president first let me ask you or let me let me ask you this question. A lot of people online when this broke they don't believe it they can't believe that somebody who's who's been in charge this long is leaving so before we do anything else can you affirm that in fact your your plan your plan is to retire. I plan to retire as president in June of 2022 not right now it's going to be a year and a half from now. But the fact is that I'm still going to be around you know my contact list is long and outside of my immediate family I love Hampton more than anything or anybody. So I'm going to be around and if the next president wants me to help them in fundraising and other kinds of things I will absolutely do that because you know I am pretty well known in governmental circles both Democrats and Republicans in the corporate world and the foundation world and the like. And I'm going to continue to help Hampton I've done it for 43 years it'll be 44 and the fact is that that as a team leader we've done some miraculous things and so when I leave it doesn't mean that I'm going to stop helping Hampton I will continue to do so. But to directly answer your question yes I am going to retire but it'll be a year and a half from now I got some major things that I want to do before I retire. Let's talk about some of those things in a second but I think that the big issue facing higher education and certainly you've been at the forefront of a lot of conversations not only for Hampton but for the industry at period and that's the COVID-19 response. There is expected to be a number of folks who will change leaders who will think about leadership transition after COVID during COVID. Did the outbreak have anything to do with your decision at all. Oh no no as a matter of fact I had planned to retire in June of 21. But because of the outbreak I decided to stay because I thought that Hampton needed an experienced individual in a very difficult time. So absolutely not it didn't have anything to do with it. And as I said I'm going to be here for another year and a half trying to provide leadership to my team. And I want to say from the outset I have a terrific team I believe so very strongly in teamwork. I am the team leader and I'm a strong team leader and I'm a tough team leader. But the fact is that we get things done. We have been blessed and I say blessed because I believe this. I believe that the Lord has ordered my steps and the fact is with all of the wonderful things that we have accomplished it's because of the team. You know we have balanced our budget every single year through some ups and downs and we have continued to do that. I've had 17 of my offices going to become presidents of other institutions all over the country. So it's the team it's the team and I can't ever say that enough. And right now I have a terrific team and that's why we're doing as well as we're doing and if you want to get into it later we can do that. Well let's talk about the team because I think you hit on one of the questions I was going to ask later but we can discuss now. Several of your former VP's deans have gone on to lead other institutions and obviously they try to model either in small or large portion what they've experienced under your leadership at Hampton. What is the number one advice or what is the number one element of leadership and of governance and of relations with boards and with campus and students and alumni. What is the thing that you try to tell each of those leaders that is important for them to take to their other stations. First of all in my judgment collective competence is better than individual competence. So even though you are the head of an organization it doesn't mean that your will shall prevail. I believe so strongly in getting input from students from faculty from alumni from others. And the fact is that I believe that that input is very helpful because I don't think that people should have to live with decisions if they don't have input into that decision making process. That's number one and the fact is that I have been fortunate enough to be able to author books and articles and I've made appearances at schools like Yale and Harvard. We've been married in a number of other institutions speaking on leadership and I tell them number one always do what you think is right and best. Everybody isn't going to agree with you and they need to understand that and I'll tell you what I say. This is a long hell belief. The fact is that some of the decisions we made over these 43-44 years there are some people that didn't like it. So I got criticized. I got applauded but I treat those two imposters just the same. And I do what I think is right and best and that's what I suggest that they do. I think there are two parts of your legacy at Hampton and in the sector that kind of go unreported but I think they're major in a lot of ways. The first is you have been a major donor to Hampton and to HBC. You've given more than 8.6 million of your own personal wealth to the institution. You've been a record breaking donor at your alma mater out of Thaddeiga College. What has been at the center of your philanthropic view or mission not only towards Hampton but towards HBC use at large particularly as a president and as a leader. Well I said a moment ago that I've been blessed and I have been and I do things long term. This is my 43rd year as president of Hampton. I've been married for 53 years and I've been 100% a 100% owner of a pexicola plant for 39 years. And my mother and father taught my sister Ann and me that if you could help somebody that's one of the best things that you can do. And it's been unreported because I don't dwell on that and you're right it's been that kind of money. We've given 8.6 million dollars to Hampton but I don't dwell on that that's not why I am here. I had the money I was able to do it. I gave money to my alma mater Thaddeiga and I believe so strongly in the tenants that I was taught at Thaddeiga and they named the new African American Art Museum in my honor and so I'm blessed and thankful. You know the board agreed to put a statute in our legacy park. And on that statute one of the quotes that I have is that gratitude is a virtue. There are a lot of people that think that you know they get things because of entitlement. They don't. You know I was taught and one of the things that I say to people all the time you got to work hard for it. Nobody's going to give you anything and the fact is that one ought to be grateful for little things, for big things. So those are some of the kinds of things that I try to teach every day. I am an old school teacher. I taught high school, junior high school and I've taught in college. But the fact is that what I'm telling you now means so very much. The team is a dream. The other part I think of your history as an HPC president has been the bipartisan way in which you approach legislative lobbying. Not just at the state level or the city level but all the way up to Congress and even the White House. And you've worked with Democratic and Republican leadership at all levels, sometimes to controversy and personal self-sacrifice where folks are questioned. What are you doing? I mean but that has been consistent with your career. Can you kind of reflect back on not just the successes that you've had in doing that but your view of the struggle in doing that when sometimes even we didn't understand why are you working with folks we don't like? Well listen, let me go back to my mother and my father. That's a blessing for me as well. I can remember when I was nine years old, my daddy who was a civil rights leader and a building contractor said to me that there are good people and there are scoundrels in both political parties. So he said support the person rather than the party. He said support the people that support you. And the fact is that at that time African Americans were wards of the Republican Party. Now African Americans are wards of the Democratic Party. So I have always been a political independent. I've always cherished the idea of being straightforward and truthful to everybody. And I think that that's why I'm called to the White House so much. I think that that's why United States presidents have asked me to chair important committees and things like that. And I'll give an example of something. And again I don't make a big deal of this either. But I have been at the White House in the Oval Office one on one with every single president since Jimmy Carter. Now I think that the reason that they call me in is because they know I'm going to play it straight with them. You know I'm not going to try to jazz it up and make them feel good. If they ask me a question they may not like the answer but I'm always be respectful to them, to students, to everybody else. And I think that that's one of the reasons why there have been so many people who continue to seek my counsel. I've also had major parties and I'm not going to get into the details try to get me to run for political office. And I don't want to do that. I don't want to do that. But I always want to be able to tell it straight to everybody and if your case stand to hear it straight then go to somebody else. Don't come to me. You know ten years ago we talked in one of my first pieces for the Huffins and Post and you talked about standards at Hampton. And over the years that those are things that the alumni have really embraced students and alumni that they have the standard of excellence. That's the motto of the institution. But then it's also brought in certain level of discussion among stakeholders outside particularly folks that don't go to Hampton. How have you kind of navigated the growth of the institution and your view of standards and your view of excellence with changing attitudes among young people particularly in the era of social media particularly in the era of social media. How have you kept Hampton steady even in the face of changing attitudes and perceptions. You know I want to tell you it's very very easy because all I'm doing is following the playbook of our founder General Samuel Chapman Armstrong and a speech in August of 1868 to the students. He said that there are two things he wanted to prioritize at his institution as he said. One was top flight academics. Today that would be called workforce development and he said the development of character. He further said that of the two the development of character was more important. Now and he looked upon character the way I do. The character traits of honesty, integrity, respect, trust, good personal behavior. That's what he said and that's what I do. And the fact is that you know you've got I've had people who have criticized me and when I when I when I lecture I talk about the fact that leaders are going to be criticized. People are going to lie on you. They're going to rumor. They're going to gossip on you. But if you adhere to those character traits, it won't get anywhere. And the thing that I say is that many of my critics are nothing but just like snakes little slimy people that kind of skulk around in the in the weeds, but they don't like heights. So we just keep on climbing and look where we have come. Let's talk about that. So the academic and the the community outreach enterprise. So this is unparalleled in our HBCU sector. You've over your tenure, you develop more than 90 new academic programs at the undergraduate and graduate level. There's a cancer treatment and research facility on the campus. Now, where else can you find that in HBCU sector? You've always said that Hampton is a business with educational objectives. How have you shaped the academic enterprise around that philosophy? Well, first of all, I go back to the team and I'm including faculty members as well. And what I've said to them time and time and time again. And I am in every faculty meeting in that I am the chairman of our faculty that came from our bylaws from the very beginning. And again, talk about the wisdom of General Armstrong. And I say to them, you know, you have the same degrees, the same doctoral degrees. Masters and, you know, PhDs from the same institutions that these institutions that are much larger than us. So therefore, dream no small dreams. Go after the big money. You can do it. And we have done it, you know, with the four satellites that we've got flying. The faculty members there. The first one was a hundred and forty million dollar grant from NASA. No HBCU has ever gotten that kind of money in a grant. And then the others were a hundred and one ninety three ninety one. We just got one from the Department of Education, seventeen point seven million dollars. That was led by Dr. Crawford from psychology and Dr. Evans from business. And as far as I know, it's the first time that an HBCU has had the responsibility to do some things for an entire state. And this was on workforce development and entrepreneurship again for the entire state. Not just for Hampton, not just for Hampton roads, but the entire state. So I said earlier, you know, I'm a tough boss. I'm a pusher and I acknowledge that and don't regret it. And the fact is my faculty, I'll put up against anybody and the kinds of support that they're getting shows that, you know, let me say this, let me say this. And again, it's the total faculty and staff. This year, twenty twenty has been a tough one for the world. COVID-19 has really done a job on us. But doing this time, I have encouraged, pushed, cajoled the faculty not to sit back and say, whoa is me. Let's go after some things. And let me tell you what we've been able to do. And this is mostly them, not me. The fact is that we've gotten about forty five million dollars in private money. Now that the biggest amount came from Mrs. Mackenzie Scott. We got thirty million dollars from her. But we got other kinds of money, totaling about forty five in private money. We got forty nine million dollars from the federal government. So we've gotten almost a hundred million dollars during a time when some people were having very difficult issues. Well, look, that's not me. That's members of my team. That's faculty members. That's administrators. That's staff. And that's where that comes from. And that's why we continue to do so well, because we've got such great people here with me. And I cannot say it enough. It's the team. And people give me credit. And the fact is, give me credit for only being the team leader. Credit the team, an extraordinary team of people that could go anywhere. Anywhere. Not just me. And I could. You know, I was a very minor official at Harvard being promoted and I said I wanted to come back south. I'm originally from Alabama. I wanted to come back south and work at a predominantly black school. All of my mentors at Harvard said I shouldn't do that. But listen, I got to follow my north star. And what I wanted to do was to come back south and work at a black school. And that's what we've done. And that's why I say to our people here, you know, you only inferior at your own consent. Eleanor Roosevelt used to say that. And as a history major, I had two degrees in history. I remember that you can only be inferior at your own consent. So dream no small dreams. Go for the big dollar. And that's what we do. Talk about the economic element of that. You talked about money. Everybody knows you get money as an individual. But you've also taken that philosophy institutional with Hampton, property acquisition, building, having facilities in strategic places, commercial areas. What are the big lessons that over your time, you've learned and developed in making Hampton an economic development tool for the city of Hampton and for the state of Virginia? Well, first of all, if you're working at any institution, but certainly at an HBCU, don't be pigeonholed. So many people, African-Americans and Cacashians, think that the only raison d'etre for black schools is to get people from low-income neighborhoods. That's just clearly not the case. We've got people from every place. So I say to them, you know, don't let people pigeonhole you. And what you just said is accurate. We've built four hotels. We've built a shopping center. And we've built a law office in Richmond, Virginia. And the fact is that we are an entrepreneurial university. And I have to credit my board because the fact is when I took these recommendations to the board, they told me you move forward with it. So you do it. I've had six board chairs since I've been president doing these 43 years. And they and the board members have understood what their role is. Their role is policy. That role is policy overseeing the finances and hiring and firing the president. They're not to get involved in the implementation of policy. They leave that to me and my colleagues. And that's in Hampton's bylaws. So I think that that's the reason that we have been successful because we operate outside of the box. We've been very successful entrepreneurally and we're going to continue to do that kind of that kind of thing. Athletics is a big part of your legacy as well. Hampton is a school of championships and champions. What has been your vision for using sports as a marketing tool for the school as a development arm for student athletes going to degrees and careers? How have you been able to bridge those concepts with the fact that you want to win and win regularly? Well, let me start with the fact that I don't believe in this business about just participating. You know, there are a lot of people want to give everybody a trophy. That's not my view. I think that only the people who excel should get trophies. You know, and so as a former athlete and I played football, basketball, baseball, played tennis up until my knees and hips kind of gave out on me. And I was very competitive. But again, I can't take credit for that either. You know, I've been able to bring in some athletics directors that have done just extraordinarily well because first of all, they were good people. They had good experience and they listened. I don't want to be an also ran. If I want to do it, I got to be number one or I got to be knocking on the door for number one. And I'm not so fallacious as to think that I can win every time, but I want to be there every time. And that's what I say. And so my athletics directors, you know, the one now is Gene Marshall, terrific guy. The one before that was the current commissioner of the MEAC. And I'd recommend him for that, which is another thing. I don't hold people back. I don't hold people back. I just think that people need to let their lives shine. And Dennis Thomas was my athletics, long time athletics director. And now he's a commissioner of the MEAC. So again, I can't take credit for what they do. I can talk to them and they listen. And then the final question, big brother, you say that you're still going to be around and your network will still be available to the incoming president. Before you get on that big boat that's behind your house, before you and Ms. Norma decide where in the world y'all are going to cruise to. Do you believe that you would have any opportunity to work with the board on who your successor will be? Is there a certain skill set that you would like to see follow you into the polls? Well, let me say this. The board will have the final authority. But yes, I'm going to recommend the kinds of skill sets that I think President Hampton will need. And I'm not going to be going too far. My wife and I have a home in Hilton Head and we are going to build a home here. And we are going to split the time. But the fact is that I will be making some recommendations. But that's all it is. I am not so fallacious as to think that I'm going to be able to pick my successor. But I am going to be making some recommendations. And since you said that was the last question, let me mention something that you haven't asked about. And that is my wonderful wife of 53 years. She has been a gracious, wonderful first lady. A gracious, wonderful first lady who not only has done an outstanding job as a first lady, but she also has contributed her services to boards, commissions, things like being on the board of United Way, the Hearts Association, the College of William and Mary, and I could go on and on while raising three kids. And now we've got four grandkids. And I hope we can get some more because I want to be able to spoil them crazy. Okay? President, we appreciate your example of our sector. We appreciate your work on behalf of Hampton. We love you. And we look forward to this grand finale in the last year and a half of your tenure at Hampton. And as you have said plenty of times, let's get on with it. What can I say? Let's get on with it. You'll be good and you'll be safe. Thank you, Doc.