By Dr. Philip B. Oldham
October 27, 2026
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| Dr. Philip B. Oldham |
Those measures matter, but after nearly 15 years serving as president of Tennessee Tech University, I have come to believe some qualities are harder to quantify but every bit as important.
At Tennessee Tech, one of those qualities is kindness.
If you’ve spent time around our campus in the last few years, or if you’re a parent with one of our mail pieces sitting on your kitchen table, you’ve probably seen our tagline about teaching students to be “bold, fearless, confident and kind.”
That last word is especially important to me. We added it to our messaging in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of the worst tornado in our community’s history, when all of us needed an extra measure of kindness and understanding. Today, kindness is woven into the fabric of our campus and the student experience.
Our new provost, Dr. Mickey Latour, noticed it before he ever joined the Tennessee Tech community. While visiting campus for his interview, he spent a morning interacting with employees who had no idea he was a candidate for the job. His takeaway: “We could very well be the kindest campus in America.”
My wife, Kari, and I have four children, three of whom graduated from Tennessee Tech. As parents, we’ve always hoped our children would be treated with kindness, so our challenge to every employee has been to treat each student the way they would want their own children to be treated.
When I talk with parents of prospective students today, they certainly care that Tennessee Tech offers more than 265 academic programs, is nationally ranked, continues to set new research records, fields 14 NCAA Division I athletic teams, and has invested nearly $1 billion in capital projects over the last decade.
But more than anything, they want to know that someone will show kindness and care for their student – not just about their academic performance or attendance record, but the whole person.
At Tennessee Tech, that approach begins before a student ever enrolls. It’s reflected in our campus visits, where prospective students receive personalized, unhurried tours tailored to their interests and led by Tech “Trailblazers,” who are current students and exude our spirit of hospitality and kindness.
That spirit extends beyond campus, too.
For more than 25 years, our Tech Engineering for Kids project has challenged mechanical engineering students to design custom assistive devices for children with special needs, at no cost to their families.
Likewise, our Rural Reimagined initiative has completed more than 1,000 projects across all 78 rural-designated Tennessee counties, putting the university's expertise to work for communities that need it most.
Sometimes kindness is even simpler. It is making sure a student experiencing food insecurity can get what they need through our Michelle Huddleston Memorial Food Pantry. It is helping students find a safe place to land through our Office of Access, Belonging and Community Outreach. It is equipping students to care for their mental health without stigma or financial barriers through our Center for Counseling & Mental Health Wellness. And it is recognizing everyday acts of compassion through our Wings of Kindness awards, which Kari first established seven years ago.
Just as we practice kindness at Tennessee Tech, so too does our broader community.
We see it in the more than 140 local businesses offering student discounts through our Golden Eagle Perks program. We see it when the community welcomes thousands of students downtown each fall for College Town Kickoff, and when they turn out to cheer for our student-athletes on game days.
I’m a chemist by training, but I’ve learned there is no set formula for kindness. You can’t manufacture or fake it, and it doesn’t fit neatly in a strategic plan. It grows organically, one interaction at a time, through the way we care for our students, serve our neighbors, and show up for one another.
That is the Tennessee Tech I know. Kindness is our calling card, and I can’t think of anything I’d rather be known for.
Dr. Philip B. Oldham is the president of Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tenn.
