Thursday, February 4, 2010

Graham Garner and Roy Collins Say Farewell

Last month, on Jan. 21 to be exact, Idaho State University said good-bye to two fine employees who are moving on to different rodeos. Not better rodeos, just different ones.

My former boss, Graham Garner, director of the ISU Office of University Relations, was honored at a reception in the Photographic Services studio/office/hangout area in the Fine Arts Building, while former associate general counsel Roy Collins was honored an hour later in the Pond Student Union Wood River Room. I attended both gatherings to bid farewell: the cookies were better at Garner’s reception, but word has it the carrot cake at Roy’s was really good.

Graham has left ISU for the position of Vice President for Advancement at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. We challenged him to wear his Harley leathers to his first staff meeting at his place of new employment, but we’ve not heard back. He was too big a whimp to haul a U-Haul behind his Harley during the winter move and had some moving company do most of the moving labor for him --- ah, the perks of vice presidency! Graham was an excellent boss who tried to push us further, without getting into our business much in the process. We wish him, his wife, Kacee, and their son, Isaac, well in South Dakota where they join former ISU Provost Robert Wharton who is now that university’s president.

Roy Collins has moved on to Associate General Counsel for the University of Hartford, Conn., which puts him in closer proximity to his daughters and other family members.

I know Roy mostly from brief but regular interaction during or after our irregular forays to Reed Gymnasium to exercise around noon. Collins rebounded hard and set mean picks in pickup basketball games, before tweaking his knee (or was it an ankle?) and settling on more sane pursuits in the gym. Roy is a very affable man and it was interesting exchanging two-minute observations and discussions about ISU and other topics during the three or so years he was here. Good luck Roy.

Their time here has been a blur, but I hope both Graham and Roy can have their cake and eat it, too.