September 29, 2025 • 38 mins
For our 100th episode, I sit down with Dr. Kelly Damphousse, the 10th president of Texas State University. A sociologist by training, President Damphousse talks candidly about the midnight moment that set the tone for his presidency. He shares his personal journey – from growing up in a trailer court with no plans for college to becoming a university president.
We also discuss the university’s momentum — from a campus master plan to the research trajectory toward R1 and a move to the Pac-12 that reshapes TXST’s national profile.
In this episode you’ll learn:
- Why athletics is the “front porch” of a university
- The power of mentorship and paying it forward
- What belonging looks like in practice: presence, notes of gratitude, and saying “yes” to students
- Highlights of TXST’s 10-year master plan
- Practical advice for students: engage beyond class, build faculty relationships, and find your “why”
Quotes - Dr.Kelly Damphousse
- “You belong here.”
- “If someone poured into you, your job is to pay it forward.”
- “I’m duty-bound to show up — not for me, but because the presidency matters to people.”
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Judy Oskam (00:02):
Welcome to the 100th episode of Stories of Change
and Creativity.
I'm Judy Oskam.
And for this milestone episode,I'm excited and honored to sit
down with Dr.
Kelly Damphousse, the presidentof Texas State University, and
my boss.
The students call him K Damp.
He's the 10th president ofTexas State University.
(00:24):
He's a sociologist by training.
Dr.
Damphousse, has led Texas Stateinto a new era, raising the
national profile, preparing forR1 research status, and guiding
the move into the Pac-12.
During this conversation, hegets personal and we talk about
the midnight moment that shapedhis presidency, the importance
(00:47):
of belonging and mentorship, andmainly connection.
And connection is really at theheart of his leadership.
I hope you enjoy ourconversation.
Dr. Damphousse (00:58):
I'm excited to be here.
Thank you for inviting me.
Judy Oskam (01:00):
Well, and if we look at all of the change you've
done since you've been here,let's start there.
What are you most proud of,from academics to athletics?
Dr. Damphousse (01:09):
That's a great, it's a great question.
You know, um, when the theuniversity was searching for a
new president, they created aprofile, like what we're looking
for in a new new person.
And there were some bulletpoints.
And one was, you know, we wantto come up become an R1
institution.
We want to uh focus on studentsuccess, diversifying our
revenue stream.
(01:29):
Uh and then there was the bigone to me was change the
national reputation of theuniversity.
And then the last one, I thinkwas added by the alumni, which
said some uh president whoappreciates the importance of
athletics to a university.
I've been told actually duringthe interview process that was
put on by the alumni, and whatthey really mean is someone who
can fix the football program.
(01:50):
And so uh an alumni really careabout that.
And and by the way, um, I Idon't like to spend too much
time thinking about athleticsgenerally because there's a lot
of other things going on.
But I told the searchcommittee, if I could fix the
football program, I can changethe national reputation of the
university because so much isdriven by that.
And it's a sad truth of highereducation that your football
(02:13):
team or your athletics programgenerally really is the driving
force of your reputation.
It's the it's the, as manypeople have said, the front
porch of a university.
Now, presidents always saythat.
They don't always invest theirtime or their resources in it,
but it really is a marketing armof the university.
And so um, so I worked reallyhard, uh, not so much
financially at first.
(02:33):
We're starting to do more ofthat now, uh, but at least uh
putting effort into building uhfan fan attendance, student
attendance at sporting events,uh, making sure that we've made
good decisions and hiringcoaches, uh, making sure the
athletics department has what ithas to be to be successful.
The move to the Pac-12 was awas a big deal for us.
It'll be a game changer for usbecause it's it puts us in a
(02:56):
different set of peers than weare currently.
So those are all big successes.
But I would, if I was gonnalook back on what I'm most proud
of, I think it's um changing alittle bit of how people see
themselves here.
So we talked among the searchcommittee about the national
reputation, but I think theuniversity itself had a like a
(03:19):
self-esteem problem.
Like we saw ourselves as asmall regional university that
wasn't valued or whosereputation was not as good as it
should be, and that we werestuck with that.
And I believe, I hope it'strue, that the faculty and staff
and the students now see TexasState in a different light.
(03:41):
Like, hey, we are no longer therising star of Texas, as if we
are still trying to get to anext level, but we are we are
risen.
We have now accomplished whatsome some of our big goals and
are on the cusp of doing someother ones, like becoming an R1
institution, joining the Pac-12,being successful in athletics,
(04:01):
uh, having uh high um uh successrates and retention and
graduation rates and so on.
So if if if I pointed back atone thing, I would say it's more
about an increase in self-pridewith faculty, staff, and alumni
and students in the university.
And if I had any role in that,I think I would take some
(04:22):
pleasure in that.
Judy Oskam (04:23):
I I I love that.
And I remember was it yourfirst night you were driving
around campus and you ended upon top of Old Main?
Dr. Damphousse (04:28):
Yeah.
Judy Oskam (04:29):
Can you tell that story?
I love that story.
Dr. Damphousse (04:30):
It's actually my favorite story.
I tell it all the time.
So I was uh my wife and I, shegrew up in Bryan College
Station.
So we'd gone over there tovisit her mom.
We were coming back, and we'recoming over the overpass by the
football stadium.
And you, it's the best vista ofthe university.
You can see it all from there.
And I, this was this was June30th.
I was about to start the nextday, it was going to be my first
(04:50):
day on the job.
And I I kind of had like I kindof put my hand on my chest and
said, holy cow, Beth, this placeis so big.
And she said, Are you nervous?
I said, I'm I'm I am nervous.
I said, I'm not sure I can dothis.
I mean, uh, I'm glad they hiredme, but I'm not sure I would
have hired me because I, youknow, I'm, you know, just like
the universe might haveself-esteem problems, I had the
(05:12):
same self-doubt, right?
And posture syndrome and so on.
And um, and and so she we gothome, she went to bed, and it's
like 10 o'clock, it's like 11o'clock.
And I said, you know what?
I want to spend the firstminute on campus, on campus of
my of my presidency.
So I didn't know how to get toOld Maine.
So I got in the car and I drovearound and I was like trying to
(05:34):
find it and going through thewoods and so on.
And then I finally found aparking spot nearby, and I
walked up to Old Main, andthere's the um the Vaquero
statue.
And uh I read the little signthat was there, you know, Bill
and Sally Whitliff and donatedit, and I was there.
And I said, you know what?
It's it's about midnight.
I'm about to be the president.
(05:55):
And so I'm a person of faith.
And so I just said, I'm gonnapray about this, about good
guidance and you know, am I theright person for this?
I'm in this position, so youknow, help me get through this.
So I prayed through that momentfrom 1159 to 1201, and um, and
filled with self-doubt anduncertainty and anxiety,
(06:19):
trepidation, and I lifted myhead from prayer and I looked to
my right, and someone weeksearlier had written on the
window of Lampas' Hall, youbelong here.
And it was in that moment Ithought somebody, divine
providence, put me in a positionto see that sign.
(06:39):
Um, and it really inspired meto think, okay, uh, I I can do
this, and let's just, you know,keep plugging away and trying to
make this happen.
And I share that moment a lotbecause it was real, it like it
really happened.
But it my first moment oncampus was a message about
(07:01):
people belonging here.
And when I share it, I also saythat's because you belong here
too.
Faculty, staff, students, ouralumni, our community members.
I want them to feel like thisis a place where they belong,
that they matter when they comehere.
Um, and if if we ever get in aposition where people don't
think that they belong, uh, thatthey that they don't matter,
(07:22):
they don't count, they're notimportant, that's when the
administration has failed, thatanybody feels like they're not
welcome here.
And so that has become, to me,kind of a personal mantra.
You belong here.
Judy Oskam (07:33):
And why do you think it's taken such a sea change to
make people feel that?
I mean, you as a leader, andyou're so vulnerable when you're
just laying it out there forus.
I think that's helpful forstudents, staff, and especially
students.
What where does that come fromin
you? You mentioned your faith, but your background too..
(07:54):
it's that's a great question.
I think about this a lotbecause I I think we're all
we're all colored by our past,and uh we are who we were.
And when I look at a group ofstudents, our students are
largely first generation, abouthalf our students are first
(08:14):
generation, half of them arePell eligible, 62% of them are
minority.
I'm not a minority, but uh I Iwas a poor kid.
I grew up in the trailer court.
I was never planning to go tocollege, it was never in the
plants, my parents had no money.
Uh I went to community collegeand got a job as a prison guard.
And after I graduated, wantedto be a police officer, never
(08:34):
dreamed about going touniversity, but through a
circumstance where a formerinstructor talked me into going
back to school.
And I think about now, inretrospect, my 10th and 11th, my
11th and 12th grade Englishteacher who I loved, Mr.
Harrison, the community collegeinstructor who taught me going
back to school, my advisor as anundergrad, my advisor as a
(08:56):
graduate student, these peoplewho invest themselves in me.
And and you know, one of myprofessors in my graduate
program became a very strongmentor to me.
And so my mom and dad adoptedme as a as a baby.
And um for whatever reason, mymy dad didn't figure out how to
have a real tight relationshipwith me and and uh maybe his own
(09:20):
upbringing.
But this mentor I had at TexasAM in grad school was not like
that.
He he really cared about me andinvested in me and had we had
so many conversations.
And one of the conversations isabout to have my first child,
our our first child.
And um he's he starts talkingto me about, you know, do you
know the difference betweenbetween being a father and a
(09:43):
dad?
I said, it sounds like the sameword to me.
He said, biologically, anyonecan be a father.
It takes work to be a dad, andhere's how you do it.
And in the midst of that, uh atthe end of it, I couldn't, I
couldn't understand why he caredenough about me to impart these
kinds of wisdom.
And he had done so much for meas well.
(10:03):
And I I literally asked him,like, Dr.
Crowt, I don't understand, Idon't get you.
Like, why do you care about me?
I said, How could I ever payyou back for what you've done
for me?
Because I was gonna drop out,all kinds of things, and he'd
done so much for me.
And he said, Um, you you can'tpay me back because you don't
have anything I want.
And uh, but he said, and wewere actually sitting in his car
(10:26):
at the time, he said, I don'tknow what your future holds, but
someday you'll be sittingbehind the steering wheel of the
car, and somebody else will besitting in the pastor's seat,
and they're gonna needsomething.
And um, and when when you aretired, when you're stressed,
when you're distracted, andsomeone reaches out, I want you
to stop and remember this momentand say, This is my opportunity
(10:50):
to pay Dr.
Crouch back.
And so this is before the moviePay It Forward came out, but
the principle is the same.
And I wake up, I'm not kidding,I tell I probably this is maybe
the 15th, 100th time I've toldthe story, but I wake up every
morning thinking about that.
And I don't want to soundnoble.
Uh Dr.
Crouch is noble.
(11:10):
I'm not, but I do feel dutybound when I look at the sea of
students in front of me, when Ilook at our faculty, because I
was a faculty member, when Ilook at our staff members, I I
see my mom and dad who arescratching out a living, trying
to make things happen.
I've tremendous empathy and Itry to think about how they're
(11:30):
thinking, and then think aboutthe fact that I've been placed
in a position where I can changepeople's lives and um in in a
positive way.
And so the goal has always beento pay Dr.
Crouch back by not being tootired to take a phone call, to
go uh sign a birthday cardsomewhere or send a student a
(11:53):
video or send an encouragingnote to a faculty member or a
staff member that I'm remindedevery day that Kelly's not
important, but the presidency isimportant.
And and when I can go dosomething, it means something
that the president was there.
Not that Kelly was there, butthe president was there.
And I think people I think thatresonates with people that they
(12:16):
see that I'm trying to tryingto make their lives matter.
Trying to show that they belongby how I respect them and how I
engage with them.
It doesn't always work, andsometimes I do get distracted,
and sometimes I can't make it toevents, but when I can, like
people said, you it seems likeyou never stop, you're always
(12:37):
going somewhere.
It's just I have trouble sayingno to people because I feel
like that's my job.
It's duty bound for you.
It is, yeah.
Dr. Damphousse (12:44):
It's it's a calling and it is a duty, but
it's a duty I love.
It's I don't feel a burden.
I don't like, oh my gosh, Igotta go to an event tonight.
I can't to me, it's always Iget to go engage with some
students, and maybe somethingmagical will happen.
Here's here's an example.
I don't want to take up toomuch of your time.
So um first week of school,students are on campus and are
(13:07):
doing something, and I get a uha direct message on one of
social media platforms said,Hey, Kate Amp, uh, we're on a
scavenger hunt and we want toget a pitch with you.
It's on the thing.
It's like it's like 11 o'clockat night.
I said, Are you on campus?
I don't know why she thought Iwas on campus, but I said, No,
I'm actually at my house.
But if you want, just come tomy house and I'll take a pitch
with you guys.
And she said, Okay, we'll dothat.
(13:28):
And I gave her my cell phonenumber so she can contact me a
little bit easier to reach out.
So she's texting, she says,Okay, we're walking that way.
We'll be there in about 40minutes.
I said, Do not walk to myhouse.
It's not very safe.
We're living in a hill and it'snot very well lit.
There's no sidewalks.
I said, I'll come to you.
And they said, Really?
I said, Where I said, Where areyou?
(13:49):
Said, well, we're at SewellPark.
I said, I'll meet you at KerbeyLane and let's get in the
parking lot there.
So I go down there and I and Idon't want to sound like I'm
bragging about this experience.
I'm just explaining thesituation.
But I didn't even think twiceabout it because I thought, you
know, Dr.
Crouch would do something likethat and or expect me to do it.
And I'm I'm not so tired, Ican't do it.
So I actually happened to havemy golf cart.
(14:11):
So I drove down there realquick and I took a picture with
them and I came back.
And one of the students wroteme uh that night and said, later
that night, um, and said, wehad a freshman in our group that
was, she was like lonely andlost, and we happened upon her
and said, Hey, come join ourgroup.
(14:31):
And she was like, I feel like Idon't belong here.
Like I just feel I'm homesickand I want to go home.
And then she was walkingaround, and then she was with
the group, and she said, I can'tbelieve the president came and
took a picture of Kirby Lane.
She said, I love this place.
And and I I never thought aboutthe individual, how that might
(14:53):
affect individuals.
And uh in the group, I was justlike trying to accommodate a
group of students.
But I was so grateful for thestudent that wrote me to explain
that it had an incredibleimpact on that freshman who was
like homesick and lost, andmaybe on the verge of just going
home.
And just a simple act ofdriving down the hill, taking a
picture of the door.
(15:13):
It literally took like eightminutes.
Um but it had it might besomething that student remembers
forever.
Yeah, I probably would.
And so and um, and so thosemoments I think inspired me to
keep going.
I talk about this a lot, theattitude of the attitude of
gratefulness, because I'm verygrateful for where I've been.
Uh, and I was when I when Igive up the my I do these uh you
(15:38):
know inspirational talks, Ihope they're inspirational.
I was in with like probablysomeone in your life was your
Dr.
Crouch.
And you should today write thema note.
Not send them a text if that'sall you got, but write them a
handwritten note because theywill probably keep that for the
rest of their life.
That's what I do.
I've got I've got notes in mydrawer and periodically, and I
(15:59):
have a bad day, I might readsome of them.
Um, because first off, it showsthem that you understand what
they did, but it also inspiresthem to keep doing that.
And probably the person you'regonna write to is a school
teacher who's having a bad day,who maybe got yelled at at a
parent teacher conference.
And to have a former studentwrite back and said, I'm in
(16:19):
college today because ofsomething you did in the 10th
grade to me and you inspired me,that that's more than that's
more than money can can provide,because it it's a it it reminds
that person why they do whatthey do.
And if you can discover andremember your why, everything
else just kind of like all makessense when you say, I'm doing
(16:43):
this because of this.
I became a teacher because Iwanted to help students.
And the fact that a studentwrote me back and told me that I
did it, okay, now I, you know,forget the evaluations and you
know, from your principal and soon.
A word from a from a studentcarries so much more weight than
a word from a principal.
Sure.
Judy Oskam (17:03):
You know, sure, sure.
Well, how do you think youcould bottle that?
Because it's that spirit andit's that attitude that I think
is just you see it everywhereyou go and everything you touch.
How do you think students canreally understand that they too
hold power and can connect andmake such an impact?
(17:26):
Because our students arephenomenal.
They are amazing.
Dr. Damphousse (17:29):
You know, you raise such a good point.
That's when I'm speaking withstudents, I one of the
challenges I give to them isyou've been poured into and you
are now, you may not realizethat, but you are now in a
position of pouring into others.
And it may be a younger brotheror sister who's at home who's
thinking, I don't know if I wantto go to college or not, you
(17:50):
know, or I'm struggling withsomething right now.
It could be your peer, maybeyou're a senior and you're
working with a freshman in yourfraternity or sorority, that
somehow they've been putting youin your path.
Eventually you're gonna get ajob somewhere and you're gonna
have an ability to to to um toserve other people in addition
to what you're doing for aliving.
Um and I what what my hope isis people will say, well,
(18:15):
remember that I didn't get hereby myself, that I got here.
Certainly you got up early, youstudied, you sacrificed and so
on.
But if you can think back inyour life and think about those,
those moments where your life,there was a fork in the road and
someone was probably there.
You didn't like make a decisionon your own without some kind
(18:36):
of guidance or someone opening adoor.
And if you can remember those,that might say, okay, now who's
for whom can I open a door?
What doors do I control, andwho can I help walk through
those doors?
And and I think that I'm gonnago back to the spirit of
gratitude.
If you understand where youcame from, then you're grateful
(18:58):
for who you got there, and thenyou start thinking, like, now
it's my job to start doing thesame thing for somebody else.
Just like Dr.
Crouch said, you pay me back bydoing for others what I did for
you, because I don't youliterally have nothing I want
except for that, that you willremember this moment and uh and
know that you're in a positionnow to do for other people uh
(19:22):
what I can't do.
Judy Oskam (19:23):
Yeah.
Dr. Damphousse (19:24):
I'm not there, but you are.
Judy Oskam (19:25):
Yeah.
Dr. Damphousse (19:26):
And I I'm not kidding.
I I literally think of Dr.
Crouch every single day.
Judy Oskam (19:30):
Yeah.
Dr. Damphousse (19:30):
And it's and and it's funny.
Uh I had another experiencewith a teacher, and I won't get
into all the story of it, but itit was my 11th and 12th grade
English teacher.
And he at some point he justcalled me out because I was just
acting like a fool.
And he said, you know, youcould really be something if you
would just behave and and payattention and you could be
better than you are right now.
(19:50):
Hanging around with those boys,it's a bad idea.
And he kind of called me out.
And uh, but I think about him alot too, like all the time.
Judy Oskam (20:00):
Fork in the road.
Yeah, fork in the road.
Dr. Damphousse (20:01):
It's like uh, and I wish I could say, like, I
just decided I was gonna go tocollege that that moment.
So but it was like it was thefirst time in my life that I
remember someone who wasn'tcontractually obligated to say
something nice about me saidsomething encouraging.
I was I was a twelve, I was asenior, it was a September first
week of school as a senior.
(20:22):
My mom had to say nice thingsabout me, right?
Yeah, you're not fat, you'rejust big boned, you know, those
kids they don't know whatthey're doing.
Um but Mr.
McNinch said something to methat that really kind of
stimulated me to start thinkingdifferently about myself.
So years later, I'm telling thestory about Mr.
(20:44):
McNinch all the time.
And I said, I wonder where heis.
And so I start Googling aroundand I find a James McNinch
teaching at a community collegein Saskatchewan.
I said, How many McNinchescould there be?
So I write him and I say, uh,hey, did you teach at J.
E.
Williams High School back inthe late 70s?
The Rice Back says, Yes, I did.
I said, you know, I've beentelling the story about our
(21:06):
interaction first week ofschool, my senior year, when you
said, Mr.
Dampfus, what happened over thesummer that turned your brain
to mush?
That's what he said to me.
And I said, that moment was aturning point in my life.
And I think about that all thetime.
And I just wanted to thank youfor that.
And he wrote back and said, Ihave no idea who you are.
(21:28):
I would never have told thestudent that their brain had
turned to mush.
Um, and you know, I'm glad youthink this, but this could never
have happened.
I promise you, Judy, I did notmake that up.
Who in the right mind wouldmake it?
It happened.
Yeah.
God is my witness.
But he has no idea.
And the story, the, the, the,the story behind that is, or the
(21:51):
lesson here, is that we'reinfluencing people all the time.
Judy Oskam (21:54):
And we don't know it.
Dr. Damphousse (21:55):
And you don't know it.
And we don't know it.
And and isn't, wouldn't it benice for someone to say, hey,
remember that thing?
Yeah.
Remember you said something.
Remember we took a selfietogether?
Like I was, I was thinkingabout dropping out, and you said
something, and it changed mylife.
It it encouraged me to stickwith it.
Um and and so we are always,we're always influencing others
(22:16):
and being influenced by others.
And wouldn't you want to beknown as being the influencer
for good as for bad?
Because you probably in yourlifetime, I have as well, been
influenced by people who weren'tgood people, who did things
that were inappropriate or meanor mean spirited.
And I I wouldn't want people tothink about me the same way I
(22:36):
think about those people.
Speaker 02 (22:37):
Right, right, right.
Dr. Damphousse (22:38):
Um there was um a moment in my life when social
media was just coming out, andum I was at the University of
Oklahoma, and University ofOklahoma has has two hand
signals.
The the one is the number one,we're number one, it's just one
finger pointing up in the sky.
The other one is a downwardhorns.
So you're kind of making fun ofthe University of Texas.
Speaker 02 (23:00):
Yes.
Dr. Damphousse (23:00):
And I was at the OU Texas game, and um a
colleague of mine, he was a he'salso he was the dean of the law
school at the time, he's nowthe president of the university.
And his kids were there, and weall took pictures of the
downward horn sign, and I postedit.
And I just I felt this.
Judy Oskam (23:17):
You doesn't feel good.
Yeah.
Dr. Damphousse (23:19):
Because I thought, why am I like being
negative in this picture?
And there's so much negativity.
People, I can't believe uh thisairline lost my bag, and and uh
you know, all thesecomplaining.
And and I made a decision basedon that picture.
I still picture that picture inmy mind, saying, I'll I'm just
not going to play the cynic, thecynical game on social media,
(23:40):
and I will do everything I tendto to to promote positivity and
edifying other people.
And so my my social mediabrand, if you will, is always
about like, hey, it if you didlike a word cloud, it's always
excellent, great, look at this,you know, good job.
You know, congrats.
Congrats is a big thing.
Thank you to so and so.
(24:02):
Um because I want to use thatplat, those platforms to promote
as much as I can goodness andpromote the university and
things that are happening herebecause the world is filled with
such negativity.
I don't need to add to it.
Judy Oskam (24:17):
So looking ahead, look ahead five years, what are
we gonna see at Texas State?
There's so many exciting thingsgoing on here.
Dr. Damphousse (24:27):
You know, we just finished our master plan,
which it takes, it's a 10-yearmaster plan, so it's from 25 to
35.
And I'm excited about the factthat there's buildings in there
that are great, but there's alsoum a lot of pictures of green
space and pathways and creatingnooks and niches on campus that
(24:50):
accentuate the beauty of thenatural beauty of our campus.
And so the space right belowOld Main, for example, if you
look at pictures of Old Mainback in the olden days, there
was almost no trees there.
And the students were allhanging out of windows and
coming all down Chautauqua Hill.
And that's that was kind of theclass photo, it was always
there.
Well, now the trees have grownup there, but it's also a
(25:10):
rabbit's warrant of there's theold presence houses there, and
there's all these parking lotsand a road there.
Well, we're gonna take all thatstuff out and kind of bring it
back to its original beauty andhave a like a like a gathering
place there, like an outdoorgathering place uh that's part
of the master plan.
Sewell Park's gonna be redoneand Spring Lake area, we'll have
walking trails through there,the Bobcat Trail and the art
(25:33):
projects that will be outdoorart that'll be out there.
Um I think that we have thebones for a really beautiful
campus.
I already think we're one ofthe most beautiful campuses in
America.
But I think it'll be even morebeautiful and not just the
architecture.
I'm folks, I'm thinking moreabout the stuff outside the
buildings so that people feelgood when they're going from
(25:53):
place to place.
Um I I do think place matters,and um and I think if you can
make the place feel a certainway through it uh accentuating
the beauty of it, um that itmakes people happier, it makes
people proud to be at the place.
(26:14):
Uh I think it makes people justbetter people in general
because their mood is lifted byit.
You can't you can't tell mewalking from JCK to Sewell Park
through the fish hatcheriesthing doesn't make you feel
better on that 10-minute walk.
It can be hot as the dickensout there, sure.
But walking through seeingturtles and birds and so on,
(26:34):
being out in nature.
Um, if we can if we canaccentuate that in different
parts of campus, so no matterwhere you are, you have a touch
of nature there.
So uh you can you can makethings better.
So physically it will bedifferent.
We'll be an R1 institution bythat time as well.
And so, you know, by 2027, thethe the the everything's already
(26:55):
cooked.
It's gonna happen.
The announcement comes in 2028.
That's what puts us in a newpeer institution.
There's only about 140 R1institutions in the country.
Uh we'll be, I think, the 11thin the state of Texas.
And so I think our researchprofile will be different.
We've done $165 million inresearch last year, $180 million
this past this year.
(27:16):
And so we're already on thisgreat trajectory to becoming uh
a renowned research uhinstitution.
But our graduate program hasalways been stifled, not through
our own devices, but because wewere limited.
We weren't allowed to have PhDprograms for many years.
And then eventually we had one,then we had two, but we added
11 doctoral programs in oneyear, about a year and a half or
(27:38):
so.
Um and so our doctoral programand our master's program is just
expanding dramatically.
So our research profile willlook different.
I think uh we'll also be, we'vealways been a place like if you
want to get a degree from TexasState, you've got to come to
San Marcus.
And then it was you, you youcould also go to Ran Rock.
(27:58):
Uh 10 years from now, I thinkeveryone will understand that
you don't need to come here toget your degree.
Our growth in onlineprogramming is tremendous.
In fact, my son-in-law isgetting a degree from Texas
State.
He's a school teacher inCollege Station.
He couldn't come here to gethis degree.
So he's gonna get a degree, amaster's degree in criminal
justice, uh, which is he's a lawenforcement instructor in the
(28:20):
in high school.
Um, and so we're taking ourdegrees to the people where they
are online, but we're alsodoing it in regional locations.
And so um, we know that thereare students at Collin County
who are going to Collin College,60,000 students there, Dallas
College, 70,000 students there.
Some of those students want toget a four-year degree from
(28:41):
somewhere.
Uh, to get to Texas State,they'd have to drive past about
eight universities from theDallas area to get here.
Why would they do that?
Well, maybe you offerscholarships or so on, maybe
they want to have the collegeexperience.
But can we offer the samedegree up there where they live,
where they can keep theirpart-time job they have now,
(29:03):
they can park in the sameparking spots, they can go to
the same classrooms, um, butthey get taught by our
professors in their location,still live at home with their
parents, for example.
So first two years of school isfree if you live in their
communities.
Then years three and four arewith us.
You can get a degree, afour-year college degree for
$15,000, and never leave CollinCounty or never leave Dallas
(29:26):
County.
So I think the change we'll seehere, beautification of our
campus, um, and then growth inonline programming and growth in
regional locations for ourdegree programs where we cover
the entirety of the state.
Um, and that's that's our goalright now is trying to plant
ourselves in different locationsacross the state.
(29:46):
So that makes the universitylook different.
And becoming an R1 institutionwill be you know, will be a big
change as well.
Judy Oskam (29:54):
That's great.
And and if you if you to lookback at all of this, and again,
you've only been here a coupleof Years.
What's your main takeaway forstudents who are here now?
What do you want them to leavewith beyond a great academic
experience, which we knowthey're going to get?
Dr. Damphousse (30:10):
Well, I always encourage students to certainly
pay attention to your studies,right?
But there's so much more thatuniversity should be about.
And there's so much opportunityfor students.
If all you do is go to classand sit in your room and study,
you'll get your degree, butyou're going to miss out on a
whole lot of things.
And so getting involved instudent organizations, I think
(30:32):
is vital.
And I think when you do that,that's where you make your
lifelong friends.
You will probably find someonewho 40 years from now is still
your best friend.
Maybe the maid of honor in yourwedding, best man at your
wedding, the person who is yourpallbearer later on.
Well, probably someone you metin student organization, either
Greek life or other studentorganizations that are out
(30:54):
there.
Second is I think that thereare rich opportunities to enrich
your opportunities.
So there are there are greatopportunities to enrich your
educational experience byengaging in these extra efforts,
internships, study abroad, aresearch experience with a
faculty member.
By the way, I was petrifiedover my faculty members.
(31:15):
I didn't know where they camefrom.
I didn't want to go talk tothem.
I heard about this office hoursthing.
It seemed super intimidating,so I never went to office hours.
Our faculty members areincredible, incredibly gifted.
And they are passionate.
Many of them are passionateabout a very small specific
thing, but they're allinterested and interesting.
(31:35):
And our students miss out onnot engaging with our faculty.
If you talk to our currentalumni of a certain generation,
maybe our generation, weprobably look back in our time
in college.
We remember, you know, ourroommate might remember the
person's name, maybe yourcollege buddy you hung out.
But probably one of the thingsthat will stand out is uh I
remember Dr.
(31:56):
So-and-so or the Dean ofStudents or whatever.
Um and and I think the currentstudent misses out on not
creating relationships with ourfaculty.
Our faculty, they could beanywhere.
They love our students.
They they are here because theybelieve in the mission of Texas
State.
And I wish our students wouldtake the time, take advantage of
the opportunity to go meet witha faculty member.
(32:17):
And whenever you get a chanceto talk with them, I always say,
you know, you your teacher, youmight think that person's just
a teacher, but that person isprobably a researcher as well.
And you may not know what to doat an office hour, but you
should Google your professor upand find out what they do.
Read one of their articles andthen say, you know, let go in
(32:40):
there and say, you know, I readthis article you wrote, and it
really was interesting becauseyou talked to me about this
whole process here.
Um you you could probably askthem about their kids and almost
get the same response of pridewhen they're talking about the
research, because that is theirentire at least half of their
(33:00):
career is the discovery andinnovation part of the research
part of their profession.
And they have invested their alarge part of their graduate
career, but also theirprofessional career in in this
research topic.
Now, if someone, not I don'tmean in a fake way, but in
someone who's interested intheir topic, if someone comes to
(33:22):
talk to me about my terrorismresearch that, holy cow, let me
tell you about it.
Like, I can't believe anyonewants to know about it.
Yeah, you know, don't operateany heavy equipment when you're
reading my papers, but I'd loveto talk to you about these
things.
Um, and I think our studentsmiss an opportunity to to meet
someone fascinating by justgoing to their office and
meeting with them.
In the olden days, faculty andstudents tend to have a closer
(33:44):
relationship, and I think we'velost some of that.
Speaker 02 (33:45):
Yeah.
Dr. Damphousse (33:46):
Um, especially as the university's growing and
class sizes have grown and soon.
But it's not because thefaculty don't care.
It's oftentimes becausestudents are uncertain about how
to engage with them.
So I'm hearing a lot aboutmaking connections.
So making connection that youhave done through your life, and
then you're encouragingstudents to do that in faculty
too.
So any last comments you wantto make for this change in
(34:10):
creativity is the focus, andyou've you're just a living
example of that.
Well, it's it's interesting.
You I I wasn't like targetingthat that topic, but actually,
in retrospect, it is aboutcreating relationships.
You know, I'm a I'm asociologist by training.
I was a criminal justiceundergrad, but sociologist.
And that's where I, you know,this idea that I have about
(34:32):
we're always influencing andbeing influenced by people comes
from.
That's a it's a central tenetin sociology about social
interaction.
And uh because as socialbeings, we are engaging in, and
uh there's one of my favoritelines in in that I talk about in
my class is I'm not who I thinkI am.
I'm not who you think I am.
(34:53):
I am who I think you think Iam, you know, because I'm
interpreting you as you'relooking at me.
If you're smiling, you know,oh, she's smiling.
She must think what I'm sayingis interesting.
I'll keep going in thatdirection.
If she frowns, I know, oh,she's not liking that, I'm gonna
go in different.
So we're always engaging inthis response, give and take.
And I think that our lives arericher when we practice that.
(35:15):
And we're I'm I worry aboutlosing the art of the
interaction.
I uh took some students tobreakfast recently, and it was
uh there was 10 of them, andBeth was at one table and I was
at another table.
And uh I thought, I'd love todo it because we get to talk.
And the three of them justpulled out their phone and
started getting on their phone.
(35:35):
And so I ended up talking tothese two, and three of them
just missed an opportunity toengage because they were on
their phone doing, I'm not surewhat they were doing, and I
didn't want to like call themout on it.
Sure.
But I I thought I actuallycommented to Beth later.
I said, Man, she said, Well, mytable is great.
They were all chatty cathys,and and uh we had a great time.
I said, Well, you know, Iyou're you're better at this
than I usually and uh and so uhand I worry sometimes that we,
(35:59):
especially our students, havelost the art of the engagement,
and it's not their fault, it'sjust how they've been raised and
how their life experiences andhow digitized things are and how
how I mean you go to any busstop right now, or go to the
bookstore, or go to the goanyone standing in line.
People are plugged in andthey're on their phone.
Speaker 02 (36:21):
Right.
Dr. Damphousse (36:22):
Ten years ago, you'd be sitting there, you had
to talk to the person next toyou because you didn't have
another form of engaging.
And so it's not their fault.
I just think we've lostsomething by doing that.
Judy Oskam (36:32):
The art of connection.
When I did study abroad, I didthe hub program in Scotland, and
students said they just saidyes to the opportunity.
So getting them out helped themlearn to say yes more often.
Dr. Damphousse (36:45):
Yeah, you know, uh Beth and I went to uh a
concert in Las Vegas uh lastyear, it was a Garth Brooks
concert.
And we walked in the door, theymake you put your phone in a
like this envelope and they theyclamp it so you can't take your
phone out, so you can'tvideotape or anything.
And I was like kind of grumpyabout it because I'm always like
taking pictures and boy, we'rehere with Garth Brooks and so
(37:07):
on.
And I haven't enjoyed a concertso much in my recent life
because I could clap because Ididn't have my phone in my hand.
Speaker 02 (37:16):
Yeah.
Dr. Damphousse (37:16):
And I could engage and watch and take
pictures with my brain like Iused to do instead of relying on
my camera to take pictures.
And Beth and I were talkingabout, well, that's a great
song, and we're singing along.
And I wished we could do moreof that.
I see some schools are doingthat now.
When you go to school, yougotta, everyone's gonna put
their phone in a in a thing andyou can get it at recess or
whatever.
(37:37):
And so um I think if if we dosomething right at this
university, it's that we arehelping people understand how
they can learn to engage withothers civilly, but the
importance of engagement andconnection.
Judy Oskam (37:52):
And connection.
Dr. Damphousse (37:53):
Absolutely.
Judy Oskam (37:53):
Thank you so much, President Damphousse.
Thank you.
Dr. Damphousse (37:56):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much.
Judy Oskam (37:57):
Well, some takeaways from our conversation.
Remember your why.
And if you've been poured into,then you need to pay it
forward, and you can, no matterwhat your age.
Think about those moments, thefork in the road moments.
Which direction did you go andwho helped you get there?
And how can you help othersnow?
(38:18):
And if you understand where youcame from, now you know where
you're going and what you can dofor others.
Well, that's a wrap on the100th episode of Stories of
Change and Creativity.
And before we go, I want tothank you for listening.
You know who you are.
You're sharing the journey withme, and I really, really
(38:39):
appreciate it.
And remember, if you've got astory to share or know someone
who does, reach out to me atjudyoskam.com.
And thanks for listening.
Welcome to the 100th episode of Stories of Change
and Creativity.
I'm Judy Oskam.
And for this milestone episode,I'm excited and honored to sit
down with Dr.
Kelly Damphousse, the presidentof Texas State University, and
my boss.
The students call him K Damp.
He's the 10th president ofTexas State University.
(00:24):
He's a sociologist by training.
Dr.
Damphousse, has led Texas Stateinto a new era, raising the
national profile, preparing forR1 research status, and guiding
the move into the Pac-12.
During this conversation, hegets personal and we talk about
the midnight moment that shapedhis presidency, the importance
(00:47):
of belonging and mentorship, andmainly connection.
And connection is really at theheart of his leadership.
I hope you enjoy ourconversation.
Dr. Damphousse (00:58):
I'm excited to be here.
Thank you for inviting me.
Judy Oskam (01:00):
Well, and if we look at all of the change you've
done since you've been here,let's start there.
What are you most proud of,from academics to athletics?
Dr. Damphousse (01:09):
That's a great, it's a great question.
You know, um, when the theuniversity was searching for a
new president, they created aprofile, like what we're looking
for in a new new person.
And there were some bulletpoints.
And one was, you know, we wantto come up become an R1
institution.
We want to uh focus on studentsuccess, diversifying our
revenue stream.
(01:29):
Uh and then there was the bigone to me was change the
national reputation of theuniversity.
And then the last one, I thinkwas added by the alumni, which
said some uh president whoappreciates the importance of
athletics to a university.
I've been told actually duringthe interview process that was
put on by the alumni, and whatthey really mean is someone who
can fix the football program.
(01:50):
And so uh an alumni really careabout that.
And and by the way, um, I Idon't like to spend too much
time thinking about athleticsgenerally because there's a lot
of other things going on.
But I told the searchcommittee, if I could fix the
football program, I can changethe national reputation of the
university because so much isdriven by that.
And it's a sad truth of highereducation that your football
(02:13):
team or your athletics programgenerally really is the driving
force of your reputation.
It's the it's the, as manypeople have said, the front
porch of a university.
Now, presidents always saythat.
They don't always invest theirtime or their resources in it,
but it really is a marketing armof the university.
And so um, so I worked reallyhard, uh, not so much
financially at first.
(02:33):
We're starting to do more ofthat now, uh, but at least uh
putting effort into building uhfan fan attendance, student
attendance at sporting events,uh, making sure that we've made
good decisions and hiringcoaches, uh, making sure the
athletics department has what ithas to be to be successful.
The move to the Pac-12 was awas a big deal for us.
It'll be a game changer for usbecause it's it puts us in a
(02:56):
different set of peers than weare currently.
So those are all big successes.
But I would, if I was gonnalook back on what I'm most proud
of, I think it's um changing alittle bit of how people see
themselves here.
So we talked among the searchcommittee about the national
reputation, but I think theuniversity itself had a like a
(03:19):
self-esteem problem.
Like we saw ourselves as asmall regional university that
wasn't valued or whosereputation was not as good as it
should be, and that we werestuck with that.
And I believe, I hope it'strue, that the faculty and staff
and the students now see TexasState in a different light.
(03:41):
Like, hey, we are no longer therising star of Texas, as if we
are still trying to get to anext level, but we are we are
risen.
We have now accomplished whatsome some of our big goals and
are on the cusp of doing someother ones, like becoming an R1
institution, joining the Pac-12,being successful in athletics,
(04:01):
uh, having uh high um uh successrates and retention and
graduation rates and so on.
So if if if I pointed back atone thing, I would say it's more
about an increase in self-pridewith faculty, staff, and alumni
and students in the university.
And if I had any role in that,I think I would take some
(04:22):
pleasure in that.
Judy Oskam (04:23):
I I I love that.
And I remember was it yourfirst night you were driving
around campus and you ended upon top of Old Main?
Dr. Damphousse (04:28):
Yeah.
Judy Oskam (04:29):
Can you tell that story?
I love that story.
Dr. Damphousse (04:30):
It's actually my favorite story.
I tell it all the time.
So I was uh my wife and I, shegrew up in Bryan College
Station.
So we'd gone over there tovisit her mom.
We were coming back, and we'recoming over the overpass by the
football stadium.
And you, it's the best vista ofthe university.
You can see it all from there.
And I, this was this was June30th.
I was about to start the nextday, it was going to be my first
(04:50):
day on the job.
And I I kind of had like I kindof put my hand on my chest and
said, holy cow, Beth, this placeis so big.
And she said, Are you nervous?
I said, I'm I'm I am nervous.
I said, I'm not sure I can dothis.
I mean, uh, I'm glad they hiredme, but I'm not sure I would
have hired me because I, youknow, I'm, you know, just like
the universe might haveself-esteem problems, I had the
(05:12):
same self-doubt, right?
And posture syndrome and so on.
And um, and and so she we gothome, she went to bed, and it's
like 10 o'clock, it's like 11o'clock.
And I said, you know what?
I want to spend the firstminute on campus, on campus of
my of my presidency.
So I didn't know how to get toOld Maine.
So I got in the car and I drovearound and I was like trying to
(05:34):
find it and going through thewoods and so on.
And then I finally found aparking spot nearby, and I
walked up to Old Main, andthere's the um the Vaquero
statue.
And uh I read the little signthat was there, you know, Bill
and Sally Whitliff and donatedit, and I was there.
And I said, you know what?
It's it's about midnight.
I'm about to be the president.
(05:55):
And so I'm a person of faith.
And so I just said, I'm gonnapray about this, about good
guidance and you know, am I theright person for this?
I'm in this position, so youknow, help me get through this.
So I prayed through that momentfrom 1159 to 1201, and um, and
filled with self-doubt anduncertainty and anxiety,
(06:19):
trepidation, and I lifted myhead from prayer and I looked to
my right, and someone weeksearlier had written on the
window of Lampas' Hall, youbelong here.
And it was in that moment Ithought somebody, divine
providence, put me in a positionto see that sign.
(06:39):
Um, and it really inspired meto think, okay, uh, I I can do
this, and let's just, you know,keep plugging away and trying to
make this happen.
And I share that moment a lotbecause it was real, it like it
really happened.
But it my first moment oncampus was a message about
(07:01):
people belonging here.
And when I share it, I also saythat's because you belong here
too.
Faculty, staff, students, ouralumni, our community members.
I want them to feel like thisis a place where they belong,
that they matter when they comehere.
Um, and if if we ever get in aposition where people don't
think that they belong, uh, thatthey that they don't matter,
(07:22):
they don't count, they're notimportant, that's when the
administration has failed, thatanybody feels like they're not
welcome here.
And so that has become, to me,kind of a personal mantra.
You belong here.
Judy Oskam (07:33):
And why do you think it's taken such a sea change to
make people feel that?
I mean, you as a leader, andyou're so vulnerable when you're
just laying it out there forus.
I think that's helpful forstudents, staff, and especially
students.
What where does that come fromin
you? You mentioned your faith, but your background too..
(07:54):
it's that's a great question.
I think about this a lotbecause I I think we're all
we're all colored by our past,and uh we are who we were.
And when I look at a group ofstudents, our students are
largely first generation, abouthalf our students are first
(08:14):
generation, half of them arePell eligible, 62% of them are
minority.
I'm not a minority, but uh I Iwas a poor kid.
I grew up in the trailer court.
I was never planning to go tocollege, it was never in the
plants, my parents had no money.
Uh I went to community collegeand got a job as a prison guard.
And after I graduated, wantedto be a police officer, never
(08:34):
dreamed about going touniversity, but through a
circumstance where a formerinstructor talked me into going
back to school.
And I think about now, inretrospect, my 10th and 11th, my
11th and 12th grade Englishteacher who I loved, Mr.
Harrison, the community collegeinstructor who taught me going
back to school, my advisor as anundergrad, my advisor as a
(08:56):
graduate student, these peoplewho invest themselves in me.
And and you know, one of myprofessors in my graduate
program became a very strongmentor to me.
And so my mom and dad adoptedme as a as a baby.
And um for whatever reason, mymy dad didn't figure out how to
have a real tight relationshipwith me and and uh maybe his own
(09:20):
upbringing.
But this mentor I had at TexasAM in grad school was not like
that.
He he really cared about me andinvested in me and had we had
so many conversations.
And one of the conversations isabout to have my first child,
our our first child.
And um he's he starts talkingto me about, you know, do you
know the difference betweenbetween being a father and a
(09:43):
dad?
I said, it sounds like the sameword to me.
He said, biologically, anyonecan be a father.
It takes work to be a dad, andhere's how you do it.
And in the midst of that, uh atthe end of it, I couldn't, I
couldn't understand why he caredenough about me to impart these
kinds of wisdom.
And he had done so much for meas well.
(10:03):
And I I literally asked him,like, Dr.
Crowt, I don't understand, Idon't get you.
Like, why do you care about me?
I said, How could I ever payyou back for what you've done
for me?
Because I was gonna drop out,all kinds of things, and he'd
done so much for me.
And he said, Um, you you can'tpay me back because you don't
have anything I want.
And uh, but he said, and wewere actually sitting in his car
(10:26):
at the time, he said, I don'tknow what your future holds, but
someday you'll be sittingbehind the steering wheel of the
car, and somebody else will besitting in the pastor's seat,
and they're gonna needsomething.
And um, and when when you aretired, when you're stressed,
when you're distracted, andsomeone reaches out, I want you
to stop and remember this momentand say, This is my opportunity
(10:50):
to pay Dr.
Crouch back.
And so this is before the moviePay It Forward came out, but
the principle is the same.
And I wake up, I'm not kidding,I tell I probably this is maybe
the 15th, 100th time I've toldthe story, but I wake up every
morning thinking about that.
And I don't want to soundnoble.
Uh Dr.
Crouch is noble.
(11:10):
I'm not, but I do feel dutybound when I look at the sea of
students in front of me, when Ilook at our faculty, because I
was a faculty member, when Ilook at our staff members, I I
see my mom and dad who arescratching out a living, trying
to make things happen.
I've tremendous empathy and Itry to think about how they're
(11:30):
thinking, and then think aboutthe fact that I've been placed
in a position where I can changepeople's lives and um in in a
positive way.
And so the goal has always beento pay Dr.
Crouch back by not being tootired to take a phone call, to
go uh sign a birthday cardsomewhere or send a student a
(11:53):
video or send an encouragingnote to a faculty member or a
staff member that I'm remindedevery day that Kelly's not
important, but the presidency isimportant.
And and when I can go dosomething, it means something
that the president was there.
Not that Kelly was there, butthe president was there.
And I think people I think thatresonates with people that they
(12:16):
see that I'm trying to tryingto make their lives matter.
Trying to show that they belongby how I respect them and how I
engage with them.
It doesn't always work, andsometimes I do get distracted,
and sometimes I can't make it toevents, but when I can, like
people said, you it seems likeyou never stop, you're always
(12:37):
going somewhere.
It's just I have trouble sayingno to people because I feel
like that's my job.
It's duty bound for you.
It is, yeah.
Dr. Damphousse (12:44):
It's it's a calling and it is a duty, but
it's a duty I love.
It's I don't feel a burden.
I don't like, oh my gosh, Igotta go to an event tonight.
I can't to me, it's always Iget to go engage with some
students, and maybe somethingmagical will happen.
Here's here's an example.
I don't want to take up toomuch of your time.
So um first week of school,students are on campus and are
(13:07):
doing something, and I get a uha direct message on one of
social media platforms said,Hey, Kate Amp, uh, we're on a
scavenger hunt and we want toget a pitch with you.
It's on the thing.
It's like it's like 11 o'clockat night.
I said, Are you on campus?
I don't know why she thought Iwas on campus, but I said, No,
I'm actually at my house.
But if you want, just come tomy house and I'll take a pitch
with you guys.
And she said, Okay, we'll dothat.
(13:28):
And I gave her my cell phonenumber so she can contact me a
little bit easier to reach out.
So she's texting, she says,Okay, we're walking that way.
We'll be there in about 40minutes.
I said, Do not walk to myhouse.
It's not very safe.
We're living in a hill and it'snot very well lit.
There's no sidewalks.
I said, I'll come to you.
And they said, Really?
I said, Where I said, Where areyou?
(13:49):
Said, well, we're at SewellPark.
I said, I'll meet you at KerbeyLane and let's get in the
parking lot there.
So I go down there and I and Idon't want to sound like I'm
bragging about this experience.
I'm just explaining thesituation.
But I didn't even think twiceabout it because I thought, you
know, Dr.
Crouch would do something likethat and or expect me to do it.
And I'm I'm not so tired, Ican't do it.
So I actually happened to havemy golf cart.
(14:11):
So I drove down there realquick and I took a picture with
them and I came back.
And one of the students wroteme uh that night and said, later
that night, um, and said, wehad a freshman in our group that
was, she was like lonely andlost, and we happened upon her
and said, Hey, come join ourgroup.
(14:31):
And she was like, I feel like Idon't belong here.
Like I just feel I'm homesickand I want to go home.
And then she was walkingaround, and then she was with
the group, and she said, I can'tbelieve the president came and
took a picture of Kirby Lane.
She said, I love this place.
And and I I never thought aboutthe individual, how that might
(14:53):
affect individuals.
And uh in the group, I was justlike trying to accommodate a
group of students.
But I was so grateful for thestudent that wrote me to explain
that it had an incredibleimpact on that freshman who was
like homesick and lost, andmaybe on the verge of just going
home.
And just a simple act ofdriving down the hill, taking a
picture of the door.
(15:13):
It literally took like eightminutes.
Um but it had it might besomething that student remembers
forever.
Yeah, I probably would.
And so and um, and so thosemoments I think inspired me to
keep going.
I talk about this a lot, theattitude of the attitude of
gratefulness, because I'm verygrateful for where I've been.
Uh, and I was when I when Igive up the my I do these uh you
(15:38):
know inspirational talks, Ihope they're inspirational.
I was in with like probablysomeone in your life was your
Dr.
Crouch.
And you should today write thema note.
Not send them a text if that'sall you got, but write them a
handwritten note because theywill probably keep that for the
rest of their life.
That's what I do.
I've got I've got notes in mydrawer and periodically, and I
(15:59):
have a bad day, I might readsome of them.
Um, because first off, it showsthem that you understand what
they did, but it also inspiresthem to keep doing that.
And probably the person you'regonna write to is a school
teacher who's having a bad day,who maybe got yelled at at a
parent teacher conference.
And to have a former studentwrite back and said, I'm in
(16:19):
college today because ofsomething you did in the 10th
grade to me and you inspired me,that that's more than that's
more than money can can provide,because it it's a it it reminds
that person why they do whatthey do.
And if you can discover andremember your why, everything
else just kind of like all makessense when you say, I'm doing
(16:43):
this because of this.
I became a teacher because Iwanted to help students.
And the fact that a studentwrote me back and told me that I
did it, okay, now I, you know,forget the evaluations and you
know, from your principal and soon.
A word from a from a studentcarries so much more weight than
a word from a principal.
Sure.
Judy Oskam (17:03):
You know, sure, sure.
Well, how do you think youcould bottle that?
Because it's that spirit andit's that attitude that I think
is just you see it everywhereyou go and everything you touch.
How do you think students canreally understand that they too
hold power and can connect andmake such an impact?
(17:26):
Because our students arephenomenal.
They are amazing.
Dr. Damphousse (17:29):
You know, you raise such a good point.
That's when I'm speaking withstudents, I one of the
challenges I give to them isyou've been poured into and you
are now, you may not realizethat, but you are now in a
position of pouring into others.
And it may be a younger brotheror sister who's at home who's
thinking, I don't know if I wantto go to college or not, you
(17:50):
know, or I'm struggling withsomething right now.
It could be your peer, maybeyou're a senior and you're
working with a freshman in yourfraternity or sorority, that
somehow they've been putting youin your path.
Eventually you're gonna get ajob somewhere and you're gonna
have an ability to to to um toserve other people in addition
to what you're doing for aliving.
Um and I what what my hope isis people will say, well,
(18:15):
remember that I didn't get hereby myself, that I got here.
Certainly you got up early, youstudied, you sacrificed and so
on.
But if you can think back inyour life and think about those,
those moments where your life,there was a fork in the road and
someone was probably there.
You didn't like make a decisionon your own without some kind
(18:36):
of guidance or someone opening adoor.
And if you can remember those,that might say, okay, now who's
for whom can I open a door?
What doors do I control, andwho can I help walk through
those doors?
And and I think that I'm gonnago back to the spirit of
gratitude.
If you understand where youcame from, then you're grateful
(18:58):
for who you got there, and thenyou start thinking, like, now
it's my job to start doing thesame thing for somebody else.
Just like Dr.
Crouch said, you pay me back bydoing for others what I did for
you, because I don't youliterally have nothing I want
except for that, that you willremember this moment and uh and
know that you're in a positionnow to do for other people uh
(19:22):
what I can't do.
Judy Oskam (19:23):
Yeah.
Dr. Damphousse (19:24):
I'm not there, but you are.
Judy Oskam (19:25):
Yeah.
Dr. Damphousse (19:26):
And I I'm not kidding.
I I literally think of Dr.
Crouch every single day.
Judy Oskam (19:30):
Yeah.
Dr. Damphousse (19:30):
And it's and and it's funny.
Uh I had another experiencewith a teacher, and I won't get
into all the story of it, but itit was my 11th and 12th grade
English teacher.
And he at some point he justcalled me out because I was just
acting like a fool.
And he said, you know, youcould really be something if you
would just behave and and payattention and you could be
better than you are right now.
(19:50):
Hanging around with those boys,it's a bad idea.
And he kind of called me out.
And uh, but I think about him alot too, like all the time.
Judy Oskam (20:00):
Fork in the road.
Yeah, fork in the road.
Dr. Damphousse (20:01):
It's like uh, and I wish I could say, like, I
just decided I was gonna go tocollege that that moment.
So but it was like it was thefirst time in my life that I
remember someone who wasn'tcontractually obligated to say
something nice about me saidsomething encouraging.
I was I was a twelve, I was asenior, it was a September first
week of school as a senior.
(20:22):
My mom had to say nice thingsabout me, right?
Yeah, you're not fat, you'rejust big boned, you know, those
kids they don't know whatthey're doing.
Um but Mr.
McNinch said something to methat that really kind of
stimulated me to start thinkingdifferently about myself.
So years later, I'm telling thestory about Mr.
(20:44):
McNinch all the time.
And I said, I wonder where heis.
And so I start Googling aroundand I find a James McNinch
teaching at a community collegein Saskatchewan.
I said, How many McNinchescould there be?
So I write him and I say, uh,hey, did you teach at J.
E.
Williams High School back inthe late 70s?
The Rice Back says, Yes, I did.
I said, you know, I've beentelling the story about our
(21:06):
interaction first week ofschool, my senior year, when you
said, Mr.
Dampfus, what happened over thesummer that turned your brain
to mush?
That's what he said to me.
And I said, that moment was aturning point in my life.
And I think about that all thetime.
And I just wanted to thank youfor that.
And he wrote back and said, Ihave no idea who you are.
(21:28):
I would never have told thestudent that their brain had
turned to mush.
Um, and you know, I'm glad youthink this, but this could never
have happened.
I promise you, Judy, I did notmake that up.
Who in the right mind wouldmake it?
It happened.
Yeah.
God is my witness.
But he has no idea.
And the story, the, the, the,the story behind that is, or the
(21:51):
lesson here, is that we'reinfluencing people all the time.
Judy Oskam (21:54):
And we don't know it.
Dr. Damphousse (21:55):
And you don't know it.
And we don't know it.
And and isn't, wouldn't it benice for someone to say, hey,
remember that thing?
Yeah.
Remember you said something.
Remember we took a selfietogether?
Like I was, I was thinkingabout dropping out, and you said
something, and it changed mylife.
It it encouraged me to stickwith it.
Um and and so we are always,we're always influencing others
(22:16):
and being influenced by others.
And wouldn't you want to beknown as being the influencer
for good as for bad?
Because you probably in yourlifetime, I have as well, been
influenced by people who weren'tgood people, who did things
that were inappropriate or meanor mean spirited.
And I I wouldn't want people tothink about me the same way I
(22:36):
think about those people.
Speaker 02 (22:37):
Right, right, right.
Dr. Damphousse (22:38):
Um there was um a moment in my life when social
media was just coming out, andum I was at the University of
Oklahoma, and University ofOklahoma has has two hand
signals.
The the one is the number one,we're number one, it's just one
finger pointing up in the sky.
The other one is a downwardhorns.
So you're kind of making fun ofthe University of Texas.
Speaker 02 (23:00):
Yes.
Dr. Damphousse (23:00):
And I was at the OU Texas game, and um a
colleague of mine, he was a he'salso he was the dean of the law
school at the time, he's nowthe president of the university.
And his kids were there, and weall took pictures of the
downward horn sign, and I postedit.
And I just I felt this.
Judy Oskam (23:17):
You doesn't feel good.
Yeah.
Dr. Damphousse (23:19):
Because I thought, why am I like being
negative in this picture?
And there's so much negativity.
People, I can't believe uh thisairline lost my bag, and and uh
you know, all thesecomplaining.
And and I made a decision basedon that picture.
I still picture that picture inmy mind, saying, I'll I'm just
not going to play the cynic, thecynical game on social media,
(23:40):
and I will do everything I tendto to to promote positivity and
edifying other people.
And so my my social mediabrand, if you will, is always
about like, hey, it if you didlike a word cloud, it's always
excellent, great, look at this,you know, good job.
You know, congrats.
Congrats is a big thing.
Thank you to so and so.
(24:02):
Um because I want to use thatplat, those platforms to promote
as much as I can goodness andpromote the university and
things that are happening herebecause the world is filled with
such negativity.
I don't need to add to it.
Judy Oskam (24:17):
So looking ahead, look ahead five years, what are
we gonna see at Texas State?
There's so many exciting thingsgoing on here.
Dr. Damphousse (24:27):
You know, we just finished our master plan,
which it takes, it's a 10-yearmaster plan, so it's from 25 to
35.
And I'm excited about the factthat there's buildings in there
that are great, but there's alsoum a lot of pictures of green
space and pathways and creatingnooks and niches on campus that
(24:50):
accentuate the beauty of thenatural beauty of our campus.
And so the space right belowOld Main, for example, if you
look at pictures of Old Mainback in the olden days, there
was almost no trees there.
And the students were allhanging out of windows and
coming all down Chautauqua Hill.
And that's that was kind of theclass photo, it was always
there.
Well, now the trees have grownup there, but it's also a
(25:10):
rabbit's warrant of there's theold presence houses there, and
there's all these parking lotsand a road there.
Well, we're gonna take all thatstuff out and kind of bring it
back to its original beauty andhave a like a like a gathering
place there, like an outdoorgathering place uh that's part
of the master plan.
Sewell Park's gonna be redoneand Spring Lake area, we'll have
walking trails through there,the Bobcat Trail and the art
(25:33):
projects that will be outdoorart that'll be out there.
Um I think that we have thebones for a really beautiful
campus.
I already think we're one ofthe most beautiful campuses in
America.
But I think it'll be even morebeautiful and not just the
architecture.
I'm folks, I'm thinking moreabout the stuff outside the
buildings so that people feelgood when they're going from
(25:53):
place to place.
Um I I do think place matters,and um and I think if you can
make the place feel a certainway through it uh accentuating
the beauty of it, um that itmakes people happier, it makes
people proud to be at the place.
(26:14):
Uh I think it makes people justbetter people in general
because their mood is lifted byit.
You can't you can't tell mewalking from JCK to Sewell Park
through the fish hatcheriesthing doesn't make you feel
better on that 10-minute walk.
It can be hot as the dickensout there, sure.
But walking through seeingturtles and birds and so on,
(26:34):
being out in nature.
Um, if we can if we canaccentuate that in different
parts of campus, so no matterwhere you are, you have a touch
of nature there.
So uh you can you can makethings better.
So physically it will bedifferent.
We'll be an R1 institution bythat time as well.
And so, you know, by 2027, thethe the the everything's already
(26:55):
cooked.
It's gonna happen.
The announcement comes in 2028.
That's what puts us in a newpeer institution.
There's only about 140 R1institutions in the country.
Uh we'll be, I think, the 11thin the state of Texas.
And so I think our researchprofile will be different.
We've done $165 million inresearch last year, $180 million
this past this year.
(27:16):
And so we're already on thisgreat trajectory to becoming uh
a renowned research uhinstitution.
But our graduate program hasalways been stifled, not through
our own devices, but because wewere limited.
We weren't allowed to have PhDprograms for many years.
And then eventually we had one,then we had two, but we added
11 doctoral programs in oneyear, about a year and a half or
(27:38):
so.
Um and so our doctoral programand our master's program is just
expanding dramatically.
So our research profile willlook different.
I think uh we'll also be, we'vealways been a place like if you
want to get a degree from TexasState, you've got to come to
San Marcus.
And then it was you, you youcould also go to Ran Rock.
(27:58):
Uh 10 years from now, I thinkeveryone will understand that
you don't need to come here toget your degree.
Our growth in onlineprogramming is tremendous.
In fact, my son-in-law isgetting a degree from Texas
State.
He's a school teacher inCollege Station.
He couldn't come here to gethis degree.
So he's gonna get a degree, amaster's degree in criminal
justice, uh, which is he's a lawenforcement instructor in the
(28:20):
in high school.
Um, and so we're taking ourdegrees to the people where they
are online, but we're alsodoing it in regional locations.
And so um, we know that thereare students at Collin County
who are going to Collin College,60,000 students there, Dallas
College, 70,000 students there.
Some of those students want toget a four-year degree from
(28:41):
somewhere.
Uh, to get to Texas State,they'd have to drive past about
eight universities from theDallas area to get here.
Why would they do that?
Well, maybe you offerscholarships or so on, maybe
they want to have the collegeexperience.
But can we offer the samedegree up there where they live,
where they can keep theirpart-time job they have now,
(29:03):
they can park in the sameparking spots, they can go to
the same classrooms, um, butthey get taught by our
professors in their location,still live at home with their
parents, for example.
So first two years of school isfree if you live in their
communities.
Then years three and four arewith us.
You can get a degree, afour-year college degree for
$15,000, and never leave CollinCounty or never leave Dallas
(29:26):
County.
So I think the change we'll seehere, beautification of our
campus, um, and then growth inonline programming and growth in
regional locations for ourdegree programs where we cover
the entirety of the state.
Um, and that's that's our goalright now is trying to plant
ourselves in different locationsacross the state.
(29:46):
So that makes the universitylook different.
And becoming an R1 institutionwill be you know, will be a big
change as well.
Judy Oskam (29:54):
That's great.
And and if you if you to lookback at all of this, and again,
you've only been here a coupleof Years.
What's your main takeaway forstudents who are here now?
What do you want them to leavewith beyond a great academic
experience, which we knowthey're going to get?
Dr. Damphousse (30:10):
Well, I always encourage students to certainly
pay attention to your studies,right?
But there's so much more thatuniversity should be about.
And there's so much opportunityfor students.
If all you do is go to classand sit in your room and study,
you'll get your degree, butyou're going to miss out on a
whole lot of things.
And so getting involved instudent organizations, I think
(30:32):
is vital.
And I think when you do that,that's where you make your
lifelong friends.
You will probably find someonewho 40 years from now is still
your best friend.
Maybe the maid of honor in yourwedding, best man at your
wedding, the person who is yourpallbearer later on.
Well, probably someone you metin student organization, either
Greek life or other studentorganizations that are out
(30:54):
there.
Second is I think that thereare rich opportunities to enrich
your opportunities.
So there are there are greatopportunities to enrich your
educational experience byengaging in these extra efforts,
internships, study abroad, aresearch experience with a
faculty member.
By the way, I was petrifiedover my faculty members.
(31:15):
I didn't know where they camefrom.
I didn't want to go talk tothem.
I heard about this office hoursthing.
It seemed super intimidating,so I never went to office hours.
Our faculty members areincredible, incredibly gifted.
And they are passionate.
Many of them are passionateabout a very small specific
thing, but they're allinterested and interesting.
(31:35):
And our students miss out onnot engaging with our faculty.
If you talk to our currentalumni of a certain generation,
maybe our generation, weprobably look back in our time
in college.
We remember, you know, ourroommate might remember the
person's name, maybe yourcollege buddy you hung out.
But probably one of the thingsthat will stand out is uh I
remember Dr.
(31:56):
So-and-so or the Dean ofStudents or whatever.
Um and and I think the currentstudent misses out on not
creating relationships with ourfaculty.
Our faculty, they could beanywhere.
They love our students.
They they are here because theybelieve in the mission of Texas
State.
And I wish our students wouldtake the time, take advantage of
the opportunity to go meet witha faculty member.
(32:17):
And whenever you get a chanceto talk with them, I always say,
you know, you your teacher, youmight think that person's just
a teacher, but that person isprobably a researcher as well.
And you may not know what to doat an office hour, but you
should Google your professor upand find out what they do.
Read one of their articles andthen say, you know, let go in
(32:40):
there and say, you know, I readthis article you wrote, and it
really was interesting becauseyou talked to me about this
whole process here.
Um you you could probably askthem about their kids and almost
get the same response of pridewhen they're talking about the
research, because that is theirentire at least half of their
(33:00):
career is the discovery andinnovation part of the research
part of their profession.
And they have invested their alarge part of their graduate
career, but also theirprofessional career in in this
research topic.
Now, if someone, not I don'tmean in a fake way, but in
someone who's interested intheir topic, if someone comes to
(33:22):
talk to me about my terrorismresearch that, holy cow, let me
tell you about it.
Like, I can't believe anyonewants to know about it.
Yeah, you know, don't operateany heavy equipment when you're
reading my papers, but I'd loveto talk to you about these
things.
Um, and I think our studentsmiss an opportunity to to meet
someone fascinating by justgoing to their office and
meeting with them.
In the olden days, faculty andstudents tend to have a closer
(33:44):
relationship, and I think we'velost some of that.
Speaker 02 (33:45):
Yeah.
Dr. Damphousse (33:46):
Um, especially as the university's growing and
class sizes have grown and soon.
But it's not because thefaculty don't care.
It's oftentimes becausestudents are uncertain about how
to engage with them.
So I'm hearing a lot aboutmaking connections.
So making connection that youhave done through your life, and
then you're encouragingstudents to do that in faculty
too.
So any last comments you wantto make for this change in
(34:10):
creativity is the focus, andyou've you're just a living
example of that.
Well, it's it's interesting.
You I I wasn't like targetingthat that topic, but actually,
in retrospect, it is aboutcreating relationships.
You know, I'm a I'm asociologist by training.
I was a criminal justiceundergrad, but sociologist.
And that's where I, you know,this idea that I have about
(34:32):
we're always influencing andbeing influenced by people comes
from.
That's a it's a central tenetin sociology about social
interaction.
And uh because as socialbeings, we are engaging in, and
uh there's one of my favoritelines in in that I talk about in
my class is I'm not who I thinkI am.
I'm not who you think I am.
(34:53):
I am who I think you think Iam, you know, because I'm
interpreting you as you'relooking at me.
If you're smiling, you know,oh, she's smiling.
She must think what I'm sayingis interesting.
I'll keep going in thatdirection.
If she frowns, I know, oh,she's not liking that, I'm gonna
go in different.
So we're always engaging inthis response, give and take.
And I think that our lives arericher when we practice that.
(35:15):
And we're I'm I worry aboutlosing the art of the
interaction.
I uh took some students tobreakfast recently, and it was
uh there was 10 of them, andBeth was at one table and I was
at another table.
And uh I thought, I'd love todo it because we get to talk.
And the three of them justpulled out their phone and
started getting on their phone.
(35:35):
And so I ended up talking tothese two, and three of them
just missed an opportunity toengage because they were on
their phone doing, I'm not surewhat they were doing, and I
didn't want to like call themout on it.
Sure.
But I I thought I actuallycommented to Beth later.
I said, Man, she said, Well, mytable is great.
They were all chatty cathys,and and uh we had a great time.
I said, Well, you know, Iyou're you're better at this
than I usually and uh and so uhand I worry sometimes that we,
(35:59):
especially our students, havelost the art of the engagement,
and it's not their fault, it'sjust how they've been raised and
how their life experiences andhow digitized things are and how
how I mean you go to any busstop right now, or go to the
bookstore, or go to the goanyone standing in line.
People are plugged in andthey're on their phone.
Speaker 02 (36:21):
Right.
Dr. Damphousse (36:22):
Ten years ago, you'd be sitting there, you had
to talk to the person next toyou because you didn't have
another form of engaging.
And so it's not their fault.
I just think we've lostsomething by doing that.
Judy Oskam (36:32):
The art of connection.
When I did study abroad, I didthe hub program in Scotland, and
students said they just saidyes to the opportunity.
So getting them out helped themlearn to say yes more often.
Dr. Damphousse (36:45):
Yeah, you know, uh Beth and I went to uh a
concert in Las Vegas uh lastyear, it was a Garth Brooks
concert.
And we walked in the door, theymake you put your phone in a
like this envelope and they theyclamp it so you can't take your
phone out, so you can'tvideotape or anything.
And I was like kind of grumpyabout it because I'm always like
taking pictures and boy, we'rehere with Garth Brooks and so
(37:07):
on.
And I haven't enjoyed a concertso much in my recent life
because I could clap because Ididn't have my phone in my hand.
Speaker 02 (37:16):
Yeah.
Dr. Damphousse (37:16):
And I could engage and watch and take
pictures with my brain like Iused to do instead of relying on
my camera to take pictures.
And Beth and I were talkingabout, well, that's a great
song, and we're singing along.
And I wished we could do moreof that.
I see some schools are doingthat now.
When you go to school, yougotta, everyone's gonna put
their phone in a in a thing andyou can get it at recess or
whatever.
(37:37):
And so um I think if if we dosomething right at this
university, it's that we arehelping people understand how
they can learn to engage withothers civilly, but the
importance of engagement andconnection.
Judy Oskam (37:52):
And connection.
Dr. Damphousse (37:53):
Absolutely.
Judy Oskam (37:53):
Thank you so much, President Damphousse.
Thank you.
Dr. Damphousse (37:56):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much.
Judy Oskam (37:57):
Well, some takeaways from our conversation.
Remember your why.
And if you've been poured into,then you need to pay it
forward, and you can, no matterwhat your age.
Think about those moments, thefork in the road moments.
Which direction did you go andwho helped you get there?
And how can you help othersnow?
(38:18):
And if you understand where youcame from, now you know where
you're going and what you can dofor others.
Well, that's a wrap on the100th episode of Stories of
Change and Creativity.
And before we go, I want tothank you for listening.
You know who you are.
You're sharing the journey withme, and I really, really
(38:39):
appreciate it.
And remember, if you've got astory to share or know someone
who does, reach out to me atjudyoskam.com.
And thanks for listening.
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