March 1, 2024 • 54 mins
Have you ever met someone whose spirit is so infectious that you can't help but feel uplifted in their presence? Chip Murdock from Wilmington College is precisely that kind of individual. In our latest episode, he shares his extraordinary journey and insights on empowering young people with love and respect. His philosophy, shaped by gratitude, joy, and a surprising career shift from music to education, casts a new light on the power of authenticity and dedication in students' lives.
Our conversation with Chip unfolds his unique path, marked by resilience and adaptability, as he moved from delivering pizzas to becoming a beacon for diversity and unity on campus. The stories he shares are not just his own but a mirror reflecting the generational shifts and the challenges faced by today's youth, especially in the pandemic era. It's a compelling look at how patience and understanding are crucial to unlocking the potential within the Gen Z population and how vital it is to support them with the same fervor as a family does.
As we wrap up, Chip gets personal, revealing his aspirations for a post-retirement life filled with music composition and the joy of continuous learning alongside loved ones. His experience reminds us that no matter where life takes us, the essence of family support and the drive to pursue our passions remain integral to personal growth. Tune in to this heartfelt episode to gain a fresh perspective on life's unpredictability and the richness it brings when we embrace it with love and empowerment.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Aisin' Land.
Through it all I've had my ownkids.
I remember what people havedone for me.
So through this process ofadmission process I learned to
build a relationship withfamilies and try to love those
kids as much or honor the lovethat their families have for
those kids.
I've never been able to lovethem as much as they own, yeah,
(00:20):
but I gotta recognize that love.
So I always had that approach.
Jason, I'm treating every kidlike I would, with my kids to be
treated and treat them likethey were my own kids.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome to the Mic'd Up and Motivated Podcast, where
we interview passionateprofessionals who empower young
people, impact lives and createpositive change in schools,
organizations and communities.
I've only never mind them.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
I'm a liar, a smirker , a smirker, a smirker, a
smirker, a smirker, a smirker, asmirker, a smirker, a smirker,
a smirker, a smirker, a smirker,a smirker, a smirker, a smirker
, a smirker, a smirker.
Be myичего, be my mountain base.
(01:25):
Thank you for tuning in to theMic'd Up and Motivated podcast.
I'm your host, jason A Dixon,and in this episode I interview
(01:49):
Chip Murdoch, who is a SeniorDirector of Diversity and Campus
Activities at WilmingtonCollege in Wilmington Ohio.
Brother Chip Murdoch, how youdoing?
It's great to see you, man.
I appreciate you joining ustoday.
You too, you're too great, MissCoach.
Hey, man, again, it's great tosee you and I want to start off
(02:11):
by just sharing this with theaudience and you as well.
I don't know if you knew this,but every time I play back
videos of when I've spoken atWilmington College, there's
maybe like three or four whereI'm speaking and I hear you in
the background.
You're like my cheerleader man.
(02:33):
I hear you saying I mean, it'snoticeable, anybody that's
trying to change it to the videocan hear it.
I just want to.
I don't know if I've ever toldyou this, but I really
appreciate you, man, and justhaving that encouragement, man,
when you speak, it's priceless.
So I wanted to share that withyou before you get started.
Appreciate it, my man,appreciate you, appreciate it,
(02:54):
yeah, and I get the feeling, manI know, of Mineralogy.
You're that way all the timeI've seen you working with
students.
you know, just on campus You'rethat way all the time.
Where does that come from?
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Man, it's my mother, you know, and all the people
that have poured into me.
You know, through the years andyou know, going through life as
we all have, I've just beenconditioned to have an attitude
of gratitude, man, and justappreciate the things around us
and the people that have pouredinto our students, the fact that
(03:28):
I've been, the, fact I evenwake up.
You know what I mean.
I think Thursday or last week,you know, I was in the middle of
the student center just tellingpeople how happy I was to be
alive.
Yeah, you know, and it's justit, just, you know, it's a
spring inside of my heart.
You know, and I think you know,god has placed that joy in my
(03:49):
heart.
Man, for real, and I love tocelebrate people and I, you know
, I really do, and I get excitedwhen I see others pouring and
sharing their gifts.
You know, that's what.
That's what it's all about,yeah, and it's not about
competition, it's not aboutbeing threatened or jealous by
anybody.
It's about opening up ourcampus, opening up our hearts,
(04:10):
open up our heads to others whohave things to share.
So I think it just makes itstronger, man.
So that's kind of stuff thatmotivates me, jason.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Yeah, I love it and I can attest to it because I've
seen it up close and personaland I'll say this as somebody
who's been on college campusesyou know, and you're the energy
and authenticity you bring towhat you do I got to say it.
You don't see it much,especially on the college campus
(04:39):
, from adults.
Do you notice that?
And is this something likewhere you say, oh man, you know,
I'm a little bit different, youknow?
Speaker 1 (04:47):
and Bruh, I tell you, I don't know man, I don't look,
I got blinders on sometimes,right, and I don't toot my own
horn.
Sometimes I feel like I won'tcall it imposter syndrome, but
it's like man, I'm here everyday.
You know, I'm working in thehigher ed and I never try to
(05:10):
judge or not even call it judge.
But I, you know I come into arelationship with naive thoughts
.
Right, I'm naive.
To believe that everybody ismeans.
Well, you know what I'm saying.
Yeah, that same thing.
So I don't have time to sort itout and I just go forward, man,
(05:31):
and try my best to have fun andhave people walk away from me
with their dignity and feelinggood about life.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Yeah, yeah.
And you can see that I meanit's just your energy is
infectious, man.
Obviously the students love you.
It's inspiring to see so 20plus years at Wilmington College
, right, yeah, yeah 24 years manand counting.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Actually next March or next month, I'm sorry.
In March, on the 20th, I'll begetting my 25th year.
Wow.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Congratulations, congratulations over that and
we'll dive into that, man, but Ijust I want to go back, man,
because this is really what youknow what the podcast is about
humanized our heroes, people whowork with young young people
and power young people withdifferent spaces and I know a
little bit about your story fromlast time we had a chance to
connect.
But take me back, man.
(06:23):
Okay, how did you?
How did you?
How did you wind up doing whatyou're doing right now?
Tell me about that journey.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Wow, you know, brother, I didn't start out with
a pursuit, you know, to be inhigher ed.
I grew up, was born inCincinnati, grew up in Michigan,
the son of a anthropology majorat University of Michigan, and
this was in the mid 70s, so I'ma product of the 60s, 70s, 80s,
(06:56):
90s and on, right, yeah, and wewere up in and our bird during,
you know, just post Vietnam,there was a lot of social people
.
You know, my mother and I weretogether.
It was just us and we were.
You know, she was young, so shehad me at age 17.
So she was figuring things outand we moved up to Michigan for
(07:18):
her graduate work, so she was inher mid 20s figuring some
things out.
So she was taking me to a lotof different places, man, to
Indian powwows, to synagogue, tothe shrine of the black Madonna
in Detroit.
You know, just learning aboutpeople, right, yeah, and she's a
free spirit, so I would meetother folks and I was always
(07:40):
didn't realize I was beingprepared for this journey at
that early age, right, but shewas also a singer and and you
know, she never had a chance toreally get out and be in bands,
but she'd always sing at homeand she'd have an expansive
music library.
So I was always tapping intothat.
Yeah, she moved us away.
She graduated in 78.
(08:03):
And she came home one day, jason, honestly, and said, chip, we
need to be near the continentaldivide.
So we're gonna move to Arizonaand you can pick the city, but
we're gonna move to Arizona.
We need to be near our Hispanicand Native American brothers
and sisters, we need to be nearthe continental divide.
And I was like I don't evenknow what the continental divide
was.
I know nothing about iconic,you know shifts.
(08:25):
So only thing I knew in Arizonaknew the Phoenix Suns, because
I was a little sports geek, okay, and I knew about the Tucson
open and I was like, you know,Tucson open sounds cool.
I said, how about we go toTucson?
So this is the honest truth,man, we, we, we moved to Tucson
for a year and on February of1979, during my eighth grade
(08:49):
year, man, I went to a Santanaconcert, saved up my allowance.
I think it cost me maybe 16dollars or something to go see
Santa Ana in this arena and andthe kale center I think was it
was the name of it in TucsonUniversity, arizona, mm-hmm.
And saw a gentleman come up anddo a percussion solo and at
that age I knew I was gonna dothat the rest of my life.
So I just Got into music.
(09:13):
Wow, we ended up moving back toMichigan and we were near the
Ann Arbor FC, detroit area and Ibegged is just garage band and
let me in the group Mm-hmm.
Yeah, it took me a long timeand I learned my bet, you know,
played this at somedown-to-summer disco.
Yeah, that was a song auditionwith those bad girls and I did
(09:33):
this bongo roll and they let mein and I didn't realize that
that that union with that groupwas gonna Change the course of
my life.
And I'm not saying that to bedramatic, jason, I'm saying that
because the mentorship I havefrom the manager and and and the
head of the band Saved me fromgetting involved in a lot of
things, because that gentlemanwould come and he had a
(09:55):
distinguishable, big,distinguishable red van that he
would drive around and pick allof us up who was in the band,
all young black men that were inthe band, and he would get us
after school.
You know, a lot of our friendswere getting in the dope.
They were getting them to slingin like that.
Rob Williams will come and pickme up every day, take me to his
(10:15):
house after school.
Never asked where it died, butwe were.
We were a good, Good littleband man.
So that that got me going,right, yeah, so I had some, some
, some, some structure.
You know, thank you to JimmyCarter at the time because he
has government programs for kidsthat went to privilege.
So I work at the job and had aJerry curl and all that made it
(10:38):
out of high school, went to thearmy and and Serving in the US
Army for a Few years and andafter that journey I went off to
college and that's when Istarted studying music.
Long story short, that musiccareer led to a wonderful career
at Pizza Hut where I was adelivery driver for a few years.
Right, yeah, fireball offenseone, you know, a pizza hut is to
(11:04):
run out of gas.
Right, and here I am in Oxford,ohio, because my mother had
moved from Michigan and startworking at Miami University in
Ohio.
Oh, I'm a shot out to Miami andI Ran out of gas man in the
rain and they didn't comebusiness pre cell phone man, you
know.
So this family all back to thestore and they were like a chip
(11:25):
we can't come get you, man.
We got our delivery over hereon Mabel Street or whatever, so
I had to walk about four milesin the rain.
You know that force game, right?
What happened, man, is it hitme and I was like I don't have
to do this, I'm gonna go back tograd school.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
This was in August, yeah you know I'm.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
And the next day I'll go into the music department
and I Apply.
As I go in the music department, say hey, I want to go to grad
school here.
They say what's your name?
I said Charles Murdoch and likechip, I'm like, yeah, they said
we've been waiting on you fortwo years.
You apply.
Two years ago, you accepted inour composition program.
We just never heard from right.
Are you kidding me?
So all this came to be in theturn of a week.
(12:08):
Man, I'll go in there.
And I was already accepted.
They had discontinued thecomposition program, but they,
they grandfathered me through.
Yeah, he said we don't have agrad assistantship for you.
But you know what?
Go talk to dr Evans in the gradapartment.
I go to the grad department.
The day I walk in she says wegot a fee waiver for you.
I went to grad schoolcompletely free.
(12:28):
The next day after that.
I have a mentor, my cause meand said hey, chip, I'm starting
the leadership program here inMiami.
This is the last.
They just gave me anassistantship.
This is the last spot.
Are you interested?
Yes, so I took a gradassistantship at Miami for three
years and and what they callMPLP, the minority leadership
professional program.
So okay for grad school.
(12:49):
But what it was, jason?
That my job had nothing to do amusic.
My job was to go recruit Blackand brown students out of
surrounding areas, mainlyHamilton, cincinnati, to come to
my their ally or apply sciences.
So paper science, engineering,etc.
So long story short, fastforward.
I Moved to Nashville to go toTennessee State to study music
(13:14):
it.
After that I got my master's inMiami but wanted to be near
music center.
So I went to the last bit,jason.
I got called back Up this waybecause I met my girlfriend at
the time who I end up there.
So I guess I married myex-girlfriend, right?
So Anyway, she had a job and Ididn't.
(13:34):
When I finished at TennesseeState, yeah, yeah, and the only
job position I subbed in thearea and, and there was a
principal in the area that likedme a lot, I was a substitute
teacher and in Wilmington publicschools for about six months.
Mm-hmm, just, this particularprincipal like me and said, chip
, there's a position atWilmington College and they're
looking for a diversityadmission recruiter.
(13:56):
Boom, wow, that's how did it?
Wilmington man.
And I say that to say that you,you know, you can tell God your
plans.
You can tell the University ofplans, but those plans don't
always work out right.
I'm saying best way God laughsis to tell him.
Tell him your plan.
You're right, yeah, but I wasbeing prepped for all this man.
(14:16):
So I've Wilmington ever sinceand you just never know who you
hire.
Right?
You know they didn't know myheart, they didn't know my deal,
they didn't know my passions,but they also were able to allow
me to express my gifts here atthe campus with fuel.
All of that too.
Sorry to be so long-winded, butthat's the longest short of it,
(14:37):
brother.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
No, that's, that's an amazing story, you know, and
I've heard Parts of it, but tohear, hear it in its totality, I
mean it just hits home and it'sall inspiring.
And then, what I love aboutwhat you do, in addition to know
are so many things is that youfound a way to, to blend your
love of music and with what youdo on the campus.
(15:00):
I mean, like I, you know, Iwould be curious to know how
many students Understand andknow that you love music, you
know.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Not too many.
In case you're close to me,I'll talk to you about drums.
And, by the fact, on our wayback from Pittsburgh today I had
a group of students.
Any kid that's close to me, anystudent that's close to me, is
going to get baptized intochipmology music, right, right,
and you know I'm a Grace Jonesfan.
I probably won a 34 fan stillleft in America.
(15:32):
But I tell them all the timehere's one of my favorite songs
and it's, you know, slave to therhythm.
My kids beat down it.
So they know my passion and Igive them impromptu music
lessons, even if they don't care.
I talk philosophy with them.
The ones close to me know, youknow, that to me they might hear
, oh yeah, chip city play drumsor whatever.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Yeah, no, man, but still that's good.
You find a way to put thatpassion into your work and again
.
I'm out of the fact that youstill find a way to indulge in
that passion that you have, thatgift that you have.
And when you talk about whenyou went to Nashville and how
(16:15):
your plans were to be near, youknow a hub, you know a musical
hub.
Then those players gotredirected.
You wound up back at Wilmington.
Were you disappointed at all?
Where you're like man, I admirea different plan.
No, man.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
And I don't want to get deep with you, but it felt
right.
It felt like the time was right.
Yeah, when I was in Nashvillefor a little over two years, I
went down there at 97, studiedtwo years and actually at the
same time was able to do alittle bit of road work with a
rock fan and, you know, tour theChitlin circuit down south.
(16:51):
Okay, all right.
And you know, do the starvingmusician thing and I was real
successful with starving.
Okay, I got you on that one.
My best friend and brother fromanother mother, you could call
him a fraternal soulmate.
His name is Mike Freeman.
He's a pastor now up in Urbana,but he and I were a music
(17:13):
production team.
So we were always writing, wewrote jingles and stuff like
that, and what happened was wehad latched on to a really
strong record label or notstrong, but a talented group of
writers and a record label uphere in Cincinnati.
We were writing a lot ofmaterial.
We had connected with the groupthat was trying to get signed.
(17:34):
So going back, coming back toOhio, was not a big thing
because I figured, you know, I'mjust right up the highway from
Nashville, we'll stay connected,et cetera.
Again, telling God your plansright.
I ended up, mike and I ended upjoining up with a blues group.
Instead, we toured from Ohio.
We were playing the East Coasta lot, my first year, my first
(17:56):
three years, at Wilmington.
Man, I was, I was moonlight,literally.
I would, mike, take a vacationday on a Friday.
We leave town on Thursday andgo play.
Next year we plan up inBleecker Street, up in Manhattan
, or we're playing, you know, inMemphis, or playing, you know,
detroit, or we hit Sarasota, wehit Delaware, we had all these
spots right, but we were doingthat over the weekends, man, and
(18:18):
it was just a grind, and but Iwas still exercising the music.
And what ended up happening isone day, maybe three years into
it, man, I come home one nighton a Sunday night, my wife
sitting on the couch with ourbaby son, our youngest kid, and
he's breathing so hard.
Jason, he's asthmatic, wedidn't know it and he had
superior allergies.
(18:39):
He's breathing, man, and I'mseeing his rib cage.
He's sucking so much air sohard and I was like, okay, tim,
I'm gonna get off the road andthat's it.
And so you know, I told theguys at the end of that year you
know, we finished that, thatthat schedule.
I got to stay home and I thinkabout the scripture man, that
this is greater love.
(19:00):
Have no man than one who wouldlay down his life for his
brother, not to distort it, buttaking life out of the context
that we think of normally.
Honestly, I'm not too my ownhorn, but that was a point that
I had to lay down my life, mydreams and my you know passions
(19:23):
for my kid and for my family,and you know all of that and did
it willingly.
And then, lo and behold, maybea week or two later, I get a
call from a friend in town toplay in a house band at one of
the most prestigious restaurants, a five-star restaurant in the
city.
I was making more money and I'mhome every night, you know, and
(19:43):
I'm just thinking for othergigs.
So that's how I kept it alive.
And the school has been really,really generous.
As far as let me be myself, youknow what I mean.
And let me, you know I can doprograms with drumming.
I can do, you know they are.
Also allow me to teach oncampus.
I teach a sound productionclass, so I'm getting that fixed
(20:05):
and I'm being able to, you know, do my thing.
So that's how it wasn't hard,man.
You know you really do it withthe right spirit and I've never
held that over my kid's headeither.
You know I got four kids, man,and they were all gifted
musically.
One of my sons is was upstairsright now in his room.
He's got a little mini studioup there producing beats, yeah.
(20:27):
Other son is in New York.
He's a DJ yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Wow, Wow, that was fun, man.
Wow, that's amazing man To hearyou know, like you talked about
the description and you talkedabout laying down your life,
surrendering your plans, and youknow I run a boys program where
we talk about what does manhoodlook like and healthy
(20:54):
masculinity, and when you sharedthat you know again, that's
that embodies what it means tolead and to set the tone for the
rest of your family and, likeyou said, put aside your dreams,
your ambitions, and then whathappened, what happened to you,
Like you share, is just aperfect example of how I believe
(21:14):
God honors obedience.
And so when you talk about that,again it's amazing, man, and
again you've been fruitful andamazing what you do, obviously
making a great impact.
You know, Chip, you talked alittle bit about and now you
mentioned some names, somepeople that that guided you and
helped you along the way.
(21:35):
Talk a little bit more aboutthose people, because you and I
know you need people to guideyou and help you along the way.
So who are some of those peopleyou know?
Really, they really helped youget to this point and continue
to help.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Man, I'll give you a few.
I'll give you a few lighthousesof buoys across this lake.
Here, yeah, in high schoolthere was a mentor.
We again thanks Jimmy Carter.
This CEDA program would have usgo out and work.
This was ninth, 10th grade.
We worked summer jobs.
It was for underfunded,under-resourced, you know, black
(22:12):
youth or youth in the nation.
It could be anywhere.
But they gave us jobs.
Right to go work.
But before you worked you had todo a mentoring.
There was a mentor there andyou get a life skill lesson.
Before it went out and pickedup trash off the streets of
Ypsilanti and prune the flowersof the Ypsilanti Public Library.
But there was a gentleman namedCarl Williams who was our
(22:33):
mentor for our group and Carljust taught me the basics of
acknowledging a human being.
Just, you know you make eyecontact with a person, nod your
head and say hello.
You know you just connectedwith a person.
Right, when you shake a hand ofa person, look them in the eye.
You know when you say your name, say it loud.
You know just little thingslike that.
(22:54):
So that helped me right there.
And then, when I started workingon, you know, fast forward.
Let me just get right up toWilmington, my predecessor.
His name was Art Brooks.
He started the Office here,diversity and Inclusion.
Back then it was MulticulturalAffairs, but he started this
(23:14):
office in 95.
And when I worked at Wilmington,started working at Wilming in
2000,.
He kind of took me under hiswing because I was the admission
of his operation.
I was doing the recruiting, hewas doing the support of
students and he supported me andshowed me just what it takes to
love students on and off campusbecause he would go to court
(23:37):
sometimes with students Astudent get thrown in jail or
something like that.
He was there visiting students,right.
So he showed me that I had twogreat bosses.
First boss, her name was TinaGarland in admission and she was
a great support and a mentorand work partner.
And now I work for anotherwonderful sister named Sigrid
(24:02):
Solomon, who hired me on in 2015.
Let me move across campus andget into student affairs, and
the list goes on.
But those are people that havebeen real significant in my
higher ed life and not to.
(24:23):
I want to get into mygrandmother and my mother.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
I love the fact that you shared those names, but I
can't let you.
I got to talk about the mom andgrandma.
I mean brother, okay, when Ifirst heard you talk about that
a little bit, you know and Iremember the day when you
alluded to it just shared alittle bit about that experience
(24:53):
and then to hear how itcatapulted you in your life, man
, in addition to the people thatyou talked about that have
helped you professionally momand your grandma you know what
was it, or what was it?
The one, or a couple, twothings that they instilled in
(25:13):
you that still helped you tothis day, man.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
My mother just instilled in me just loving,
loving people, respecting peopleregardless of where they are.
You know what I mean.
That's the basics, and if youever meet her, she's incredible.
You know, she's about five footone, walks with a cane,
survived a train wreck,literally.
So you know I hear people talkabout you know this is a train
(25:43):
wreck.
No, I can tell you about atrain wreck, yeah, and she's
still walking the day.
But her spirit is so positive.
So I learned that from her and Ithink I just, you know, with my
grandmother it was, ourrelationship was so different
and tight, man, she did so manythings that I miss her every day
.
You know, we lost her in 99.
And she was almost like mymother was my mother, but my
(26:06):
grandmother was mama.
Yeah, and just sacrificial love.
And I'll tell you two thingsshe did.
That's what I learned from mygrandmother, and the sacrificial
love and the fact that home wasalways there and I could go, do
what I wanted to do and give mydreams a shot, but home was
gonna be there.
But two quick things, jason.
(26:27):
This is what my grandmother andgrandfather did for me once I
was going through basic training.
I was fortunate enough to dobasic training about two hours
from Cincinnati where mygrandparents lived.
I was down in Fort Knox,kentucky, maybe three hours and
my mother was still up inMichigan.
But in the middle of basictraining, man and we know, basic
(26:48):
training is hell, hellaciousright Back in the days of eight
days, three weeks I mean eightweeks, three days of, but they
had this thing called family daywhere your family could come
down and visit you During midcycle I was a platoon leader
Actually I was senior squadleader, so I was over an entire
(27:09):
platoon and I asked my drillsergeant my family's coming, can
I, you know, spend some timewith him?
He said yeah, yeah, yeah, comeon base.
And I was like you know what?
My grandmother wanted to takeme off base for a minute.
And he's looked at me and youdo use that.
So think about this Doing basictraining to be able to go home.
And he said whatever toucheshis heart.
He said, and I'll tell you whatyou can do anything you want
(27:32):
with some family, but you betterbe back here at 730 for F
formation If United formationyou were considered AWOL period.
And he looked at me and I said,okay, my grandmother drove down
to Fort Knox, picked me up,drove me back to Cincinnati, had
a pot of her spaghetti and myit was my favorite dish and her
rolls ready for me for dinnerthat night, got me home, got me
(27:57):
up in the morning and drove meback.
You know what I'm saying.
So imagine a six hour roundtrip just to do that for me.
And I was like there's no wayI'm gonna fail this.
So I went on and did that andthen actually fast forward, go
rewinding my senior prom.
We didn't have a car and wealways wanted to take our dates
(28:22):
out in the car.
I didn't have a car, my motherdidn't have a car and my
grandmother and grandfatherdrove up from Cincinnati up to
Ypsilanti, michigan, and they'reCapri classic so I can take
that car for prom.
So those are lessons, and thoseare lessons that he can't even
put words to, but that now Inever forgot it and I've learned
(28:47):
to.
Yeah, I don't know, man, Ican't even explain.
I don't mean to ramble, I'msorry.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
No, no, no, man.
This is your journey, this isyour story man.
This is what the podcast is allabout.
What you talking about?
A firm foundation I'm a firmfoundation and just you.
You talking about they sharingthose things.
And your grandmother her spiritstill lives on within you.
And your mom you know again asyou describe her.
(29:14):
I can see your mom in you justin the way you described her.
So, brother, you're doingamazing work, man.
I appreciate it.
Man love you.
You're about your journey, yourstory man.
That's transitioned a littlebit and talk in your role at
(29:36):
Wilmington.
You've seen a lot of differentthings, I'm sure, throughout
your years there.
What would you say was the mostchallenging moment that you
experienced?
Speaker 1 (29:49):
at Wilmington.
Oh man, I think maybe last yearwe had a really big, big
turnover on campus with ouradministration and things that
started with the dismissal ofour first African-American
president.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Please welcome, jason .
Speaker 1 (30:04):
A Dixon.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
Everybody in here has a talent and you have a gift
and you were given that gift sothat you can go change the world
.
There's a world out herewaiting for you.
There's a world out here thatneeds your talent.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
From a struggling team to a first-generation
college graduate.
Coach Jason is one of today'srising youth motivational
speakers for middle school, highschool and college students.
Equipped with passion and theunique ability to create a
heartfelt connection, hisempowering message of hope and
resilience drives lasting changeand resonates with audiences on
multiple levels.
(30:44):
If your school, organization orevent is looking for a dynamic
speaker to inspire, motivate andhelp increase student success,
book Coach Jason today.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Well, you talked about what it was like during
that moment when everythinghappened went down with the
president.
Talk a little bit about what itwas like on campus, what the
climate was like on campus,going through all of that from
the student's perspective andthe staff.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
OK, yeah, man, it was tough.
There were a lot of folks thatwere celebrating they might have
had all the facts right or theyjust heard this, this and that,
but there were quite a few,especially staff members, that
were really, really upset at howthings went down the campus.
(31:41):
Right now I am thelongest-tenured African-American
employee on campus.
Didn't look at the stats to seeif I'm the longest-tenured
minority on campus so, yeah, myvoice is amplified by my
position and my longevity andtenure here at the campus.
(32:06):
But for students I served as ananchor for their concerns.
Our Black Student Initiativereally has some issues and we
met with the Board of Trustees.
They wrote a letter, theydrafted a letter to the board
and the students had a voice,right Spoken, a couple of public
(32:29):
forums had opinions and thingslike that.
So I was able to express myself.
And then one thing I realized,jason, is that one feeling I had
through this is being candid Ifelt butt naked because we did
not have a Black and Browncoalition on campus, a subgroup,
(32:54):
that we didn't have a safespace that we could talk and
there was nothing formally setup.
So during that time I was ableto establish and suggest that
hey, let's get a diverse staffand faculty coalition together
where we can talk about thesethings and maybe draft our own
statement about things.
So, down the road, leave thatkind of legacy right.
(33:16):
So that was part of what we did,and my boss is African-American
, so she was also in positionsto exercise her voice, help with
unifying the President'sCouncil, things like that.
And then I was really close tostill really close to a lot of
(33:41):
white staff and faculty who weremore upset just as upset and
not more upset than me and vocalWe've had.
We lost a lot of people we lost.
We had people step away becauseof this and we were in other
positions.
Yeah, so we were really in apeople man.
But one thing I said as long asI'm here one of my jobs here is
(34:03):
to unify people, is to bringpeople together right and
galvanize the campus.
And it got to a point where Isaid let's do a cookout, so a
big cookout, and it was ahealing, it was therapeutic for
me.
I needed to, we needed to keep,we got to keep moving and start
healing.
So we did that at the end ofthe year, man, and that was last
(34:27):
year, and we just did a soulfulcompetition and somebody came
back to me and I guess overheardsomeone saying about me on
campus.
That really touched me.
It was like man, nobody canbring us together, bring this
campus together, shit.
That makes me feel good, man,and I ain't about to my horror,
because I don't really feel likeI'm doing that much.
(34:48):
Man.
I'm trying and I've got warts,I'm trying to.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
I got my flaws and everything, man, but just I tell
you, I know you're not about to, but you've left a legacy and
whoever has to follow you, man,they have some big shoes to fill
.
I'm telling you.
I'm telling you because I echowhat those students said about
(35:16):
you and, being having visitedWilmington, I think, on four
different occasions, I've seenit a close and personal.
Like you do, you galvanize, youunify the campus, and you know,
and so I echo those sentiments.
You know, I know that that'sbeen who you are, but was it
(35:40):
hard to find a way to be that ona college campus?
Because, again, we know thatdynamics in college are
different, not like high school,right, you know, but that's
when I think of that, a unifiedcampus or school.
I think of high school becausethey're, you know, when college
just everybody just kind ofoperating in silos.
(36:01):
How did you, how were you ableto become that person where you
galvanize and you unify collegestudents who want to do their
own thing?
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Man, admission work really being an admission, you
should already any admissioncounselor is going to have a 80
to 90% failure rate right whenthey do the recruiting right.
Most students back into my dayit was more like one out of four
students that apply might cometo your school.
(36:33):
You know you'll be lucky if youget half of those students to
visit.
If they visit, chances arethey're going to stay, you know,
and all that good stuff.
So most of the people you'regoing to lose, right?
So I was always learning tocelebrate the ones that are
there.
Yeah, and Jason man, through itall, I've had my own kids.
I remember what people havedone for me.
(36:54):
So through this process ofadmission process, I learned to
build relationships withfamilies and try to love those
kids as much or honor the lovethat their families have for
those kids.
I'll never be able to love themas much as their own, yeah,
families, but I got to recognizethat love.
So I always had that approach,jason, of treating every kid
(37:15):
like I would want my kids to betreated and treat them like they
were my own kid.
You know good or bad, tough love, or you know sugars and cream,
right, and that I think wascontagious.
You know through the studentsthat I knew and they realized
that, yeah, chip is legit, chip,you know, and so you know.
(37:38):
I tell you.
Another upside down blessingtoo on campus was that all of
our officers are understaffed,right.
Yeah, we get creativity, we getto be creative, we get to do
different things.
So I was always able to expressmy personality in programs and
things like that, and then otherstaff members started to see
hey, chip, you know cool.
(37:58):
And then I was embraced by themusic department when I got here
.
Yeah, they allowed meperformances and stuff.
So that's just the location ofwhere I landed.
If I landed at a bigger school,more political and structured.
Don't know how my career wouldhave gone.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
Yeah, yeah absolutely , and that's a great point to
make You're able to bloom whereyou're planted.
You know and shine.
You know Absolutely.
I love to see that.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Absolutely.
Yeah, I've been on somedifferent soil types, right,
right, right.
I've always been able to.
Honestly, I blossom where Ibloom where I'm buried man or
whatever that means, would yousay blue.
Speaker 3 (38:40):
Blue where you're planted Planted, not buried.
Planted, yeah, that's okay, man, but you still shine, you shine
, you shine.
Well, chip, one of thequestions I wanted to ask.
You know that I've beenthinking about, and who better
to answer this question than you?
So this is Black History Monthand one of the things that I've
(39:05):
been seeing around differentcollege campuses.
Again, it's always I love tosee, like the different types of
celebrations and how, you know,this generation pays homage to
you, know our history.
I want to ask you what's beenthe biggest difference in how
(39:29):
this generation celebrates BlackHistory Month versus maybe when
you started, like in 2000?
Has there been a big shift?
Has there been more excitement?
That's excitement when it comesto that and celebrating,
recognizing panhomies to ourhistory.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
That's a toughie.
It's year to year right.
Yeah.
Now the ways we celebrate aredifferent because of technology
and things.
This generation has afforded alot more vehicles.
We can do these Zoom piecesright.
You got higher quality movies.
You got, you know, the socialmedia right, all those kind of
(40:13):
things.
When I say higher quality, I'mtalking about like digital and
cool places that go watch themand all that.
There's still great classesback then, but I think the
energy honestly is about thesame really, especially in this
community.
We've been doing an annualMartin Luther King program with
the community for ever since artstarted it, I want to say, in
(40:35):
the late 90s.
I've been able to keep that andthere was another woman who
worked here named DeniseHamilton, right before me, right
after art and right before me.
She kept things going.
So we and in some years,depending on our student
leadership on campus, you know,if we get some good, motivated
students that get others going,then that amps things up.
(40:56):
But one thing I will say isprobably now there's probably a
lot more on campus.
It appears to be more on campus, more options, because when I
put a schedule together, I'mgiving people excursions,
opportunities, movieopportunities.
Sometimes I put a podcast linkon there Definitely will keep us
(41:18):
in the queue, and that menu isbigger.
So, yeah, yeah, and I'm alittle more intentional than the
my predecessors were when itcomes to just going at staff and
faculty to and inviting them toprograms and celebrating our
own on campus.
So, yes, the energy is the same, but I'm getting more
(41:42):
opportunities now.
Speaker 3 (41:43):
Right, right, yeah, absolutely, and I love to see
that, and I'm glad you touchedon that because I'm seeing you,
don't this?
After, like this generation,it's a lot of I'm gonna call it
anger aggression, you know, andso I think a lot of their voices
want to be heard.
You know the voices want to beheard, and so I know I love
(42:07):
seeing stuff like that, wherethey have options, they're
giving a platform to talk aboutand celebrate things.
Talk about things, which leadsme to my next question what are
some of the, the trends thatyou're starting to see on
college campuses, good or bad,when you think about the
students?
Speaker 1 (42:30):
Biggest trend is isolationism.
Oh, wow, yes, they just stay ontheir phone, man.
They isolate and stay on thisthing.
Yeah, and you know, it's noteven a trend, it's an epidemic
man.
I think that sometimes theapathy bug hits us where they
(42:56):
just don't not into it or theywant to know who's going my
friend go, I'll go, etc.
Etc.
I think that's combination whyI just came back from a
conference for campus activitiesand they even have sessions on
how to catch disengaged you knowstudents or get students
interest up on a positive note.
(43:17):
A trend that's happening, Ithink to via social media, right
, is I see, students starting tocome back together, if that
makes sense.
Others, undercurrent andgroundswell students that are
getting sick of being indoorsand they're a little more
receptive to you know, come intoprogramming and things like
(43:41):
that.
So you know it's a seesaw man,right, it really is.
Another thing I'm finding, too,is that mental health is a big
thing, that and students areencouraged to tap in and do a
(44:02):
lot of self-assessment, right,you know.
So there's a push for mentalhealth that I had never seen
before in my previous you know,previous time, and now we're
destigmatizing some of thesethings too.
So it's okay for a person toadmit that they're depressed, or
it's okay, you know, and I dothink, through social media, not
(44:23):
to.
And what people are seeing onyou know, online.
This generation is the mostdiverse generation we've seen,
the most inclusive and tolerant,so this, in a way, is helping
students accept others, you know, and stay that you know.
Now, the flip side of that issometimes they just don't fend
(44:47):
for themselves.
Right, we got to encourage them.
Speaker 3 (44:50):
You know what you better advocate and speak up for
yourself.
Yeah, yeah, you're right.
You're right.
That's one of the things youknow I'm talking.
I have an initiative going onin my hometown right now where
we're focusing on self-advocacyand resilience, and I think I
was reading something the otherday.
They were talking about Gen Z.
(45:10):
You know the column, so it was,you know, obviously subjective,
but they were saying Gen Z,this is the least resilient
generation.
You know.
You know you come from aninteresting perspective because,
again, you're on a collegecampus.
(45:31):
You know we've seen thesedifferent students and to that,
what do you say when somebodymakes a statement like that?
Speaker 1 (45:39):
It's tough man See.
I see this generation asresilient because it came from
COVID.
Speaker 4 (45:45):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
You know it's a pandemic and things in there.
They're now finally crawlingback out of you know, back into
terror.
You know terra no-transcript butbut I would say, jason, man,
it's, it's.
It's the thing that about thisgeneration is that with that
(46:10):
there's a lot of sensitivity,right, and so sometimes in
personal micro situations, theymight not be the most resilient,
because if someone sayssomething that in the most
friendly tone, oh, you knowthey're cowering in things or
they're thinking somebody is,you know, not to just diminish
(46:31):
bullying by any means, but youknow, bullying now is blown up
to so many categories thateverything, everything they
identify as bullying, sometimes,instead of sometimes, we just,
you know, have to defend forourselves, right, and you know,
speak up, and I'm not supportingbull, I'm not not diminishing
(46:53):
anything that people reporttoday, but sometimes we blame
things on that.
When we can, we can have thingsjust through conversation or
confronting a situationimmediately, you know.
So I think, when that comes tothat resiliency, no, I don't, I
don't think we're the mostresilient, yeah, yeah.
So with a whole pushing forward, yes, right, and if they're,
(47:15):
they're woke, they'reintelligent, they're, you know,
progressive, they're inclusive,you know they're open to all
these things, because they getall this information down to
them immediately.
So there's a bright future ifthey, you know, in my opinion,
pop into, you know, tap intotheir power.
Speaker 3 (47:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
I agree with you.
I I I'll use a sports analogyand I think this is something
that when people talk aboutAmerican athletes versus
athletes from overseas and it'sspecifically basketball thing
People's listening to a NBA, nbashowing and we're talking about
(47:53):
how today's American bornplayers are.
You know, they're athletic,they have, they have the talent,
but what the European playersand the players overseas have is
the discipline and their andthey train in their focus levels
different.
And you know, I would say thesame thing about the younger
generation.
It's like you, you bet, youhave access to a lot of
(48:15):
different resources, you havethe talent, you have the the
passion or want to see change,but I think it's misguided.
I think you know, I think Ithink you want to do things, you
want to put the cart before thehorse a lot of times and you
don't have, you don't have theright pieces in place.
You know so.
I kind of look at it that way.
You know what I'm saying.
Does that make sense?
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (48:37):
Absolutely.
Um, you know, the studentswould keep me, you know,
energizing or live today, butthat zeal, without that
knowledge or that guidance,right, you know, can get out of
hand.
And yes, they live in animmediate society where they're
seeing 30 second reels on these.
(48:57):
Right, they've taken seven oreight hours to to, you know,
pull together and post-produceand all that, right, they don't
see the grind that goes into theresult.
Yeah, so now I think that poursinto a lot of different,
different avenues, because youknow, we were raising my kids.
(49:19):
Yeah, you know, they had some,some visions and ideas of the
real world or the world thatthey thought was going to be,
and they don't realize now, no,no, no, yeah, me and my sons
will sit, we'll watch a game andyou know, I would use to tell
them I'm like, look, nobody onthat court is on that court
(49:40):
unless they're at the top oftheir game.
The cheerleaders, the refs, theguys with the dustmops, all of
them are elite.
The cameraman, all of them areeven the player, including the
players.
So at work goes into everything,we just don't see it, right, we
just see the result of it.
Yeah, you know, and that's whatI always try to to instill in
(50:02):
our kids is that it takes grind,but they just got to go through
it to learn it Right.
And that's what you do.
You know you don't help whenyou see everything and from
musical standpoint, the musictoday is is the tech, the
technology they have at theiraccess.
You know the, the shows thatthey go to and all the, the, the
(50:24):
, the high tech, lighting andall that Right, they see
excellence every day, they seeresults in excellence every day.
So it's hard to impress.
Yeah, you got to, you got tocome right and they got to
understand the grind behind whatit takes.
Speaker 3 (50:38):
That's very true.
That's a great word, brother.
That's a great word.
I you're, you're absolutelyright.
You know I love this.
I love just talking to youabout this and getting to know
more about your story and yourinsight on different things that
are taking place within that,yeah, the higher education space
and on the camp college campus.
Uh, last thing I want to askyou, uh, brother, is your family
(51:03):
man?
You've done a lot of greatthings.
I think this is something thatyou know.
People ask athletes, you know,when they I think LeBron James,
right, and I'm not not by anymeans insinuating that you're
you're getting to the end of theend of the end of the road.
Speaker 4 (51:21):
I'm sure you got a lot of years.
Speaker 3 (51:22):
But I do want to ask you what is the future hold for
you in terms of just your, yourposition at Wilmington?
Music family, music, musicfamily.
Just what is the future holdfor chip murder?
Speaker 1 (51:37):
Well, hopefully, to keep waking up Um and
professionally, uh, I want tojust expand my office.
You know we're going throughsome transitions and I want to
stay, stay nimble and berelevant to the kids.
So I'm going through newchanges.
I just picked up a new rolethis year, so I'm director of uh
campus activities, along withdirector diversity and inclusion
(52:00):
.
Okay, congratulations, you'remaking me stimulated and and and
going.
So I want to expand that andsee how far we can go with that
Um.
Once I do retire, uh, I wouldlove to get back honestly into
my uh composition and musicwriting and stuff like that.
So I probably would would delvein more about uh trying to do
(52:21):
some commercial music andbackground stuff like that,
cause I was mess with that Umand you know.
Just.
Lastly, you know I'm I'm notsure what I'm going to do.
I want to just grow with mywife, you know, and she has been
great, you know it's, it's, youknow she's I wouldn't be here
(52:42):
without her cause.
Uh, the support she's provided,um, you know, to me, with to
our kids, and things like thathas been incredible.
I can't even say enough aboutmy mom, but those, those are
things that I'm shooting for,man, and just try to keep
learning and getting gettingbetter every day.
Speaker 3 (53:04):
It is time to realize your potential, unlock your
passion and graduate to greater.
Speaker 2 (53:10):
Thank you for tuning into this episode of the Mike
Duff and motivated podcastbrought to you by inspire to
reach higher, the youthmotivational speaking company
for students, parents andeducators.
Aisin' Land.
Through it all I've had my ownkids.
I remember what people havedone for me.
So through this process ofadmission process I learned to
build a relationship withfamilies and try to love those
kids as much or honor the lovethat their families have for
those kids.
I've never been able to lovethem as much as they own, yeah,
(00:20):
but I gotta recognize that love.
So I always had that approach.
Jason, I'm treating every kidlike I would, with my kids to be
treated and treat them likethey were my own kids.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome to the Mic'd Up and Motivated Podcast, where
we interview passionateprofessionals who empower young
people, impact lives and createpositive change in schools,
organizations and communities.
I've only never mind them.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
I'm a liar, a smirker , a smirker, a smirker, a
smirker, a smirker, a smirker, asmirker, a smirker, a smirker,
a smirker, a smirker, a smirker,a smirker, a smirker, a smirker
, a smirker, a smirker.
Be myичего, be my mountain base.
(01:25):
Thank you for tuning in to theMic'd Up and Motivated podcast.
I'm your host, jason A Dixon,and in this episode I interview
(01:49):
Chip Murdoch, who is a SeniorDirector of Diversity and Campus
Activities at WilmingtonCollege in Wilmington Ohio.
Brother Chip Murdoch, how youdoing?
It's great to see you, man.
I appreciate you joining ustoday.
You too, you're too great, MissCoach.
Hey, man, again, it's great tosee you and I want to start off
(02:11):
by just sharing this with theaudience and you as well.
I don't know if you knew this,but every time I play back
videos of when I've spoken atWilmington College, there's
maybe like three or four whereI'm speaking and I hear you in
the background.
You're like my cheerleader man.
(02:33):
I hear you saying I mean, it'snoticeable, anybody that's
trying to change it to the videocan hear it.
I just want to.
I don't know if I've ever toldyou this, but I really
appreciate you, man, and justhaving that encouragement, man,
when you speak, it's priceless.
So I wanted to share that withyou before you get started.
Appreciate it, my man,appreciate you, appreciate it,
(02:54):
yeah, and I get the feeling, manI know, of Mineralogy.
You're that way all the timeI've seen you working with
students.
you know, just on campus You'rethat way all the time.
Where does that come from?
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Man, it's my mother, you know, and all the people
that have poured into me.
You know, through the years andyou know, going through life as
we all have, I've just beenconditioned to have an attitude
of gratitude, man, and justappreciate the things around us
and the people that have pouredinto our students, the fact that
(03:28):
I've been, the, fact I evenwake up.
You know what I mean.
I think Thursday or last week,you know, I was in the middle of
the student center just tellingpeople how happy I was to be
alive.
Yeah, you know, and it's justit, just, you know, it's a
spring inside of my heart.
You know, and I think you know,god has placed that joy in my
(03:49):
heart.
Man, for real, and I love tocelebrate people and I, you know
, I really do, and I get excitedwhen I see others pouring and
sharing their gifts.
You know, that's what.
That's what it's all about,yeah, and it's not about
competition, it's not aboutbeing threatened or jealous by
anybody.
It's about opening up ourcampus, opening up our hearts,
(04:10):
open up our heads to others whohave things to share.
So I think it just makes itstronger, man.
So that's kind of stuff thatmotivates me, jason.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Yeah, I love it and I can attest to it because I've
seen it up close and personaland I'll say this as somebody
who's been on college campusesyou know, and you're the energy
and authenticity you bring towhat you do I got to say it.
You don't see it much,especially on the college campus
(04:39):
, from adults.
Do you notice that?
And is this something likewhere you say, oh man, you know,
I'm a little bit different, youknow?
Speaker 1 (04:47):
and Bruh, I tell you, I don't know man, I don't look,
I got blinders on sometimes,right, and I don't toot my own
horn.
Sometimes I feel like I won'tcall it imposter syndrome, but
it's like man, I'm here everyday.
You know, I'm working in thehigher ed and I never try to
(05:10):
judge or not even call it judge.
But I, you know I come into arelationship with naive thoughts
.
Right, I'm naive.
To believe that everybody ismeans.
Well, you know what I'm saying.
Yeah, that same thing.
So I don't have time to sort itout and I just go forward, man,
(05:31):
and try my best to have fun andhave people walk away from me
with their dignity and feelinggood about life.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Yeah, yeah.
And you can see that I meanit's just your energy is
infectious, man.
Obviously the students love you.
It's inspiring to see so 20plus years at Wilmington College
, right, yeah, yeah 24 years manand counting.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Actually next March or next month, I'm sorry.
In March, on the 20th, I'll begetting my 25th year.
Wow.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Congratulations, congratulations over that and
we'll dive into that, man, but Ijust I want to go back, man,
because this is really what youknow what the podcast is about
humanized our heroes, people whowork with young young people
and power young people withdifferent spaces and I know a
little bit about your story fromlast time we had a chance to
connect.
But take me back, man.
(06:23):
Okay, how did you?
How did you?
How did you wind up doing whatyou're doing right now?
Tell me about that journey.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Wow, you know, brother, I didn't start out with
a pursuit, you know, to be inhigher ed.
I grew up, was born inCincinnati, grew up in Michigan,
the son of a anthropology majorat University of Michigan, and
this was in the mid 70s, so I'ma product of the 60s, 70s, 80s,
(06:56):
90s and on, right, yeah, and wewere up in and our bird during,
you know, just post Vietnam,there was a lot of social people
.
You know, my mother and I weretogether.
It was just us and we were.
You know, she was young, so shehad me at age 17.
So she was figuring things outand we moved up to Michigan for
(07:18):
her graduate work, so she was inher mid 20s figuring some
things out.
So she was taking me to a lotof different places, man, to
Indian powwows, to synagogue, tothe shrine of the black Madonna
in Detroit.
You know, just learning aboutpeople, right, yeah, and she's a
free spirit, so I would meetother folks and I was always
(07:40):
didn't realize I was beingprepared for this journey at
that early age, right, but shewas also a singer and and you
know, she never had a chance toreally get out and be in bands,
but she'd always sing at homeand she'd have an expansive
music library.
So I was always tapping intothat.
Yeah, she moved us away.
She graduated in 78.
(08:03):
And she came home one day, jason, honestly, and said, chip, we
need to be near the continentaldivide.
So we're gonna move to Arizonaand you can pick the city, but
we're gonna move to Arizona.
We need to be near our Hispanicand Native American brothers
and sisters, we need to be nearthe continental divide.
And I was like I don't evenknow what the continental divide
was.
I know nothing about iconic,you know shifts.
(08:25):
So only thing I knew in Arizonaknew the Phoenix Suns, because
I was a little sports geek, okay, and I knew about the Tucson
open and I was like, you know,Tucson open sounds cool.
I said, how about we go toTucson?
So this is the honest truth,man, we, we, we moved to Tucson
for a year and on February of1979, during my eighth grade
(08:49):
year, man, I went to a Santanaconcert, saved up my allowance.
I think it cost me maybe 16dollars or something to go see
Santa Ana in this arena and andthe kale center I think was it
was the name of it in TucsonUniversity, arizona, mm-hmm.
And saw a gentleman come up anddo a percussion solo and at
that age I knew I was gonna dothat the rest of my life.
So I just Got into music.
(09:13):
Wow, we ended up moving back toMichigan and we were near the
Ann Arbor FC, detroit area and Ibegged is just garage band and
let me in the group Mm-hmm.
Yeah, it took me a long timeand I learned my bet, you know,
played this at somedown-to-summer disco.
Yeah, that was a song auditionwith those bad girls and I did
(09:33):
this bongo roll and they let mein and I didn't realize that
that that union with that groupwas gonna Change the course of
my life.
And I'm not saying that to bedramatic, jason, I'm saying that
because the mentorship I havefrom the manager and and and the
head of the band Saved me fromgetting involved in a lot of
things, because that gentlemanwould come and he had a
(09:55):
distinguishable, big,distinguishable red van that he
would drive around and pick allof us up who was in the band,
all young black men that were inthe band, and he would get us
after school.
You know, a lot of our friendswere getting in the dope.
They were getting them to slingin like that.
Rob Williams will come and pickme up every day, take me to his
(10:15):
house after school.
Never asked where it died, butwe were.
We were a good, Good littleband man.
So that that got me going,right, yeah, so I had some, some
, some, some structure.
You know, thank you to JimmyCarter at the time because he
has government programs for kidsthat went to privilege.
So I work at the job and had aJerry curl and all that made it
(10:38):
out of high school, went to thearmy and and Serving in the US
Army for a Few years and andafter that journey I went off to
college and that's when Istarted studying music.
Long story short, that musiccareer led to a wonderful career
at Pizza Hut where I was adelivery driver for a few years.
Right, yeah, fireball offenseone, you know, a pizza hut is to
(11:04):
run out of gas.
Right, and here I am in Oxford,ohio, because my mother had
moved from Michigan and startworking at Miami University in
Ohio.
Oh, I'm a shot out to Miami andI Ran out of gas man in the
rain and they didn't comebusiness pre cell phone man, you
know.
So this family all back to thestore and they were like a chip
(11:25):
we can't come get you, man.
We got our delivery over hereon Mabel Street or whatever, so
I had to walk about four milesin the rain.
You know that force game, right?
What happened, man, is it hitme and I was like I don't have
to do this, I'm gonna go back tograd school.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
This was in August, yeah you know I'm.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
And the next day I'll go into the music department
and I Apply.
As I go in the music department, say hey, I want to go to grad
school here.
They say what's your name?
I said Charles Murdoch and likechip, I'm like, yeah, they said
we've been waiting on you fortwo years.
You apply.
Two years ago, you accepted inour composition program.
We just never heard from right.
Are you kidding me?
So all this came to be in theturn of a week.
(12:08):
Man, I'll go in there.
And I was already accepted.
They had discontinued thecomposition program, but they,
they grandfathered me through.
Yeah, he said we don't have agrad assistantship for you.
But you know what?
Go talk to dr Evans in the gradapartment.
I go to the grad department.
The day I walk in she says wegot a fee waiver for you.
I went to grad schoolcompletely free.
(12:28):
The next day after that.
I have a mentor, my cause meand said hey, chip, I'm starting
the leadership program here inMiami.
This is the last.
They just gave me anassistantship.
This is the last spot.
Are you interested?
Yes, so I took a gradassistantship at Miami for three
years and and what they callMPLP, the minority leadership
professional program.
So okay for grad school.
(12:49):
But what it was, jason?
That my job had nothing to do amusic.
My job was to go recruit Blackand brown students out of
surrounding areas, mainlyHamilton, cincinnati, to come to
my their ally or apply sciences.
So paper science, engineering,etc.
So long story short, fastforward.
I Moved to Nashville to go toTennessee State to study music
(13:14):
it.
After that I got my master's inMiami but wanted to be near
music center.
So I went to the last bit,jason.
I got called back Up this waybecause I met my girlfriend at
the time who I end up there.
So I guess I married myex-girlfriend, right?
So Anyway, she had a job and Ididn't.
(13:34):
When I finished at TennesseeState, yeah, yeah, and the only
job position I subbed in thearea and, and there was a
principal in the area that likedme a lot, I was a substitute
teacher and in Wilmington publicschools for about six months.
Mm-hmm, just, this particularprincipal like me and said, chip
, there's a position atWilmington College and they're
looking for a diversityadmission recruiter.
(13:56):
Boom, wow, that's how did it?
Wilmington man.
And I say that to say that you,you know, you can tell God your
plans.
You can tell the University ofplans, but those plans don't
always work out right.
I'm saying best way God laughsis to tell him.
Tell him your plan.
You're right, yeah, but I wasbeing prepped for all this man.
(14:16):
So I've Wilmington ever sinceand you just never know who you
hire.
Right?
You know they didn't know myheart, they didn't know my deal,
they didn't know my passions,but they also were able to allow
me to express my gifts here atthe campus with fuel.
All of that too.
Sorry to be so long-winded, butthat's the longest short of it,
(14:37):
brother.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
No, that's, that's an amazing story, you know, and
I've heard Parts of it, but tohear, hear it in its totality, I
mean it just hits home and it'sall inspiring.
And then, what I love aboutwhat you do, in addition to know
are so many things is that youfound a way to, to blend your
love of music and with what youdo on the campus.
(15:00):
I mean, like I, you know, Iwould be curious to know how
many students Understand andknow that you love music, you
know.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Not too many.
In case you're close to me,I'll talk to you about drums.
And, by the fact, on our wayback from Pittsburgh today I had
a group of students.
Any kid that's close to me, anystudent that's close to me, is
going to get baptized intochipmology music, right, right,
and you know I'm a Grace Jonesfan.
I probably won a 34 fan stillleft in America.
(15:32):
But I tell them all the timehere's one of my favorite songs
and it's, you know, slave to therhythm.
My kids beat down it.
So they know my passion and Igive them impromptu music
lessons, even if they don't care.
I talk philosophy with them.
The ones close to me know, youknow, that to me they might hear
, oh yeah, chip city play drumsor whatever.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Yeah, no, man, but still that's good.
You find a way to put thatpassion into your work and again
.
I'm out of the fact that youstill find a way to indulge in
that passion that you have, thatgift that you have.
And when you talk about whenyou went to Nashville and how
(16:15):
your plans were to be near, youknow a hub, you know a musical
hub.
Then those players gotredirected.
You wound up back at Wilmington.
Were you disappointed at all?
Where you're like man, I admirea different plan.
No, man.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
And I don't want to get deep with you, but it felt
right.
It felt like the time was right.
Yeah, when I was in Nashvillefor a little over two years, I
went down there at 97, studiedtwo years and actually at the
same time was able to do alittle bit of road work with a
rock fan and, you know, tour theChitlin circuit down south.
(16:51):
Okay, all right.
And you know, do the starvingmusician thing and I was real
successful with starving.
Okay, I got you on that one.
My best friend and brother fromanother mother, you could call
him a fraternal soulmate.
His name is Mike Freeman.
He's a pastor now up in Urbana,but he and I were a music
(17:13):
production team.
So we were always writing, wewrote jingles and stuff like
that, and what happened was wehad latched on to a really
strong record label or notstrong, but a talented group of
writers and a record label uphere in Cincinnati.
We were writing a lot ofmaterial.
We had connected with the groupthat was trying to get signed.
(17:34):
So going back, coming back toOhio, was not a big thing
because I figured, you know, I'mjust right up the highway from
Nashville, we'll stay connected,et cetera.
Again, telling God your plansright.
I ended up, mike and I ended upjoining up with a blues group.
Instead, we toured from Ohio.
We were playing the East Coasta lot, my first year, my first
(17:56):
three years, at Wilmington.
Man, I was, I was moonlight,literally.
I would, mike, take a vacationday on a Friday.
We leave town on Thursday andgo play.
Next year we plan up inBleecker Street, up in Manhattan
, or we're playing, you know, inMemphis, or playing, you know,
detroit, or we hit Sarasota, wehit Delaware, we had all these
spots right, but we were doingthat over the weekends, man, and
(18:18):
it was just a grind, and but Iwas still exercising the music.
And what ended up happening isone day, maybe three years into
it, man, I come home one nighton a Sunday night, my wife
sitting on the couch with ourbaby son, our youngest kid, and
he's breathing so hard.
Jason, he's asthmatic, wedidn't know it and he had
superior allergies.
(18:39):
He's breathing, man, and I'mseeing his rib cage.
He's sucking so much air sohard and I was like, okay, tim,
I'm gonna get off the road andthat's it.
And so you know, I told theguys at the end of that year you
know, we finished that, thatthat schedule.
I got to stay home and I thinkabout the scripture man, that
this is greater love.
(19:00):
Have no man than one who wouldlay down his life for his
brother, not to distort it, buttaking life out of the context
that we think of normally.
Honestly, I'm not too my ownhorn, but that was a point that
I had to lay down my life, mydreams and my you know passions
(19:23):
for my kid and for my family,and you know all of that and did
it willingly.
And then, lo and behold, maybea week or two later, I get a
call from a friend in town toplay in a house band at one of
the most prestigious restaurants, a five-star restaurant in the
city.
I was making more money and I'mhome every night, you know, and
(19:43):
I'm just thinking for othergigs.
So that's how I kept it alive.
And the school has been really,really generous.
As far as let me be myself, youknow what I mean.
And let me, you know I can doprograms with drumming.
I can do, you know they are.
Also allow me to teach oncampus.
I teach a sound productionclass, so I'm getting that fixed
(20:05):
and I'm being able to, you know, do my thing.
So that's how it wasn't hard,man.
You know you really do it withthe right spirit and I've never
held that over my kid's headeither.
You know I got four kids, man,and they were all gifted
musically.
One of my sons is was upstairsright now in his room.
He's got a little mini studioup there producing beats, yeah.
(20:27):
Other son is in New York.
He's a DJ yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Wow, Wow, that was fun, man.
Wow, that's amazing man To hearyou know, like you talked about
the description and you talkedabout laying down your life,
surrendering your plans, and youknow I run a boys program where
we talk about what does manhoodlook like and healthy
(20:54):
masculinity, and when you sharedthat you know again, that's
that embodies what it means tolead and to set the tone for the
rest of your family and, likeyou said, put aside your dreams,
your ambitions, and then whathappened, what happened to you,
Like you share, is just aperfect example of how I believe
(21:14):
God honors obedience.
And so when you talk about that,again it's amazing, man, and
again you've been fruitful andamazing what you do, obviously
making a great impact.
You know, Chip, you talked alittle bit about and now you
mentioned some names, somepeople that that guided you and
helped you along the way.
(21:35):
Talk a little bit more aboutthose people, because you and I
know you need people to guideyou and help you along the way.
So who are some of those peopleyou know?
Really, they really helped youget to this point and continue
to help.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Man, I'll give you a few.
I'll give you a few lighthousesof buoys across this lake.
Here, yeah, in high schoolthere was a mentor.
We again thanks Jimmy Carter.
This CEDA program would have usgo out and work.
This was ninth, 10th grade.
We worked summer jobs.
It was for underfunded,under-resourced, you know, black
(22:12):
youth or youth in the nation.
It could be anywhere.
But they gave us jobs.
Right to go work.
But before you worked you had todo a mentoring.
There was a mentor there andyou get a life skill lesson.
Before it went out and pickedup trash off the streets of
Ypsilanti and prune the flowersof the Ypsilanti Public Library.
But there was a gentleman namedCarl Williams who was our
(22:33):
mentor for our group and Carljust taught me the basics of
acknowledging a human being.
Just, you know you make eyecontact with a person, nod your
head and say hello.
You know you just connectedwith a person.
Right, when you shake a hand ofa person, look them in the eye.
You know when you say your name, say it loud.
You know just little thingslike that.
(22:54):
So that helped me right there.
And then, when I started workingon, you know, fast forward.
Let me just get right up toWilmington, my predecessor.
His name was Art Brooks.
He started the Office here,diversity and Inclusion.
Back then it was MulticulturalAffairs, but he started this
(23:14):
office in 95.
And when I worked at Wilmington,started working at Wilming in
2000,.
He kind of took me under hiswing because I was the admission
of his operation.
I was doing the recruiting, hewas doing the support of
students and he supported me andshowed me just what it takes to
love students on and off campusbecause he would go to court
(23:37):
sometimes with students Astudent get thrown in jail or
something like that.
He was there visiting students,right.
So he showed me that I had twogreat bosses.
First boss, her name was TinaGarland in admission and she was
a great support and a mentorand work partner.
And now I work for anotherwonderful sister named Sigrid
(24:02):
Solomon, who hired me on in 2015.
Let me move across campus andget into student affairs, and
the list goes on.
But those are people that havebeen real significant in my
higher ed life and not to.
(24:23):
I want to get into mygrandmother and my mother.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
I love the fact that you shared those names, but I
can't let you.
I got to talk about the mom andgrandma.
I mean brother, okay, when Ifirst heard you talk about that
a little bit, you know and Iremember the day when you
alluded to it just shared alittle bit about that experience
(24:53):
and then to hear how itcatapulted you in your life, man
, in addition to the people thatyou talked about that have
helped you professionally momand your grandma you know what
was it, or what was it?
The one, or a couple, twothings that they instilled in
(25:13):
you that still helped you tothis day, man.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
My mother just instilled in me just loving,
loving people, respecting peopleregardless of where they are.
You know what I mean.
That's the basics, and if youever meet her, she's incredible.
You know, she's about five footone, walks with a cane,
survived a train wreck,literally.
So you know I hear people talkabout you know this is a train
(25:43):
wreck.
No, I can tell you about atrain wreck, yeah, and she's
still walking the day.
But her spirit is so positive.
So I learned that from her and Ithink I just, you know, with my
grandmother it was, ourrelationship was so different
and tight, man, she did so manythings that I miss her every day
.
You know, we lost her in 99.
And she was almost like mymother was my mother, but my
(26:06):
grandmother was mama.
Yeah, and just sacrificial love.
And I'll tell you two thingsshe did.
That's what I learned from mygrandmother, and the sacrificial
love and the fact that home wasalways there and I could go, do
what I wanted to do and give mydreams a shot, but home was
gonna be there.
But two quick things, jason.
(26:27):
This is what my grandmother andgrandfather did for me once I
was going through basic training.
I was fortunate enough to dobasic training about two hours
from Cincinnati where mygrandparents lived.
I was down in Fort Knox,kentucky, maybe three hours and
my mother was still up inMichigan.
But in the middle of basictraining, man and we know, basic
(26:48):
training is hell, hellaciousright Back in the days of eight
days, three weeks I mean eightweeks, three days of, but they
had this thing called family daywhere your family could come
down and visit you During midcycle I was a platoon leader
Actually I was senior squadleader, so I was over an entire
(27:09):
platoon and I asked my drillsergeant my family's coming, can
I, you know, spend some timewith him?
He said yeah, yeah, yeah, comeon base.
And I was like you know what?
My grandmother wanted to takeme off base for a minute.
And he's looked at me and youdo use that.
So think about this Doing basictraining to be able to go home.
And he said whatever toucheshis heart.
He said, and I'll tell you whatyou can do anything you want
(27:32):
with some family, but you betterbe back here at 730 for F
formation If United formationyou were considered AWOL period.
And he looked at me and I said,okay, my grandmother drove down
to Fort Knox, picked me up,drove me back to Cincinnati, had
a pot of her spaghetti and myit was my favorite dish and her
rolls ready for me for dinnerthat night, got me home, got me
(27:57):
up in the morning and drove meback.
You know what I'm saying.
So imagine a six hour roundtrip just to do that for me.
And I was like there's no wayI'm gonna fail this.
So I went on and did that andthen actually fast forward, go
rewinding my senior prom.
We didn't have a car and wealways wanted to take our dates
(28:22):
out in the car.
I didn't have a car, my motherdidn't have a car and my
grandmother and grandfatherdrove up from Cincinnati up to
Ypsilanti, michigan, and they'reCapri classic so I can take
that car for prom.
So those are lessons, and thoseare lessons that he can't even
put words to, but that now Inever forgot it and I've learned
(28:47):
to.
Yeah, I don't know, man, Ican't even explain.
I don't mean to ramble, I'msorry.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
No, no, no, man.
This is your journey, this isyour story man.
This is what the podcast is allabout.
What you talking about?
A firm foundation I'm a firmfoundation and just you.
You talking about they sharingthose things.
And your grandmother her spiritstill lives on within you.
And your mom you know again asyou describe her.
(29:14):
I can see your mom in you justin the way you described her.
So, brother, you're doingamazing work, man.
I appreciate it.
Man love you.
You're about your journey, yourstory man.
That's transitioned a littlebit and talk in your role at
(29:36):
Wilmington.
You've seen a lot of differentthings, I'm sure, throughout
your years there.
What would you say was the mostchallenging moment that you
experienced?
Speaker 1 (29:49):
at Wilmington.
Oh man, I think maybe last yearwe had a really big, big
turnover on campus with ouradministration and things that
started with the dismissal ofour first African-American
president.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Please welcome, jason .
Speaker 1 (30:04):
A Dixon.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
Everybody in here has a talent and you have a gift
and you were given that gift sothat you can go change the world
.
There's a world out herewaiting for you.
There's a world out here thatneeds your talent.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
From a struggling team to a first-generation
college graduate.
Coach Jason is one of today'srising youth motivational
speakers for middle school, highschool and college students.
Equipped with passion and theunique ability to create a
heartfelt connection, hisempowering message of hope and
resilience drives lasting changeand resonates with audiences on
multiple levels.
(30:44):
If your school, organization orevent is looking for a dynamic
speaker to inspire, motivate andhelp increase student success,
book Coach Jason today.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Well, you talked about what it was like during
that moment when everythinghappened went down with the
president.
Talk a little bit about what itwas like on campus, what the
climate was like on campus,going through all of that from
the student's perspective andthe staff.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
OK, yeah, man, it was tough.
There were a lot of folks thatwere celebrating they might have
had all the facts right or theyjust heard this, this and that,
but there were quite a few,especially staff members, that
were really, really upset at howthings went down the campus.
(31:41):
Right now I am thelongest-tenured African-American
employee on campus.
Didn't look at the stats to seeif I'm the longest-tenured
minority on campus so, yeah, myvoice is amplified by my
position and my longevity andtenure here at the campus.
(32:06):
But for students I served as ananchor for their concerns.
Our Black Student Initiativereally has some issues and we
met with the Board of Trustees.
They wrote a letter, theydrafted a letter to the board
and the students had a voice,right Spoken, a couple of public
(32:29):
forums had opinions and thingslike that.
So I was able to express myself.
And then one thing I realized,jason, is that one feeling I had
through this is being candid Ifelt butt naked because we did
not have a Black and Browncoalition on campus, a subgroup,
(32:54):
that we didn't have a safespace that we could talk and
there was nothing formally setup.
So during that time I was ableto establish and suggest that
hey, let's get a diverse staffand faculty coalition together
where we can talk about thesethings and maybe draft our own
statement about things.
So, down the road, leave thatkind of legacy right.
(33:16):
So that was part of what we did,and my boss is African-American
, so she was also in positionsto exercise her voice, help with
unifying the President'sCouncil, things like that.
And then I was really close tostill really close to a lot of
(33:41):
white staff and faculty who weremore upset just as upset and
not more upset than me and vocalWe've had.
We lost a lot of people we lost.
We had people step away becauseof this and we were in other
positions.
Yeah, so we were really in apeople man.
But one thing I said as long asI'm here one of my jobs here is
(34:03):
to unify people, is to bringpeople together right and
galvanize the campus.
And it got to a point where Isaid let's do a cookout, so a
big cookout, and it was ahealing, it was therapeutic for
me.
I needed to, we needed to keep,we got to keep moving and start
healing.
So we did that at the end ofthe year, man, and that was last
(34:27):
year, and we just did a soulfulcompetition and somebody came
back to me and I guess overheardsomeone saying about me on
campus.
That really touched me.
It was like man, nobody canbring us together, bring this
campus together, shit.
That makes me feel good, man,and I ain't about to my horror,
because I don't really feel likeI'm doing that much.
(34:48):
Man.
I'm trying and I've got warts,I'm trying to.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
I got my flaws and everything, man, but just I tell
you, I know you're not about to, but you've left a legacy and
whoever has to follow you, man,they have some big shoes to fill
.
I'm telling you.
I'm telling you because I echowhat those students said about
(35:16):
you and, being having visitedWilmington, I think, on four
different occasions, I've seenit a close and personal.
Like you do, you galvanize, youunify the campus, and you know,
and so I echo those sentiments.
You know, I know that that'sbeen who you are, but was it
(35:40):
hard to find a way to be that ona college campus?
Because, again, we know thatdynamics in college are
different, not like high school,right, you know, but that's
when I think of that, a unifiedcampus or school.
I think of high school becausethey're, you know, when college
just everybody just kind ofoperating in silos.
(36:01):
How did you, how were you ableto become that person where you
galvanize and you unify collegestudents who want to do their
own thing?
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Man, admission work really being an admission, you
should already any admissioncounselor is going to have a 80
to 90% failure rate right whenthey do the recruiting right.
Most students back into my dayit was more like one out of four
students that apply might cometo your school.
(36:33):
You know you'll be lucky if youget half of those students to
visit.
If they visit, chances arethey're going to stay, you know,
and all that good stuff.
So most of the people you'regoing to lose, right?
So I was always learning tocelebrate the ones that are
there.
Yeah, and Jason man, through itall, I've had my own kids.
I remember what people havedone for me.
(36:54):
So through this process ofadmission process, I learned to
build relationships withfamilies and try to love those
kids as much or honor the lovethat their families have for
those kids.
I'll never be able to love themas much as their own, yeah,
families, but I got to recognizethat love.
So I always had that approach,jason, of treating every kid
(37:15):
like I would want my kids to betreated and treat them like they
were my own kid.
You know good or bad, tough love, or you know sugars and cream,
right, and that I think wascontagious.
You know through the studentsthat I knew and they realized
that, yeah, chip is legit, chip,you know, and so you know.
(37:38):
I tell you.
Another upside down blessingtoo on campus was that all of
our officers are understaffed,right.
Yeah, we get creativity, we getto be creative, we get to do
different things.
So I was always able to expressmy personality in programs and
things like that, and then otherstaff members started to see
hey, chip, you know cool.
(37:58):
And then I was embraced by themusic department when I got here
.
Yeah, they allowed meperformances and stuff.
So that's just the location ofwhere I landed.
If I landed at a bigger school,more political and structured.
Don't know how my career wouldhave gone.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
Yeah, yeah absolutely , and that's a great point to
make You're able to bloom whereyou're planted.
You know and shine.
You know Absolutely.
I love to see that.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Absolutely.
Yeah, I've been on somedifferent soil types, right,
right, right.
I've always been able to.
Honestly, I blossom where Ibloom where I'm buried man or
whatever that means, would yousay blue.
Speaker 3 (38:40):
Blue where you're planted Planted, not buried.
Planted, yeah, that's okay, man, but you still shine, you shine
, you shine.
Well, chip, one of thequestions I wanted to ask.
You know that I've beenthinking about, and who better
to answer this question than you?
So this is Black History Monthand one of the things that I've
(39:05):
been seeing around differentcollege campuses.
Again, it's always I love tosee, like the different types of
celebrations and how, you know,this generation pays homage to
you, know our history.
I want to ask you what's beenthe biggest difference in how
(39:29):
this generation celebrates BlackHistory Month versus maybe when
you started, like in 2000?
Has there been a big shift?
Has there been more excitement?
That's excitement when it comesto that and celebrating,
recognizing panhomies to ourhistory.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
That's a toughie.
It's year to year right.
Yeah.
Now the ways we celebrate aredifferent because of technology
and things.
This generation has afforded alot more vehicles.
We can do these Zoom piecesright.
You got higher quality movies.
You got, you know, the socialmedia right, all those kind of
(40:13):
things.
When I say higher quality, I'mtalking about like digital and
cool places that go watch themand all that.
There's still great classesback then, but I think the
energy honestly is about thesame really, especially in this
community.
We've been doing an annualMartin Luther King program with
the community for ever since artstarted it, I want to say, in
(40:35):
the late 90s.
I've been able to keep that andthere was another woman who
worked here named DeniseHamilton, right before me, right
after art and right before me.
She kept things going.
So we and in some years,depending on our student
leadership on campus, you know,if we get some good, motivated
students that get others going,then that amps things up.
(40:56):
But one thing I will say isprobably now there's probably a
lot more on campus.
It appears to be more on campus, more options, because when I
put a schedule together, I'mgiving people excursions,
opportunities, movieopportunities.
Sometimes I put a podcast linkon there Definitely will keep us
(41:18):
in the queue, and that menu isbigger.
So, yeah, yeah, and I'm alittle more intentional than the
my predecessors were when itcomes to just going at staff and
faculty to and inviting them toprograms and celebrating our
own on campus.
So, yes, the energy is the same, but I'm getting more
(41:42):
opportunities now.
Speaker 3 (41:43):
Right, right, yeah, absolutely, and I love to see
that, and I'm glad you touchedon that because I'm seeing you,
don't this?
After, like this generation,it's a lot of I'm gonna call it
anger aggression, you know, andso I think a lot of their voices
want to be heard.
You know the voices want to beheard, and so I know I love
(42:07):
seeing stuff like that, wherethey have options, they're
giving a platform to talk aboutand celebrate things.
Talk about things, which leadsme to my next question what are
some of the, the trends thatyou're starting to see on
college campuses, good or bad,when you think about the
students?
Speaker 1 (42:30):
Biggest trend is isolationism.
Oh, wow, yes, they just stay ontheir phone, man.
They isolate and stay on thisthing.
Yeah, and you know, it's noteven a trend, it's an epidemic
man.
I think that sometimes theapathy bug hits us where they
(42:56):
just don't not into it or theywant to know who's going my
friend go, I'll go, etc.
Etc.
I think that's combination whyI just came back from a
conference for campus activitiesand they even have sessions on
how to catch disengaged you knowstudents or get students
interest up on a positive note.
(43:17):
A trend that's happening, Ithink to via social media, right
, is I see, students starting tocome back together, if that
makes sense.
Others, undercurrent andgroundswell students that are
getting sick of being indoorsand they're a little more
receptive to you know, come intoprogramming and things like
(43:41):
that.
So you know it's a seesaw man,right, it really is.
Another thing I'm finding, too,is that mental health is a big
thing, that and students areencouraged to tap in and do a
(44:02):
lot of self-assessment, right,you know.
So there's a push for mentalhealth that I had never seen
before in my previous you know,previous time, and now we're
destigmatizing some of thesethings too.
So it's okay for a person toadmit that they're depressed, or
it's okay, you know, and I dothink, through social media, not
(44:23):
to.
And what people are seeing onyou know, online.
This generation is the mostdiverse generation we've seen,
the most inclusive and tolerant,so this, in a way, is helping
students accept others, you know, and stay that you know.
Now, the flip side of that issometimes they just don't fend
(44:47):
for themselves.
Right, we got to encourage them.
Speaker 3 (44:50):
You know what you better advocate and speak up for
yourself.
Yeah, yeah, you're right.
You're right.
That's one of the things youknow I'm talking.
I have an initiative going onin my hometown right now where
we're focusing on self-advocacyand resilience, and I think I
was reading something the otherday.
They were talking about Gen Z.
(45:10):
You know the column, so it was,you know, obviously subjective,
but they were saying Gen Z,this is the least resilient
generation.
You know.
You know you come from aninteresting perspective because,
again, you're on a collegecampus.
(45:31):
You know we've seen thesedifferent students and to that,
what do you say when somebodymakes a statement like that?
Speaker 1 (45:39):
It's tough man See.
I see this generation asresilient because it came from
COVID.
Speaker 4 (45:45):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
You know it's a pandemic and things in there.
They're now finally crawlingback out of you know, back into
terror.
You know terra no-transcript butbut I would say, jason, man,
it's, it's.
It's the thing that about thisgeneration is that with that
(46:10):
there's a lot of sensitivity,right, and so sometimes in
personal micro situations, theymight not be the most resilient,
because if someone sayssomething that in the most
friendly tone, oh, you knowthey're cowering in things or
they're thinking somebody is,you know, not to just diminish
(46:31):
bullying by any means, but youknow, bullying now is blown up
to so many categories thateverything, everything they
identify as bullying, sometimes,instead of sometimes, we just,
you know, have to defend forourselves, right, and you know,
speak up, and I'm not supportingbull, I'm not not diminishing
(46:53):
anything that people reporttoday, but sometimes we blame
things on that.
When we can, we can have thingsjust through conversation or
confronting a situationimmediately, you know.
So I think, when that comes tothat resiliency, no, I don't, I
don't think we're the mostresilient, yeah, yeah.
So with a whole pushing forward, yes, right, and if they're,
(47:15):
they're woke, they'reintelligent, they're, you know,
progressive, they're inclusive,you know they're open to all
these things, because they getall this information down to
them immediately.
So there's a bright future ifthey, you know, in my opinion,
pop into, you know, tap intotheir power.
Speaker 3 (47:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
I agree with you.
I I I'll use a sports analogyand I think this is something
that when people talk aboutAmerican athletes versus
athletes from overseas and it'sspecifically basketball thing
People's listening to a NBA, nbashowing and we're talking about
(47:53):
how today's American bornplayers are.
You know, they're athletic,they have, they have the talent,
but what the European playersand the players overseas have is
the discipline and their andthey train in their focus levels
different.
And you know, I would say thesame thing about the younger
generation.
It's like you, you bet, youhave access to a lot of
(48:15):
different resources, you havethe talent, you have the the
passion or want to see change,but I think it's misguided.
I think you know, I think Ithink you want to do things, you
want to put the cart before thehorse a lot of times and you
don't have, you don't have theright pieces in place.
You know so.
I kind of look at it that way.
You know what I'm saying.
Does that make sense?
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (48:37):
Absolutely.
Um, you know, the studentswould keep me, you know,
energizing or live today, butthat zeal, without that
knowledge or that guidance,right, you know, can get out of
hand.
And yes, they live in animmediate society where they're
seeing 30 second reels on these.
(48:57):
Right, they've taken seven oreight hours to to, you know,
pull together and post-produceand all that, right, they don't
see the grind that goes into theresult.
Yeah, so now I think that poursinto a lot of different,
different avenues, because youknow, we were raising my kids.
(49:19):
Yeah, you know, they had some,some visions and ideas of the
real world or the world thatthey thought was going to be,
and they don't realize now, no,no, no, yeah, me and my sons
will sit, we'll watch a game andyou know, I would use to tell
them I'm like, look, nobody onthat court is on that court
(49:40):
unless they're at the top oftheir game.
The cheerleaders, the refs, theguys with the dustmops, all of
them are elite.
The cameraman, all of them areeven the player, including the
players.
So at work goes into everything,we just don't see it, right, we
just see the result of it.
Yeah, you know, and that's whatI always try to to instill in
(50:02):
our kids is that it takes grind,but they just got to go through
it to learn it Right.
And that's what you do.
You know you don't help whenyou see everything and from
musical standpoint, the musictoday is is the tech, the
technology they have at theiraccess.
You know the, the shows thatthey go to and all the, the, the
(50:24):
, the high tech, lighting andall that Right, they see
excellence every day, they seeresults in excellence every day.
So it's hard to impress.
Yeah, you got to, you got tocome right and they got to
understand the grind behind whatit takes.
Speaker 3 (50:38):
That's very true.
That's a great word, brother.
That's a great word.
I you're, you're absolutelyright.
You know I love this.
I love just talking to youabout this and getting to know
more about your story and yourinsight on different things that
are taking place within that,yeah, the higher education space
and on the camp college campus.
Uh, last thing I want to askyou, uh, brother, is your family
(51:03):
man?
You've done a lot of greatthings.
I think this is something thatyou know.
People ask athletes, you know,when they I think LeBron James,
right, and I'm not not by anymeans insinuating that you're
you're getting to the end of theend of the end of the road.
Speaker 4 (51:21):
I'm sure you got a lot of years.
Speaker 3 (51:22):
But I do want to ask you what is the future hold for
you in terms of just your, yourposition at Wilmington?
Music family, music, musicfamily.
Just what is the future holdfor chip murder?
Speaker 1 (51:37):
Well, hopefully, to keep waking up Um and
professionally, uh, I want tojust expand my office.
You know we're going throughsome transitions and I want to
stay, stay nimble and berelevant to the kids.
So I'm going through newchanges.
I just picked up a new rolethis year, so I'm director of uh
campus activities, along withdirector diversity and inclusion
(52:00):
.
Okay, congratulations, you'remaking me stimulated and and and
going.
So I want to expand that andsee how far we can go with that
Um.
Once I do retire, uh, I wouldlove to get back honestly into
my uh composition and musicwriting and stuff like that.
So I probably would would delvein more about uh trying to do
(52:21):
some commercial music andbackground stuff like that,
cause I was mess with that Umand you know.
Just.
Lastly, you know I'm I'm notsure what I'm going to do.
I want to just grow with mywife, you know, and she has been
great, you know it's, it's, youknow she's I wouldn't be here
(52:42):
without her cause.
Uh, the support she's provided,um, you know, to me, with to
our kids, and things like thathas been incredible.
I can't even say enough aboutmy mom, but those, those are
things that I'm shooting for,man, and just try to keep
learning and getting gettingbetter every day.
Speaker 3 (53:04):
It is time to realize your potential, unlock your
passion and graduate to greater.
Speaker 2 (53:10):
Thank you for tuning into this episode of the Mike
Duff and motivated podcastbrought to you by inspire to
reach higher, the youthmotivational speaking company
for students, parents andeducators.
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