Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs speaks on Education and Graduation
(Baton Rouge, LA.)
LSU Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs & Executive Director Kenneth Miles stopped by in the Journalism Building to speak with the Louisiana Scholastic Press Association (LSPA) Summer Institute students. The man with a commanding voice spoke with a stern yet light-hearted tone.
“You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink it, but you can put his head under and eventually he’ll have to take a gulp,” he said jokingly.
Since arriving at LSU in 2008, the graduation rate from the football program has risen from 69 to 84 percent. The graduate rate of all student athletes has risen from 54 to 70 percent. He identifies himself as an educator, but he can also be a role model.
“I will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear,” he said.
Miles lives by the motto of “Be a man for others.” His grittiness and upbringing has influenced him to become a man that others can look up to. He uplifts others that are in need of uplifting. He said that every decision he’ll make will affect what he does in the future.
He is inspired by the inequalities in society. Miles said more student athletes would stay and graduate college if there was less of a wealth gap in America. He said that the commercialization of student athletes in the United States has become ridiculous.
He stated that his keys to success were to be authentic, be reflective, be aware, be empathetic, and continue education and learning. He said that you must look back and try to improve yourself constantly.
He said that wants to be a secondary or post-secondary educator when he retires. “I think I want to find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow,” he jokingly said regarding retirement.