Centre News

Centre president John Roush recently wrote an editorial for the
Lexington Herald-Leader in which he shared why Kentucky
“must not settle for second best.”

Using the 2010 World Equestrian Games that are currently underway and the recent Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s concert in Centre College’s Norton Center for the Arts as a jumping-off point, Centre president John Roush recently wrote an editorial piece for the Lexington Herald-Leader, a piece in which he shared why the state of Kentucky “must not settle for second best.”

“For far too long…we have aimed too low and been willing to accept second rate or worse in education, economic opportunity, public health, environmental practice and a number of other areas,” Roush begins his piece. “We need to develop the habit of aiming higher.”

One example of meeting this challenge, he continues, is the fact that “the world’s greatest orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, led by the world’s most exciting conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, [performed] Monday night at our Norton Center for the Arts. The North American debut of this spectacular pairing is not in New York, Boston, Chicago or L.A., but in Danville.”

This, he continues, is an example of not only aiming high but also succeeding—two practices he believes are required of the state of Kentucky.

In the piece, Roush shares four “essentials” for improving the state: more cooperation and collaboration, more civility, more energy and more consistent focus on achievements.

“As we develop a tradition of aiming higher and employ tactics that will enable us to succeed consistently,” he writes, “we must remember that those things which build the Kentucky brand help us all. We will get better one step, one practice, one act of generosity and inclusion at a time.”

To read Roush’s entire editorial, click here.