© 2024 KRCU Public Radio
90.9 Cape Girardeau | 88.9-HD Ste. Genevieve | 88.7 Poplar Bluff
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

River Campus Building To Be Named After Ken & Jeanine Dobbins

Sean Burke
/
The Arrow
A dedication ceremony of the Kenneth and Jeanine Dobbins River Campus Center will be held on Feb. 27.

It’s difficult to find a fitting 16-year thank you.

That’s what Southeast Missouri State University Student Government Association President Caleb Cockrill said was the case with retiring university president President Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins.

Even so, on Dec. 22 of last year, the Board of Regents announced the River Campus Center would be renamed in honor of Dobbins and his wife, Jeanine Larson Dobbins. A dedication is set for this Friday to formally recognize the couple. 

“I really don’t know that there’s a way to say thank you for 20 years of being president,” Cockrill said. “But I think it’s a step in showing gratitude for all the things he’s done for the university during his tenure.”

According to Diane Sides, associate to the president and associate secretary for the Board of Regents at Southeast, the property and innovation of the River Campus is due to a lot of input from the Dobbinses. President Dobbins worked with the Board of Regents across a span of nine years to complete a campus with a defined focus on fine art. Jeanine Larson Dobbins was there those long hours too, talking with donors and working with members of the community. Titling the newest Southeast structure in retrospect of those efforts just felt like the right designation.

“It would not be a reality had it not been for his dedication and his fortitude and his courage, because at times there were a lot of road blocks and a lot of challenges,” Sides said. “So he did a phenomenal job, and I don’t think anybody could have envisioned what a fabulous asset that [the River Campus] would be not only to our university but to the entire region.”

The River Campus isn’t Dobbins’ only legacy. Sides pointed out that under his presidency four new residence halls have been built. Dempster Hall along with the Otto and Della Seabaugh Polytechnic Building have been constructed since his hire in 1991 as the university’s vice president of finance and administration. The university farm was acquired. Cockrill added that Dobbins had a hand in starting up Southeast’s regional campuses. Sides said even when it came to something intangible like budget strategy, Dobbins has continued to lead progress at the university.

“He’s been so innovative as a president,” Sides said. “We’re going to miss him a great deal. Not just personally, those of us who work alongside him, but this region as a whole is going to miss his great leadership ability. I think he’ll have a lasting legacy.”
The dedication ceremony will start off with a welcome by Kendra Neely-Martin, vice president of the Board of Regents. Cockrill will follow with a speech on behalf of Southeast’s student body. He wants to highlight
Dobbins’ ceaseless commitment to moving ideas forward.

“It’s that new cutting edge type, innovative idea that the university has, and that’s kind of representative of what Dr. Dobbins has done during his tenure at Southeast,” Cockrill said. “... He’s really done a lot of new initiatives that have helped the campus a lot.”

Rhonda Weller-Stilson, associate dean and director of the Holland School of Visual and Performing Arts, will be spokesperson for faculty and staff. Board of Regents President Doyle Privett will come up to talk for the board and introduce the Dobbinses. Jeanine Larson Dobbins will speak first, and President Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins will succeed. Closing remarks will be again from Neely-Martin.

A ribbon cutting and reception will be held afterward in the St. Vincent’s Commons at the Kenneth and Jeanine Dobbins River Campus Center. Tours of the 90,000-square-foot space will be available for attendees as well.

It’s a celebration, a send off and an expression of gratitude.

“He really has kind of poured his heart and soul into the university for the past, I think he’s been here for about 25 years now,” Cockrill said. “He’s always stayed up those late nights and been willing to listen to the opinions of everyone in ways that would maybe not necessarily further his own vision but further the university’s vision. I think it’s fitting, something that he worked so hard on like the River Campus is going to be named in his honor.”

The ceremony will begin at 3 p.m. Feb. 27 in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus.