President Jerry Gilbert has always been close to students and he hasn’t let the COVID-19 pandemic curb that relationship.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Marshall University’s campus, President Jerome (Jerry) Gilbert was deeply involved with his students as well as being a savvy user of social media. An early adapter of computer technology, last year during graduation he and WVU President Gordon Gee engaged in a competition to see who could have the most selfies with their students. No winner was declared, but that’s the kind of engagement Gilbert has enjoyed since he became Marshall’s president. He said it’s one of the things he does to let the students see him as a real person, not just a figurehead. And, that’s extremely important to him. Why?
“I love the students. I tell them that if they see me walking across campus to come up to me and say ‘hello’ and take a selfie,” he explained.
Gilbert eats in the student center on a regular basis, and it’s not at all unusual for students to wave at him or chat with him as they pass by. For the last two years he has attended every freshman introduction class where he talked to and shook hands with every student. And he didn’t just say hello. He asked where they were from and what interested them.
Gilbert and the Yeager Scholars have a book club and meet regularly. He also meets with student government representatives on a biweekly basis. As if that weren’t enough, he makes the President’s Home available for student groups to use and has even written articles for The Parthenon, the university’s student newspaper. Clearly, he wants the students to see him as a real, engaged person.
Sadly, the coronavirus pandemic ended his selfies and all those in-person meetings, at least for the time being. But, it didn’t stop his engagement with them. Gilbert simply took to technology. He was already active on Twitter and Instagram, so he simply stepped up his game. After he began working from home following the administration’s March 11 announcement that classes would be suspended, he began to record messages to the students.
“I’d started working from home, so I did a little video in what I call the John Marshall Room, which is the living room, and walked over to the dining room where I’d set up my little command station,” Gilbert said. “I just said, ‘Here I am at the President’s house and I’m still working and just wanted to say hello.’ I wanted them to know I was thinking about them.”
He said it was sort of folksy and homespun, but it hit just the right note to let the students know he was in the same boat as they were. That began a series of videos, some funny, some more somber and melancholy. He sang Till We Meet Again and he read the Marshall alma mater while channeling Mr. Rogers. (While he didn’t tell the students, he was once mistaken for Mr. Rogers on an Atlanta subway.) His video messages remind students not to be discouraged during the pandemic.
Gilbert even did a campus tour on his bike — he wanted to be seen as physically active, not just some old guy who strolls across campus. Using a GoPro on his helmet and one on the handlebars, he rode through the entire Huntington campus pointing out buildings and landmarks. That particular video also found a new audience with alumni. Many have written to say how much they’ve enjoyed seeing the changes on campus. It may not be a one-off video tour either.
“We’re thinking about doing one to the Marshall Memorial at Spring Hill Cemetery. It would be a documentary of sorts,” Gilbert said.
While Gilbert is tech savvy, he said at best he is an amateur videographer.
“On my videos I used my phone to play background music, which meant I couldn’t use it to record the video. So, I used my wife’s phone for that task. It was sort of a bootleg operation.”
Gilbert plans to do at least one more video during this summer just to say hello and to tell students he looks forward to seeing them in the fall. He also plans a virtual “welcome back” video and another for orientation.
“I think people watched the videos and found them to be a bit funny,” Gilbert said. “Maybe they made people smile and say, ‘Let’s watch that crazy president and see what he’s going to say this time.’”
And if that makes him a real person who cares about his students, then he’s accomplished his goal.
About the author: Carter Seaton is the author of two novels and the nonfiction book Hippie Homesteaders. She received the 2014 Literary Merit Award from the West Virginia Library Association, the Marshall University College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015 and the Governor’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts in 2016. Her biography of Ken Hechler, The Rebel in the Red Jeep, was published in 2017.