The new academic year officially began last Friday with the commencement of the 2012 convocation ceremony, where dozens of faculty and staff were honored for their years of service to the university and their accomplishments during that time. The ceremony was held in the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts.
President John L. Crain also delivered his Convocation Address at the conclusion of the ceremony, where he shared his insights into Southeastern’s latest round of financial reductions.
“Like most of you, I felt that life was really better when things were normal,” said Crain about the budget situation. “Unfortunately, it has become very apparent that where we are today is the new norm.”
According to Crain, this semester marks a $40 million reduction in the university’s operating budget since the 2009 fiscal year.
“That’s pretty much half,” Crain said. “Despite drastic increases in our tuition and fees and placing more of the burden on our students and their families at a time of unprecedented economic challenges, we have far fewer resources. Clearly these are the most challenging times that I have witnessed in my 26 year history with the university.”
Crain explained that the university is balancing the loss of funds and still offering the best services possible to students by prioritizing programs, increasing private fundraising, “relentlessly pursuing efficiency” and significantly reducing employment costs. Crain thanked the many departments and administrators that helped make mitigating the cuts possible and doing more with less, but gave special thanks to the Physical Plant, who’s use of biodiesel and solar energy have tremendously reduced fuel costs.
Crain then audibly shocked the audience with a report on the university’s employee base, which has been reduced by 320 personnel since 2009. However, he reassured the audience.  
“All of these changes have not been easy and they have not been fun,” said Crain. “Your workloads have increased and it has been years since a pay raise. While this is certainly not all about me, on a personal level I have been sued, cussed, accused, censured and called more bad names than I ever thought possible. And yet here we are today, beaten up pretty bad, but still operating, providing students with education opportunities and still meeting our GRAD Act performance levels.”
Crain closed his speech with a quotation from Winston Churchill, England’s Prime Minster during World War II that he felt embodied the attitude the university must adopt if it is to survive the financial turbulence.
“Never give in, never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.”