‘Different Campaign, Different General’ — Q&A With King’s Interim President, Stockwell Day
Stockwell Day in the Presidential Suite I Photo by Mattie Townson
The Empire State Tribune sent Editor-in-Chief, Mattie Townson and City Editor, Paige Hagy to chat with King’s Interim President, Stockwell Day, about all things New York, Canadian politics and King’s budget cuts.
Mattie Townson: Where are you from originally?
Stockwell Day: I was raised in Eastern Canada — called Atlantic Canada — Quebec and Ontario. As a kid, I grew up in Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec City until I was about 17. Living in Montreal at the time, we moved all the way out to the West Coast — basically Vancouver and Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Mattie Townson: Are you bilingual?
Stockwell Day: Yeah. One hour a day for two years now, I have been online educating one of my grandsons [in French] at the request of my son and daughter-in-law. They enlisted me — without pay — to do French and government. We do an hour a day. It’s a blast!
Mattie Townson: When did you first move to the United States?
Stockwell Day: I’m here—for what I think will be part-time. I’m here on this project with King’s, and I got here in early August. I have been here for about a month. We have a little condo in Florida. I have a Florida driver’s license — it was scary. I almost didn’t pass it.
Mattie Townson: How long have you known about King’s?
Stockwell Day: Hm — just at arm’s length; an awareness of King’s is known. I’ve probably known about King’s for over a period of years. Getting to know King’s really well was over a year ago I was asked to join the board.
Mattie Townson: What attracted you to joining King’s leadership?
Stockwell Day: Well, I was asked to join the board. King’s has a formidable reputation, and I was honored to be a part of it. I see some exciting possibilities ahead for King’s in an era where this size of liberal arts Christian college generally is going through difficult times. To be asked to be a part of the way forward was an honor.
Paige Hagy: Could you elaborate on when you said formidable?
Stockwell Day: Positive way. Formidable can be taken either way. King’s has an outstanding reputation for not just academics but for a solid focus on wanting to see a Christian worldview being taught, represented and articulated. Very strong reputation for being focused on Christ-centered education.
Mattie Townson: How were you thrust into the position of Interim President after coming from the board?
Stockwell Day: I asked to join the board because I have a consulting company. I have been doing that for about a dozen years since I retired from politics and government. One of the companies that I have done work for is Primacorp. Though they run strictly as a business, they are the largest institution in Canada that provides post-secondary education in a variety of diplomas and vocations. They are non-government. They are the largest private sector provider of post-secondary diplomas and degrees in Canada and have operations in the United States. They have been one of my clients. It was through that and getting to know the people there over the years that I heard that there is an exciting opportunity for King’s College to expand its mission — do you want to be on that board?
I went, “that sounds exciting, so sure.” At the time, I didn’t realize that the existing chair, Tim Dunn, had plans to leave. Boards — you give yourself a number of years, then you go. As he was anticipating leaving, he and the rest of the board asked if I would consider becoming chair. I said, “Yes, that would be an honor.” That then developed into eventually being asked to take the role of Interim President while they — while we — find another president. It’s not without precedent — it’s happened here before at King’s.
Paige Hagy: Can you talk more about your connection with Primacorp? Was there any connection with you introducing Primacorp to The King’s College?
Stockwell Day: No. People I work with that I provide consulting services to keep me up to date with what they’re doing here and there. It was just in the process of providing consulting and advisory services to them that, in one of those discussions, shared with me that they’re doing this.
Mattie Townson: What previous experience do you have that makes you suitable as a leader, at least temporarily, at a higher education institution?
Stockwell Day: When I get hired, if I can use that word, or when I work with people on a contractual basis or if you look at my website — stockwellday.com — I put all of my qualifications there, and people say, “we think this person can be helpful.” Partially by virtue of the fact that when working in government, I was the Minister of Finance for the Province of Alberta for a number of years, then ran for office federally and got elected as the leader of the opposition. When we formed the government, I was the Minister of Public Safety, which is the direct equivalent of Homeland Security.
When you look at that, and the fact that I was responsible as a candidate for federal policing, all of our borders and border officers, our equivalent of the CIA, which is called CSIS — Canadian Security Intelligence Services — our prison system, our parole system. I was chair of the Cabinet Committee in Afghanistan, so I was internationally involved in lots of security-related issues 24/7. I had many meetings with, at the time, President George Bush’s Secretary of Homeland Security, which was Michael Chertoff and then corresponding the same thing in other countries. We have alliances — something called the Five Eyes, which is a security alliance with New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the U.S. You learn many things and develop many skills. After that, I was appointed to be the Minister of International Trade in Canada, so again, internationally you’re working on free trade deals and free trade problems one on one with other countries, sometimes with groups. You’re involved in doing trade deals and treaties. They told me I was responsible for more free trade deals than anyone in Canada. You develop relationships and certain knowledge and skills.
I always like to say that if you want to get something done, hire somebody smarter than you are. I always say that that has been easy for me to do. You develop expertise and gain great opportunities to take short-term courses at Harvard. I finished up an MBA, paid for by clients. You just have a great opportunity to acquire a lot of skills and knowledge. When you get to the private sector, people look at that and say, “We could use that kind of advice.” I make it clear that I am not a lobbyist. I don’t devolve past Cabinet confidentialities or confidentialities that were arrived at with other governments. I will freely use what I have learned, if it is positive, to help an individual or company navigate some difficult waters. That’s why people hire me.
Mattie Townson: What is Primacorp doing for the college? Has the online learning service begun?
Stockwell Day: So basically, other colleges who have done similar things — obviously Grand Canyon University hugely developed their online, Liberty, Harvard Universities that are looking to the future or call themselves modern have to develop a highly-respected, efficient online arm. Primacorp offers that skill and ability. What Primacorp will be doing with King’s is developing an online brand that meets the academic rigor and vision that King’s has but online. Their projection for five years is at 6,000 students online. Because they’re working with King’s, Primacorp gets revenue from student online fees. Primacorp shares some of that revenue with King’s, so for the first time, it allows King’s a revenue stream that is not entirely dependent on fundraising.
In 1994 or 1995, The King’s College closed down. The money dried up. People who had been donors were looking and saying that the school needs another revenue stream. You can’t keep running short every year. They couldn’t find that revenue stream, and they closed their doors. We don’t want that to happen again. It also truly makes this international. What was once the vision of Bill Bright, which of course was to “Go ye into all the world,” in those days, he never would’ve dreamt how this could have happened like it can with an online program. It’s making the dream come alive.
The culture is the same. Primacorp as a business is “changing the world through education.” Primacorp’s CEO and President is a devout Christian, and his record is spreading education throughout the world. Whether it’s providing millions of dollars per year of scholarships or directly using business to advance education, the culture of the two are the same but completely different strategies. Primacorp and its CEO, Peter Chung, firmly believe if people are people of faith in business, they have to be good stewards. If they’re being blessed financially, then they’re able to spread that blessing around. Primacorp, for instance, in Canada, is a huge philanthropic business. They don’t like to brag about it.
Culturally the two are the same but how we operate is different.
Mattie Townson: This one is a bit more difficult, I think. The understanding among the student body is that the college is failing financially, enrollment is shrinking in person and student organization budgets were cut majorly — how is the college financially?
Stockwell Day: The college is on a strong footing. I will tell you that first of all, as we know, for the last five years, one of the major donors to the college was the Devos family. They said that we will contribute X numbers of dollars for five years. What you find with donors, or Christian donors, who back organizations like this is that they give for a certain term and by then, hope that you can make the necessary adjustments so you can survive.
That’s what Devos did, and they also gave a building that is pretty phenomenal. They also said that at the end of the time, if you feel that building has a better purpose — even if you want to sell it — that’s up to you. It’s our gift to you.
Are there students already online? Yes, they’re already online and signing up daily. This is a five-year plan to get to a certain level where that revenue sharing with King’s will be significant. How do you keep going for five years? One of the ways you do that is by selling the building, which gives you a fair bit of capital to keep fundraising. We have our ongoing fundraising too.
I think that when you look at that capital coming in from the sale of the building — which we’ve almost got completely signed and done — along with ongoing fundraising will continue to carry things forward as the online program continues to grow.
Last year, for instance, there were 42 students signed up in September. This year, with the skills of Primacorp, we already have 175 students who applied for next year. Already it’s four times the amount.
Mattie Townson: Is that in person or online?
Stockwell Day: That is to attend here. Some of those saw the online program, and the more they looked at King’s itself, they said, "Online looks great, but I want to go there." As you know, everybody who signs up or applies in September doesn't necessarily end up here, but it’s four times the amount.
Mattie Townson: What upgrades are costing millions of dollars to the campus building? We got the email about the millions of dollars of renovations, and we were wondering how that would look.
Stockwell Day: That’s going to be something where faculty take input from students. People are going to have different views on that. Also, to make this place more financially viable, we negotiated with the landlord at this building [56 Broadway]. We had some very good and very tough negotiators and drove the price down. We also analyzed the needs thoroughly and realized we don’t need all this square footage.
The lease is now signed. It’s a 12-year lease. The new signing agreement actually kicks in in about two years — the change of space, but it’s about the same — but we get some of the benefits right now. I don’t even know if I am allowed to say this publicly, but we basically got a year of free rent. You can imagine what that does for our budget in terms of financial relief. All of these factors take pressure off. No institution is ever out of the woods, but it does take pressure off.
Among the things negotiated with a lease, as you know, are upgrades. We have a certain X number of million that we don’t have to pay and will give us through upgrades.
Mattie Townson: What do you do for fun outside of this job?
Stockwell Day: I’m a runner — I’ve qualified three times for the Boston Marathon. That’s my very early morning time in terms of distraction. My wife and I have 14 grandkids of various ages from 10 to 24 years old, so that is a major focus of ours. We’ll take our older ones on trips. When I’m in Canada, depending on which city, my grandsons are all on various teams — hockey or volleyball — so we go to the gym together. That’s a lot of fun. My wife and I love to travel when we have the time. I’d say that in between sports for myself, sports with my grandkids and traveling with my wife, that pretty well takes up time when I’m not sitting at a desk or working on a project.
Mattie Townson: Where are you living in the city?
Stockwell Day: Right at Devos Hall. We are the sole occupants. I feel like I’m the caretaker there. It’s great — it’s a very secure facility. Our friends say, “Oh, it must be hard to find accommodation in New York City,” and I say, “No, it’s great — I have a five-star building that I’m staying in all myself.” We’re there for now.
Mattie Townson: Where is your favorite place in the city to go so far?
Stockwell Day: I love being right here — the whole Wall Street vibe. I used to come down here as the Finance Minister to sell government bonds to traders on Wall Street. I personally like this area a lot, but every area of New York City is an area of intrigue for us. I love to sit out here by the water, have a picnic and look out at the Statue of Liberty and be reminded that there has been no country ever in the world that has been as inviting to immigrants as the United States. France built that big statue and sent it over here because they knew that for the people coming here, that would be a great sign of hope. While I sit there, I’m also close to the 9/11 Memorial center. I came about a week after that awful attack with our Prime Minister to show support for the United States. The mayor at the time, Mayor Guiliani, took us right down into that hole, which was like being in hell itself. It was still burning. It was still smoking. Firefighters were still carrying their comrades out of the ashes.
There were a lot of Canadians who died. To have a spouse let me hear on her cell phone a message she recorded from her husband who was saying goodbye on the 100th floor — knowing he would never see her again — these are powerful memories rooted here in New York.
When my wife and I first got married, we ran an organization in Canada called Teen Challenge that started here in New York in the 60s with David Wilkerson and the cross and the switchblade—my generation knows a lot more about that. That was rooted in New York City, so the first time we came to New York City, we wanted to see all the sites even if I wanted to go to Times Square Church. That was originally where it was founded after working on the streets with gangs and drug addicts.
My father’s side of the family, going way back, is from the U.S. They were among the first colonists — those who rebelled against the King. They got tired of paying high taxes. My mother’s side of the family moved North out of what was becoming the United States and was called the United Empire Loyalists — they wanted to remain faithful to the Crown. They liked paying big taxes and being bossed around. I have that dual history. The Queen dying — that’s very impactful for me and us as Canadians. Yet, my father’s side of the family rebelled against the crown.
For me, I’m thankful for some roots that come from the United States.
Mattie Townson: The next question is something we’ve heard a lot of people ask around campus. What made President Gibson leave so suddenly, and where is he now?
Stockwell Day: First of all, it wasn’t sudden. It was something talked about for quite a while between President Gibson and the board. When you look at the history of King’s since it officially reopened again, the average term for a president is about five years. He was a little longer than average.
Tim comes from a proud military background — when there’s a different campaign, you often bring in a different general. That’s just the nature of it. The search committee is working on what we’re looking for in another president — obviously, Christian, academic qualifications and some experience with this new hybrid that’s developing in education internationally. They need to have some experience with an on-ground program, which will always be the flagship.
President Gibson did a great job — a great five years. A different campaign opens up the opportunity for a different general.
This article has been updated to correct the names of Tim Dunn and Bill Bright.