President's Report on 2010 Homecoming

7/26/2010 -

The following is a report from TCC President Dr. Richard G. Brassard on the happenings of the 2010 Homecoming and License Renewal. Photos from the many events at this year's gathering are available at TCC's Flickr page.

It was another year and another successful Texas Chiropractic College Homecoming at Moody Gardens Hotel & Convention Center in Galveston, July 15-17. I’m proud of the staff at TCC and incredible dedication they show every year in putting together this important and entertaining annual event. Dr. Steve Haslund, with the assistance of Glenda Ramirez and Tammy McAdams, did a fantastic job in organizing the vendor hall as well as the golf tournament. Dr. Jason Flanagan and his staff in postgraduate studies, Carla Pronio, Bitsy Hatch and Pricilla Lerma, along with Gabrielle Greenwade and Carolyn Shuffle, did an outstanding job with the continuing education side of our annual festivities.

This was the second year for us to use the scanning system in conjunction with the courses, and I’m sure everyone could tell that we took the feedback we received in 2009 to heart. The Homecoming coordinating committee worked hard to stagger the schedule during the day to better accommodate the needs of our attending doctors and the vendors, while also shifting the check-in points to better accommodate the flow of traffic. I received many compliments that this resulted in a much smoother process and folks certainly seemed happy.

While many people were checking in for the conference Thursday morning, we had 17 teams teeing off at our annual golf tournament, once again held at the Moody Gardens Golf Course. Congratulations to the winning foursome representing Diagnostic Radiology of Houston, Chris Doyle, Scott K. Pagano, Ramon Salinas and Michael Sanders. Among all of the players, I was happy to see that we had some teams with faculty members as well as a team of students participate this year.

As usually happens with Homecoming, many doctors brought their families and enjoyed the wonderful Moody Gardens attractions and Schlitterbahn Waterpark that adjoins the property. Of course there were also many guests who simply took advantage of the beautiful pool area and other amenities available at the hotel.

Always a favorite, the Rockin’ Relics featuring TCC’s own Drs. Steve Foster and Brad Koby capped the first day of Homecoming at the Beach Party.  This event is always a lively event in which doctors and their guests can enjoy great music and catch up with old friends.

Classes resumed Friday and the rooms were again filled. During Dr. Jack Dolbin’s course on sports medicine, I was delighted to have the opportunity to take the microphone and introduce some of the important guests at this year’s event. Dr. Rick McMichael, ACA president; Dr. Ted Scott, NBCE president; Dr. Ed Fritsch, TCA president; Patte Kent, TCA executive director; and Dr. Tim Runnels, TCCAA president all spoke with the doctors and TCC students in attendance about many important issues in chiropractic today. Much of the emphasis was on the importance of the TCA’s lawsuit against the TMA and the critical need of chiropractors in Texas to support the state association during this battle.

During the lunch break on Friday, the past presidents of the TCC Alumni Association held their annual meeting during the Gavel Club luncheon, receiving an update on college activities. Additionally on Friday, a new luncheon was held for current and recently graduated student leaders of TCC. This dynamic group heard from Dr. Clay McDonald, TCC provost, on the future plans for the College, and from Dr. Fred Zuker, TCC dean of enrollment management, about the importance of referring prospective students and aiding in the preceptorship program. Nikki Hurley, of our Institutional Advancement office, also introduced TCC’s new career development center and discussed the many resources available to current and former students.

I was happy to see so many people enjoying the President’s reception Friday evening as we honored Dr. Jack Christie with the W.D. Harper Science of Existence Award. I was also delighted to hear the story of Dr. Dolbin, our guest speaker for the evening. It is always wonderful when doctors share their memories of starting down the path of chiropractic.

Saturday at Homecoming is always an important day. While there are still classes going on in the convention center, the quarterly meeting of the Board of Regents convenes on the ninth floor of the hotel. Drs. McMichael (ACA), Fritsch (TCA), Scott (NBCE) and Runnels (TCCAA) along with Mr. Horace Elliott, executive vice president of the NBCE, all made presentations to the board. Dr. Fritsch brought everyone up to date on the TMA lawsuit, while Dr. McMichael affirmed the importance of supporting the TCA and stated that the ACA is making a financial contribution to aid in the lawsuit. Dr. McMichael also represented the World Federation of Chiropractic for the meeting.

Dr. Runnels reported on the alumni association, and Dr. Scott explained that the board exams are more challenging and comprehensive today than when he took them many years ago.

After a short break, I had the opportunity to address the board on the current state of the College. I noted that TCC has been in a transitional mode for the last several years. However, I believe that in the future when we look back on 2010, we will all agree that this was the pivotal year when everything began to come together and we started to lengthen our stride toward true excellence.

As 2010 started out, we had successfully completed our accreditation with SACS; we implemented our Quality Enhancement Plan; we filled the most critical positions at the time with the most qualified individuals in the profession; and we took ambitious steps to invest in our own future by investing in our own institution.

We have an aggressive agenda to not only improve every phase of of our programs and operations, but are committed to achieving excellence and realizing our goal of being nationally recognized as the finest chiropractic college in the United States.

Following my own statements, I then had the pleasure of introducing different Cabinet members who made reports on their areas of responsibilities, discussing current conditions and offering more details on how we are going to realize our vision for the future. These included Dr. McDonald (provost), Dr. Al Adams (vice president for academic affairs and program development), Dr. Zuker (dean of enrollment management), Dr. Haslund (vice president for student and administrative affairs) and Mr. Clements (associate vice president for Institutional Advancement).

Following our lunch break, we had the opportunity to honor three retiring board members for their years of service: Dr. Angel Leger Keng, Mr. Perry Walker and Dr. Brian Hawkins. Dr. Donald Krippendorf, chairman, also announced that while Dr. Hawkins was leaving the board, he will continue with his assignment as a liaison to the alumni association.  I’d like to again add my personal thanks to this trio for their long dedication to TCC.

The last agenda item of the day was the report from the Finance Committee which was given by Mr. Larry C. Johnson, board treasurer. His report showed that the College is in good financial condition, and the board approved the 2011 budget.

During the board lunch break, I had the opportunity to address and personally thank many TCC donors at the President’s Luncheon.  This is a great annual event, providing the College with the ability to publically acknowledge the contributions of the many individuals and businesses who offer their financial support for the betterment of TCC. We also honored a special group of doctors, those who graduated from the College 50 years ago: Drs. Carl Beller, John Komarek, Victor Luhorn, Patrick Needham, Edward Crump, Erroll Kelley, Ralph Kimble, Jack Mann, George Shannan, Hiram Sherman, Del Wall, Toby Woolverton, and Joseph Lomarek.

Every year at Homecoming, as I speak with alumni, vendors, board members, and special guests, I am reminded of what a special privilege and honor it is for me to serve as the president of Texas Chiropractic College.  This year was no exception. I again thank the TCC staff, the attending doctors, the staff at Moody Gardens and of course the many sponsors and vendors who make this an exceptional event every year.

I look forward to meeting everyone again at future events over the next year. And if I don’t see you before, see you in Galveston in 2011!

Richard G. Brassard
President, Texas Chiropractic College