The

 Leader’s  Voice:  Speeches  by  Andrew  Barlow  

PROJECT: “Founders’ Day” Address

CLIENT: John Garrett, Founder, Community Impact Newspapers
ORGANIZATION: Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX
PREPARED TEXT:
It is such an honor to be here this evening with my fellow Bearkats, to celebrate a university that is
changing the world.

As students, faculty, alumni and supporters of this great university, we are all part of a leadership
heritage, established by the most memorable leader in Texas history.

Sam Houston was a remarkable man, from his time spent among the Cherokee in Tennessee, to his
time as President of the Republic of Texas and our governor.

I’m also still amazed that he fathered eight children after the age of fifty. I have three and I can
barely keep up.

A family that size would explain the stories of his drinking…

I kid because his legacy can more than handle it.

Sam Houston was a man whose leadership shaped a state and whose legacy guides an amazing
university.

Speaking of legacies, I am one myself.

My parents attended Sam Houston state…in fact, this is where they met all those years ago.

However, you might be surprised to learn I wasn’t set on attending Sam Houston State.

In fact, I was leaning toward one or two lesser schools that happen to be located in College
Station…and Nacogdoches…

I know, I know. It pains me to admit it, but honesty is the first step toward healing…and I can tell
this is a safe place.

Enough years have passed that I can speak openly about a time when I thought my future was at
A&M or…SFA…sorry.

I was young. I didn’t know any better.

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The  Leader’s  Voice:  Speeches  by  Andrew  Barlow  

So back in ’93, my buddy, Chance, and I rolled out of Pflugerville on a road trip with a big goal: visit
all three schools, one after the other.

When we got to Huntsville, we were on the lookout for some fine dining, so we hit the Wendy’s
across from campus.

So we stroll in like the big men on campus we were pretending to be, and got a pleasant surprise:
the Orange Pride dance team.

Now this might come as a surprise to you, but teenage boys don’t exactly shine when it comes to
conversations with girls, much less pretty college girls, so our expectations were low.

But, for some reason, they shocked us by talking to us.

The first time one spoke to me, I literally checked behind me to see whom she was addressing.

Well, you can imagine, this blew our young-man minds.

Pretty girls AND they were nice? What kind of paradise had we accidentally discovered?

Granted, I had a great friend back home who was a GIRL, but Jennifer wasn’t my girlFRIEND…at
least not then.

So, I headed to Huntsville for school…and, by the way, so did Jennifer two years later…and I fell in
love with this place.

There is something special about Sam Houston State, perhaps the influence of its namesake, but
leaders are made here.

I credit the core values woven into the University motto: "The measure of life is its service."

Here at Sam Houston, that’s not just a phrase carved over a door or painted on a wall--it’s a way of
life.

That culture, focused on servant leadership, turned me into a leader…and helped me focus on the
important things in life.

That included academics, and I had more than my share of semesters on President's List…

…definitely more than some of my high school teachers would have predicted.
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The  Leader’s  Voice:  Speeches  by  Andrew  Barlow  

In my humble opinion, that culture of service is distilled to its highest concentration at Theta Chi
Fraternity, a brotherhood that still enriches my life.

Theta Chi taught me enough leadership to become chapter president, where we sought to serve the
university.

After all, our motto was "Alma Mater first, Theta Chi for Alma Mater" and we did our best to live it
out.

In the process, we learned to dream big.

Interestingly, my friend from home, Jennifer, was on her own path of achievement and was named
Theta Chi’s “Dream Girl.”

We weren’t dating YET: there’s no way my Theta Chi brothers would have voted for her if they
knew I had even the slimmest chance with a girl that beautiful, smart and self-assured.

However, the confidence I got from serving in leadership gave me the confidence to ask her out.

Thank God for confidence.

I had confidence in my school and in my fraternity brothers.

That’s why I was surprised we got shut out for awards at a national fraternity event during my first
semester in the chapter.

It was in 1995 and I was fired up to attend the awards ceremony. It was a no brainer to me: a group
of guys this great at a school this strong would absolutely rake-in the hardware.

As the night wore on, I was certain we’d hear them call Theta Eta Chapter’s name…but we got zip.
Zero. Nada.

I was not happy…not at all. And it got worse when I found out our chapter hadn’t even APPLIED
for any awards.

You could have knocked me over with a feather.

I vowed right there and then that we were going to aim high and win the Alter Award, the highest
award given to a chapter.

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The  Leader’s  Voice:  Speeches  by  Andrew  Barlow  

It took the hard work of a WHOLE LOT of people, but a year and a half later, I was honored to
accept the Alter Award on behalf of the Theta Eta Chapter.

That taught me a simple lesson: if you visualize something, surround yourself with the right people,
then work hard together, you can achieve just about anything.

Sam Houston State has always been a place where students learn those kinds of lessons every day.

Sam Houston students learn how to dream big.

I know I did.

I graduated in 1997 with a Radio & Television degree.

Now you might wonder how I ended up in the newspaper business with a major like that, but I got
my share advice when I was out doing job interviews.

The TV guys told me I had a face for radio and the radio guys told me I had a voice for the
newspaper business....

So, I managed to land a job at the Houston Chronicle, thanks to the Sam Houston State alumni
network.

An alumnus of our fraternity put me in touch with Jim Pollard. Not only was he the Chronicle’s
Advertising Director, he was also a Sam graduate.

From the time I started there in 1997, Jim taught me the ins & outs of the newspaper business.

Fast-forward to 2015 and that same Jim Pollard works for me and runs our paper in The
Woodlands.

A big part of our readership in The Woodlands are folks connected to the Sam Houston State
campus there.

That’s some “full circle” stuff there, but let me slow down--I’m getting ahead of myself.

Around graduation time, I managed to convince Jennifer, longtime friend and Theta Chi Dream
Girl, to be my wife.

We built a life together in Houston while I worked for the Houston Chronicle.
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We had a good run there, but we both missed the Austin area, so we moved to Williamson County,
a good bit north of town.

The Austin Business Journal seemed to like my track record, so they hired me to be their
advertising director.

Things were good personally and professionally, but Jennifer and I both knew something was
missing.

The big daily papers were shrinking, which meant the depth and breadth of their coverage had less
and less to offer regular folks like us who wanted to know what was going on in their neighborhood.

So we took the game room in our house and turned it into a newspaper office, working to create a
business journal for the average Joe.

The BIG papers could cover the BIG companies, but folks want to know what’s going on
immediately around them.

They want to know who runs that new donut shop on 3rd street and what is happening in that new
warehouse by the airport.

Our goal was to generate smart, high-quality reporting about the issues that really matter to
people.

We mailed 60,000 copies of our first issue in September 2005 and people LOVED it.

It’s funny, we live in the so-called Information Age, able to access data from around the world, but
no one knows what's happening in their own backyard.

Thanks to Community Impact News, a lot of Texans do now.

Now it’s been nearly ten years of work and the response has been so gratifying.

We have 150 employees now and, no, they don’t all work in our playroom.

Our network of 20 newspapers spread across Texas mails over 1.4 million copies.

It blows our minds to know that more Texans get a Community Impact Newspaper than any other
publication in Texas.

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More are on the way. Just yesterday, we launched our Conroe edition and the people there are
excited to get a paper that REALLY covers their community.

Now the cynics in here might think we launched THERE yesterday so I could write off our travel
expenses HERE as the return leg of a business trip.

I prefer to think that Huntsville, even after all these years away, is slowly, deliberately drawing
Jennifer and me back in.

The Bearkat in us is proud to serve our fellow Texans by restoring a sense of connection in
communities across the state.

We need that more than ever in a time when people care more about two llamas wandering an
Arizona street than how a woman saved for years to open that craft store on the corner.

I’m glad we’re helping change that, because I sincerely believe that the relationships in life are the
most important thing we do.

As a man of faith, my most important relationship is with Jesus and my most important role is
sharing His love with my family.

That old song says “His eye is on the sparrow” and I believe his eye has been on this Bearkat for a
long long time,

just like it has been on everyone else in here.

He put me on a path, on a faith walk, that led from Pflugerville, to Huntsville, to Houston then
Austin, with many experiences along the way.

Those experiences, especially those here at Sam Houston State, shaped me.

I watched teachers here give sacrificially of their time to students who were struggling with
concepts.

I saw my fraternity brothers throw themselves into community service to help those around them
with less.

I’ve seen my fellow alumni dig deep into their pockets to keep this great school going, to provide
opportunity for students.
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The  Leader’s  Voice:  Speeches  by  Andrew  Barlow  

Now, as a man still on a challenging faith walk, I’ve learned that our first giving commitment is to
our church.

I believe that one of the key responsibilities of a church is to teach sacrificial giving: it cultivates
humility and sharpens our awareness that God is the source of every good thing.

It shows us that sacrificial giving levels the playing field and helps us see others where they ARE,
not where WE are.

It allows those who are young in their faith to learn by the example of others who are farther along
in their walk.

The goal is to develop the discipline of giving because it overflows into the other parts of life.

Over the years, Jennifer and I have learned that giving in church leads to giving in other places.

When a check you put in the offering plate ends up building schools in Haiti or drilling wells in
Africa, you start to realize the giving has a much bigger impact than spending.

When generous hearts meet noble causes, amazing things happen, whether it’s at a food bank…or a
great university.

No matter where you go on this campus, you’ll see examples of generosity fueling this school’s
noble cause.

Sometimes that generosity is obvious with a name on a building or a paving brick.

Other times, it’s more subtle. Walking the campus earlier today, I was reminded that so many
students are only here because they have the financial support of a scholarship.

Jennifer and I have been inspired by the folks who have given so much to Sam Houston State, so
we’ve given from the heart.

Most of you here have given more of your time, talent and treasure to this great University than we
have, so we’re honored to be here, to learn from you.

When we all do our share…when we all GIVE our share, we’ll create more opportunities for young
people to pursue their dreams.

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The  Leader’s  Voice:  Speeches  by  Andrew  Barlow  

Together, we can open doors for young people that lead from their small towns to this campus then
onto a life of significance.

THAT is a goal worth having. THAT makes life worth living.

And we’re proud to be known as Bearkats as long as we’re blessed to walk this earth.

Thank you for loving our school.

Bless you all and Eat em up Kats!

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