Part VI. Richard Kessler’s Legacy As Dean of Mannes
One last question, and it’s more about you Richard. What would you like your legacy to to be here? When it’s all said and done, when you retire, or move to a different place. What would you like it to be?
Legacy…
I think I would like my legacy to be, some sense that I helped to develop and further a community that…that asked questions. That wasn’t afraid to confront the status quo and makes changes when changes are necessary.
That somehow, I helped make Mannes become a more evolutionary and constantly evolving institution.
Some people are asking “when are you going to stop? How many changes can you make, aren’t you going to stop at some point?”
The answer is no – change is a constant.
So I would like my legacy to be this:
Helping Mannes become more of a place with a reflective culture, and in the reflection wasn’t afraid, at all, to make changes, never allowing tradition to stand in the way – ever – of serving its students the best possible education in whatever the time dictated.
If I could do that, I could be happy with that.