That was the message LWC President William T. Luckey Jr. told more than 400 guests Thursday night at the college’s annual Founders’ Day Dinner, held in Roberta D. Cranmer Dining & Conference Center.
Luckey said that LWC needs bold dreams in order for the college to maintain the remarkable trajectory it has experienced during his presidency, which began in 1998.
“If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough,” said Luckey, who is the college’s eighth president. “We -- you and I working together -- have some dreams still left to fulfill. And, no, it won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.”
One reason Luckey said the college will fulfill those dreams is because of its broad base of support.
“I’m so grateful to be here … surrounded by so many people who care so deeply about this college and its students,” he said.
In the dinner’s keynote address, LWC alumnus and Trustee Chris Estes of Lexington, Ky., urged audience members to “get out of the fog of the complex, into the clarity of the simple” by focusing on “deposits” that can “help people win.”
Estes told the Founders’ Day audience to “make deposits with your words, time and resources.”
“It’s a great flame that follows a little spark, and all we have to be is that little spark that creates the great flame,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the LWC community dedicated the Dr. Shilpan M. Patel ’04 Amphitheater. The amphitheater, which was built in 2002 when the Campus Quadrangle was opened, was named after the 2004 alumnus because of his support of the college.
“From the first day I stepped foot on this place, it felt like a small family,” Patel said. “It felt like somewhere where I could fit in.”
Patel, who now practices medicine at Morgan County ARH Hospital in West Liberty, Ky., said the hours he spent as a student in the amphitheater that now bears his name prepared him for his profession.
“I spent many hours in this place -- it just seemed like a place where I got to see how people’s body language worked,” he said. “I think it’s a skill I that I learned to cultivate here, and it helps me out in my profession now to build engaging and dynamic conversations to change the way they live.”