“A Provost named Ron (with apologies to Johnny Cash and ‘A Boy Named Sue’)”
by John Burney, vice provost for academic affairs, and Charles Nelson, associate professor of physics and astronomy:
Well my provost stepped down when I was VP
And he didn’t leave much for Wanda and me
Just a contingency budget and an empty diet coke can
Now I don’t blame him for stepping down
‘Cause he did a great thing before he left town
He went and co-authored the mission explication
Now some folks thought it was quite a joke
And it got a lot of laughs from a lots of folks
But the provost made sure that to the mission we were true
We mapped that mission and did not shirk
Before you know it the engaged citizen started to work
I tell you life ain’t easy when your provost pushes the mission
Well, we pursued excellent learning environments
Meaningful personal lives and professional accomplishments
And we all learned to work collaboratively
Prepared students to be responsible global citizens
We integrated the liberal and professional senses
And he pushed us to embrace Inter-dis-ci-plin-ari-ty
So Ron as we start to say so long
You’ve been a great provost, you’ve made Drake strong
You’ve always pushed us to provide a better education
Before you go I will tell you true
We’ll never forget the lessons of 1992
And we’ll always see your hand in the mission explication