By NICK BUDD
Hays Post
It seemed like a statewide party at Gross Memorial Coliseum on Friday morning. After serving as president for the past five months, Dr. Mirta Martin was officially inaugurated as president on Friday morning. Attendees included Gov. Sam Brownback, Sen. Jerry Moran and Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little from the University of Kansas, as well as other legislators and officials from around the state.
“You’ve got a great president coming into the university and you’ve got a great president leaving the university, and I don’t think there will be a beat missed in the process,” Brownback said. “Fort Hays State will continue to prosper and grow and be a fabulous institution for the state of Kansas.”
Fred Logan, chairman of the Board of Regents when Martin was named president, talked about Martin’s journey to the United States. After fleeing from the communist regime in Cuba, Martin and her grandmother lived in a covenant in Cuba for seven years before the opportunity arose to come to the United States. Logan said Martin was terrified due to the fact that she did not speak English and because of the change of scenery.
“When we talked to her about it, you could almost feel a sense of despair,” Logan said.
Martin then went to work at Miami gift shop to “help put food on the table” and went to school where she realized the plethora of opportunities available. According to Logan, once her other family members made their way to the United States, Martin found the power in education due to both her own and her families successes.
“As she puts it, through education we can achieve anything,” Logan said. “From there, we know the rest of the story — a successful student, banker, and a successful career in higher education.”
“Mirta Martin followed her own Smoky Hill Trail and it brought her to Fort Hays State University,” he added. “Mirta Martin — an educator, dreamer, and now the ninth president of Fort Hays State University.”
Before Martin gave her inaugural address, Kenny Wilk, current Regents chairman, spoke of the unique goals each president has brought to Fort Hays State, but noted each has had one main goal in mind throughout their tenure.
“To make this institution a beacon for education on the plains of western Kansas,” Wilk said. “My colleagues at the Kansas Board of Regents have no doubt that Dr. Martin will do great things during her time as president earning her historic place on this inspirational list as FHSU’s first female and hispanic president.”
After former President Edward Hammond officially passed the presidential medallion and mace, Martin offered her official inaugural address.
“I am honored today to wear, for the first time, our new Fort Hays State University regalia, which proudly reflects our colors and proudly displays our seal,” Martin said. “In a ceremony of renewal, together, today is an opportunity for us to share our common bonds and affirm our faith in a brilliant future.”
Martin noted FHSU is a beacon of education on the western plains of Kansas and and said it was her duty to ensure the success of the university.
“Every lighthouse has a keeper,” she told the crowd of thousands. “And it is the keeper’s duty to make sure that the light always shines brightly, illuminating the path ahead. … I am humbled and honored to be the ninth keeper of the light at Fort Hays State University.”
She also laid out a set of goals for the university during her tenure, including having alumni offer paid internships to students, producing a Rhodes Scholar, and diversifying and increasing the student and staff population at the university.
Martin was unanimously voted in as Hammond’s successor in May. She previously served as dean of the Reginald F. Lewis College of Business at Virginia State University.
