A Positive Action

By Dr. Drew Bennett
Chancellor, Missouri State-West Plains

The following letter to the editor appeared in the West Plains Daily Quill on Jan. 31, 2012

In my welcome message on the Missouri State University-West Plains website, I state, “Some say that we can’t change the world. I believe if enough people improve themselves, we can change the world. We at Missouri State-West Plains want those who invest with us in education to take what they have learned and change their world for the better.” On Jan. 24, 2012, I experienced a very real example of just how Missouri State-West Plains is helping to change the world for the better.
Everyone in West Plains knows about our Grizzly Basketball team. In fact, our team has a regional and even national reputation for excellence. Last year the Grizzlies finished the season as the No. 1 NJCAA Division I team in the nation, a ranking they held for five consecutive weeks, with the ranking during the final two weeks being unanimous among all national pollsters. This year, the Grizzlies are off to another good start, having recently beaten Indian Hills Community College (IA) by a 17-point margin. At the time, Indian Hills was undefeated and ranked second in the nation. Anyone attending a Grizzly Basketball game this year can’t help but notice the player wearing the No. 15 jersey, a 6-foot, 11-inch forward named Farbod Farman from the country of Iran.
What many people don’t know is that Farbod’s parents traveled from Iran to see their son in West Plains, spending almost two months in our country. On Jan. 24, Mr. and Mrs. Farman came to my office to say good-bye. Farbod accompanied them in order to translate. As we met over a cup of coffee, Farbod’s parents told me they had been very worried about their son coming to the United States. They had heard many bad things about our country; however, they wanted me to know they were no longer worried. As her son translated, and with tears running down her face, Mrs. Farman told me how everyone in West Plains had been so nice and friendly. She said that everyone on our wonderful campus – the professors, staff, and the other students – had been so outgoing and helpful. The Farmans told me they were relieved to know their son was getting an excellent education in addition to the opportunity to play basketball.
For example, Farbod had told his parents of the attention that his coaches give to monitoring the players’ class attendance and the required study program for student athletes. He also had told them about his “home-away-from-home” with his host family, another wonderful feature of the Grizzly Athletics program. It was humbling and touching for me to observe the unconditional love these parents had for their son. Just as any of us would be about our own children, they were thoroughly happy about Farbod’s well-being and the excellent care he is receiving in West Plains.
When it was time to say good-bye, Mr. Farman shook my hand and called me friend. He said he would be going back to his country with a different view of the United States. As Farbod and his parents walked out the door, I knew Missouri State-West Plains had made the world a better place.
There are similar stories we could recount about other student-athletes who have enrolled at Missouri State-West Plains, performed for the Grizzlies, and gone out into their world to proclaim great things about this University, this community, and this special region