Football vs. Louisiana Tech

Rodney Bennett Author

09/24/2023 Added

3 Plays

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Chancellor Bennett talks about leading the flagship university of the state and the opportunity to have an impact across the state. Chancellor Bennett also talks about the value of experiential learning in preparing students to be ready to start their careers on day one and ensuring students from the state of Nebraska have access to a UNL education.

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[00:00:01.230]We're back here on "Countdown to Kickoff,"
[00:00:02.550]Huskers and the Bulldogs of Louisiana Tech here today
[00:00:05.460]with a 2:40 kickoff time, and as we do every week,
[00:00:07.800]a chance to sit down with the Chancellor
[00:00:09.060]of the University of Nebraska Lincoln, Rodney Bennett.
[00:00:11.340]Great to see you, Louisiana Tech,
[00:00:13.290]you're probably familiar with that school
[00:00:14.760]from your days at Southern Mississippi.
[00:00:16.080]Yeah, absolutely.
[00:00:16.913]First, Greg, I wanna thank you
[00:00:17.880]for havin' me back on the broadcast.
[00:00:19.560]I have enjoyed getting to know you and visit with you
[00:00:23.040]and sorta chat with you all things Nebraska,
[00:00:25.620]all things UNL, all things Huskers.
[00:00:29.040]So I appreciate the opportunity
[00:00:30.540]to be back on the radio with you
[00:00:32.730]and talk about our great university
[00:00:34.920]and our athletics program, and you're right,
[00:00:38.310]LA Tech is very familiar to me.
[00:00:41.250]We played LA Tech when I was at Southern Miss every year.
[00:00:44.580]It was normally our after Thanksgivin' game,
[00:00:47.730]sort of a big rivalry game.
[00:00:49.800]And I'm very fortunate to have been able
[00:00:52.230]to work with the President at LA Tech, Dr. Les Guice,
[00:00:57.180]who has been at LA Tech for 45 years.
[00:01:01.020]Goodness.
[00:01:02.285]The last 10 of those years serving as president.
[00:01:06.657]And so Dr. Guice and I go way back,
[00:01:08.550]and I'm just so amazed and thankful and grateful
[00:01:12.300]for a person who's devoted 45 years of their life
[00:01:16.020]to public higher education
[00:01:17.940]and then the last 10 years servin' as president.
[00:01:20.310]So we welcome LA Tech, obviously, to Lincoln.
[00:01:23.430]We welcome LA Tech and his team to Memorial Stadium.
[00:01:28.410]Now, that doesn't mean we want them to win,
[00:01:30.900]let me just be clear about that,
[00:01:33.300]but we do extend a most hearty sincere Husker welcome
[00:01:37.830]to our friends from Louisiana.
[00:01:40.350]Very well put.
[00:01:41.400]Well, here we are today.
[00:01:42.300]It's first day of fall officially,
[00:01:43.950]so we've now flipped from summer to fall.
[00:01:45.870]I know one of the things you've talked about
[00:01:47.220]that excites you about your role here
[00:01:49.470]is that you are leading the flagship university
[00:01:51.930]for the state.
[00:01:52.920]Why is that important to you?
[00:01:54.988]I think it just speaks to the ability
[00:01:57.240]to have an impact in every part of the state,
[00:02:01.890]to really think about all types of people who are here
[00:02:04.740]and meeting those people, those students, where they are,
[00:02:07.650]and then putting in front of them opportunities
[00:02:10.170]that really elevate their experiences,
[00:02:13.380]the contributions that they can make
[00:02:15.150]to the state of Nebraska, to their communities.
[00:02:18.360]We know that education,
[00:02:20.490]not only elevates and improves the individual
[00:02:23.850]who participates in it and ultimately completes a degree
[00:02:27.900]from one of the state's universities,
[00:02:30.210]but it really has an impact on their family
[00:02:32.760]and on generations.
[00:02:34.350]So for me to be the chancellor of the flagship
[00:02:38.970]gives me a tremendous opportunity and responsibility
[00:02:44.250]to approach this work and lead this university
[00:02:46.860]in a way that honors, both in letter and in spirit,
[00:02:51.120]what it means to be the flagship
[00:02:52.740]and the land grant for the state of Nebraska.
[00:02:55.290]Fantastic, again,
[00:02:56.123]visiting with Chancellor Bennett here on pregame.
[00:02:58.767]We touched on this a week or so ago
[00:03:00.510]about experiential opportunities
[00:03:02.880]for students here in Nebraska.
[00:03:04.350]Why is that important
[00:03:05.430]and what are some of the ways students do that?
[00:03:07.140]Yeah, I think a lot about this
[00:03:09.390]and when I hear from the business community and employers,
[00:03:13.650]they really want our students to be work ready on day one,
[00:03:18.060]and I think the best way to do that
[00:03:20.340]is for the university to really think about the curriculum
[00:03:24.180]from the standpoint of experiential learning.
[00:03:27.180]How do we prepare you in the classroom, in the laboratories,
[00:03:31.890]in small group settings,
[00:03:34.110]with your individual work with professors
[00:03:36.810]to be ready for work on day one?
[00:03:39.570]And I think that the employers and business community
[00:03:42.960]really expect us to work with our students
[00:03:45.950]in that particular way.
[00:03:47.850]I'm very fortunate,
[00:03:48.810]and I've said this on the broadcast before,
[00:03:51.330]for members of our faculty here at UNL,
[00:03:54.690]who continue to be
[00:03:56.100]the single greatest influence on our students.
[00:04:01.200]And when you just sorta think about what that means
[00:04:03.840]in terms of what happens in the classroom and career ready,
[00:04:08.100]our faculty are leading the way in that regard,
[00:04:11.340]and I'm grateful for them
[00:04:13.020]and for their dedication to our students
[00:04:15.060]and to public higher education.
[00:04:17.130]Talked about being the lead university
[00:04:19.350]in the state land grant institution,
[00:04:21.990]how is UNL making an impact on education
[00:04:24.450]maybe in other ways around the state of Nebraska?
[00:04:27.030]I think the access is probably top of the list,
[00:04:31.920]and I mention access, especially today,
[00:04:35.280]because the land grant mission calls us to make sure
[00:04:39.420]that we are available to kids from all across the state,
[00:04:43.770]those that are outside the county line as I say it,
[00:04:47.700]those that are in the cities,
[00:04:49.532]those individuals who are from affluent families,
[00:04:52.920]those individuals, those students,
[00:04:54.420]who are from working class families.
[00:04:57.000]The land grant mission leads us and expects us
[00:05:00.930]to create access for those individuals
[00:05:04.050]no matter what socioeconomic background they come from,
[00:05:09.150]what their experiences have been,
[00:05:12.450]there's a place for them
[00:05:13.860]at their state land grant university.
[00:05:17.970]And I think that's just an important designation
[00:05:20.850]and one that since I've been here
[00:05:23.160]over the last two or three months,
[00:05:25.050]that we have really embraced,
[00:05:26.550]that we understand, that we support,
[00:05:29.130]and that we're really workin' hard
[00:05:30.510]to make sure we don't lose sight of.
[00:05:32.460]Fantastic, always good to catch up with you.
[00:05:34.290]Thank you for sharing those words with all of us.
[00:05:36.180]Let's enjoy, let's go win a second game in a row.
[00:05:38.520]There you go. That'd be fun, right?
[00:05:39.720]There you go.
[00:05:40.553]Oh, and by the way, I learned the official "Go Big Red,"
[00:05:44.430]on the broadcast I've been sayin' "Go Big Red."
[00:05:46.950]Yeah. But really,
[00:05:47.910]there's more of a chant and a cadence to it,
[00:05:51.180]so the go and the big and the red are slightly elongated.
[00:05:54.690]I've been practicing that,
[00:05:56.490]but I think your listeners will appreciate the fact
[00:05:58.740]that I recognize I'm not a singer,
[00:06:01.260]I'm a university administrator,
[00:06:02.760]and on this matter, I should probably stay in my lane,
[00:06:05.040]as to make sure that our ratings stay high.
[00:06:08.370]But in my mind and in the shower,
[00:06:11.040]I'm elongating those
[00:06:13.230]in the "Go Big Red" way it's supposed to be done.
[00:06:15.720]But just a plain "Go Big Red"
[00:06:17.160]is a nice little greeting as you pass through
[00:06:19.265]on campus. There you go.
[00:06:20.160]That's easy to do that.
[00:06:21.150]There you go. Good to see you, my friend.
[00:06:22.170]Thank you, Greg, go Big Red.
[00:06:23.610]Chancellor Bennett with us here on "Countdown to Kickoff."
[00:06:25.950]Matt Coatney's back next with our Big 10 Blitz.

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Football vs. Louisiana Tech

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