A Legacy of Service

   On Wednesday, December 4, 2019, I had the distinct privilege of attending a special event in Walla Walla, Washington. It was the 137^th Walla Walla Valley Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Banquet, an annual event that honors the best of the Walla Walla community - Higher Education Community Service Awards, Ambassador and Merit Awards, and Hometown Hero Awards (Educator of the Year, Firefighter of the Year, Law Enforcement Officer of the Year). Each recipient was presented by a community leader and then gave an acceptance speech after receiving the award. 

   
   I was invited to the event by my brother, Dr. Austin C. Archer, who received the Walla Walla University Community Service award for his service during his 28-year tenure as a faculty member at WWU  Supported by his wife, Beverly, Austin has been a highly respected leader at the university, his local church and the Walla Walla community. In his acceptance speech, Austin used the opportunity to honor our Dad, whose example of frugality, generosity, and service laid the foundation for the academic and personal successes of his children.

    
   In this blog, I share the words of the President of Walla Walla University, Dr. John McVay, who presented Austin, and Austin’s acceptance speech.

Introduction of AUSTIN ARCHER

Chamber of Commerce Community Service Awards Banquet

December 4, 2019

   We at Walla Walla University continue to treasure the positive ecosystem for higher education in our Walla Walla Valley.  Walla Walla University would not have come to be without the generous support of citizens of the Valley, including Dr. Nelson Blalock who contributed 40 acres of land for the construction of the campus.  However, it requires more than land and buildings to shape a campus. It requires missional infrastructure as well. 

  This evening gives us opportunity to celebrate one of the large, strong beams in WWU’s mission, the core theme of generosity in service.  It is a privilege to affirm that core theme by identifying someone who personifies how WWU seeks to give back to its community.

   The recipient of this year’s Walla Walla University Community Service Award is Dr. Austin Archer.

Dr. Archer and his family arrived in the Walla Walla Valley some 28 years ago in 1991 when Austin joined the faculty of the Walla Walla University School of Education and Psychology, where he has been teaching ever since.  In addition to that primary teaching assignment, he has served on many campus governance committees and has twice been elected as Chair of the Faculty.

    Being very active in the University Church, he has represented the church and the University in church constituency meetings, served for many years as an elder, occasionally led religious education classes, and has served two stints as the congregation's head elder or lay leader.

   His educational interests led him to serve for several years on the Rogers Adventist School Board and for two years he chaired that Board.

   Music is another of his interests and gifts. The fall he arrived in Walla Walla he was invited to join the choir of the Congregational Church as a section leader where he sang for several years and subsequently was invited to join the Walla Walla Mastersingers (under Robert Bode [bo-dee] and has sung the bass solos in Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s Passion According to Saint Matthew, and other major works.

   Some 15 years ago, Austin joined a group of volunteers who had begun re-entry work at the Washington State Penitentiary.  They engaged with inmates who were within 6 months of release, orienting them to the world outside of prison, helping them identify housing, planning for further education, helping them with FAFSA applications, and in other ways prepare for their release.

These interventions have been shown to have a significant effect on reducing recidivism.  A group of them formed a non-profit organization to continue and expand the work known now as the STAR (Successful Transition and Re-entry) Project.  Austin joined the board as a founding member, eventually serving as President of the Board.

   After a hiatus of a few years, he rejoined the board in 2017, where he continues to serve.

Not long after the purchase of a former nursing home building by a group of Adventists in College Place, Austin was invited to join a steering committee to plan its transformation into a service center for the community.  He chaired the committee that drafted the initial constitution for what would eventually become SonBridge Community Center and has served on the Board of SonBridge since its founding in 2005.

   Two years ago (late 2017) he was appointed by the Walla Walla County Commission to become a Trustee of the Walla Walla County Rural Library District.  This year he was elected by the Trustees to serve as Chair.  Also this year, the citizens of College Place voted to be annexed to the Library District, which currently maintains libraries in Prescott, Burbank, Touchet, Vista Hermosa, and Plaza Way in Walla Walla.  

   We are pleased to recognize Austin’s vigorous and multi-faceted investment in this community by awarding him the 2019 Walla Walla University Community Service Award.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Austin Archer.

Dr. Austin Archer and Dr. John McVay

With Austin and wife Beverly

Austin and Len Archer

Austin's Acceptance Speech

   One does not do these things for reward. Still it does feel good to have one’s work recognized. After all, we humans are hard-wired to welcome recognition. So, I want to thank those who nominated me for this award, and the University administration for selecting me. I would also like to thank my colleagues, family members and friends at our table, including my wife Beverly, and my brother, Dr. Len Archer, here from Florida, having amended a business itinerary so that he could be here for this event. Thanks also to the Chamber for making possible this beautiful evening.

   I have tried, however feebly, to follow the principle enunciated by Jesus in Matthew 25:40 CEB “when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.”

   But in recent days as I contemplated this award, I could not help but think of a man named Henry, who modeled for me the spirit of service. With no more than an elementary school education, he was committed to the welfare of his 11 siblings of which he was the oldest son, and nine children (myself included), whose well-being, especially whose education, was his passion. Beyond his family, he embodied service to his community; among other things, advocating for, and pioneering the development of credit unions and cooperative enterprises, first in his village, and in the small Caribbean island where he lived, mostly without compensation. He served on school boards, government commissions, and church committees. An enthusiastic fundraiser, he raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for humanitarian projects.  An incurable optimist, his favorite saying was “things are getting better“, and he did what he could to see that things always got better.

   Henry Archer left us this year, aged 101, just as the sun went down on Good Friday. So, I am thinking of my father tonight, and dedicate this award to his memory.

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There are few times when I have felt more proud to be Austin's brother and I was especially honored to be invited to share this occasion. Congratulations, my brother!