{"id":11706,"date":"2022-01-05T14:18:49","date_gmt":"2022-01-05T14:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/up.uscupstate.edu\/archive\/spring2024\/?page_id=11706"},"modified":"2024-06-27T15:04:57","modified_gmt":"2024-06-27T15:04:57","slug":"usc-upstate-chancellor-student-mentoring","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/up.uscupstate.edu\/archive\/spring2024\/usc-upstate-chancellor-student-mentoring\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading by Example"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nUp Magazine<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Chancellor Bennie Harris serves as a mentor to rising senior Zach McQueen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMentoring made personal\u201d\u2014 these words are more than just part of the University of South Carolina Upstate\u2019s branding campaign. They describe the experience of students like rising senior Zach McQueen, vice president of the Student Government Association. He has been mentored by Chancellor Bennie L. Harris ever since they met in a hallway on campus during what was, for each of them, their first year on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Harris has taught me the principles of servant leadership and the importance of meeting people where they are. He has helped me to know how to become a source of change,\u201d McQueen says. \u201cHe also has taught me to listen to those around me, to better understand their unique perspectives and life experiences. He has taught me about integrity, empathy, and the pursuit of excellence. He has provided me with a compass, of sorts, that guides my own journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

This interview has been edited for clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: When did you first meet Chancellor Harris?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> His first day was my orientation day. We have sort of grown in this institution together. He stopped me and just asked me how I was doing. I knew him from the article on him in Upstate Magazine. That led to more hallway conversations.<\/p>\n

This relationship allowed me to find out who I really am. When I came here, I was a nursing major for two days. I did not know what I wanted to do. I just knew I wanted to go to college. Dr. Harris helped me identify my strengths, gave me the opportunity to think about them, and let me decide what to do next.<\/p>\n

This allows for earlier success. Having a mentor allowed me to find my path early on. I\u2019m not going to have to spend five or 10 years figuring that out on my own.<\/p>\n

Q: Why did you choose to get involved with student government at USC Upstate?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> I kept hearing about \u201cfinding your avenue,\u201d and as a commuter student I knew that was important. It worked out well for me. Student government was not something that I was involved in before coming to USC Upstate. I got involved and found my avenue.<\/p>\n

Now I know that when I get out of undergrad, I\u2019m going to get a graduate degree and then go into higher education administration. I\u2019ll make that my career.<\/p>\n

Q: How has Upstate transformed you as a leader?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> It\u2019s put me in the right place at the right time. If I were a student at an institution of 30,000 or 40,000 folks, that would not have happened. Because I was able to find my niche here, and because of Chancellor Harris, I was able to be around wonderful leaders, and they led me to other wonderful leaders who all really inspired me and developed me.<\/p>\n

I imagine someday I might be the president of an institution. That\u2019s my goal, though I take it day by day. I like small schools. I think that\u2019s where I fit the best. It\u2019s important to find the right place for you. That\u2019s something Dr. Harris has taught me \u2014 the piece of paper doesn\u2019t mean anything if you don\u2019t have the skills to use it.<\/p>\n

Q: What makes the chancellor a good leader and mentor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> There's a lack of pomp and circumstance to a lot of the stuff that he does. He\u2019s there to answer questions and give advice. He\u2019s someone who pushes us up the hill so we can stand on top of it and shout our message.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s certainly a servant leader. He helps with big life things, like career and family. But it\u2019s also the little stuff \u2014 the opportunities you can take on today or tomorrow that will help push you into whatever else you need to do.<\/p>\n

He also knows that sometimes you have to say uncomfortable things that people don\u2019t want to hear, and to help people when they\u2019ve made mistakes. But he always reminds us that we shouldn\u2019t let those moments keep us from going and doing great things.<\/p>\n

He is concerned about helping students reach their highest potential here. He has continued to connect me to opportunities to get me where I need to be.<\/p>\n

He knows what his purpose is, and he knows how to fulfill his purpose. So for him to be a mentor to me, when that\u2019s exactly what I need right now, has been helpful. He leads by example, knows what he\u2019s gotta do, and he gets it done. And he\u2019s willing to bring people along.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not about Bennie Harris. It\u2019s about USC Upstate. It\u2019s about Spartanburg County. It\u2019s about the Upstate region. It\u2019s about the state of South Carolina.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Up Magazine Chancellor Bennie Harris serves as a mentor to rising senior Zach McQueen. \u201cMentoring made personal\u201d\u2014 these words are more than just part of the University of South Carolina Upstate\u2019s branding campaign. They describe the experience of students like rising senior Zach McQueen, vice president of the Student Government Association. He has been mentored […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11706","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/up.uscupstate.edu\/archive\/spring2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/up.uscupstate.edu\/archive\/spring2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/up.uscupstate.edu\/archive\/spring2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/up.uscupstate.edu\/archive\/spring2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/up.uscupstate.edu\/archive\/spring2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/up.uscupstate.edu\/archive\/spring2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11706\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/up.uscupstate.edu\/archive\/spring2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}