Star-Journbal Editor
If the after-dinner program had unfolded as planned for Friday evening, Tabor College president Larry Nikkel would have spoken for himself at his President's Dinner, to thank the guests for their generous donations to the college.
And, Nikkel would have delivered the news personally that he plans to retire as president, effective Dec. 31.
But Nikkel's plans changed dramatically Feb. 2, when a weeklong vacation to Hawaii with his wife, Elaine, became a two-week medical emergency 3,000 miles from home.
After suffering chest pain, Nikkel was taken to a small hospital on the island of Hawaii, and then transported via air ambulance to Queens Medical Center, in Honolulu. A heart catheterization was done Feb. 5, and Nikkel underwent double bypass surgery Feb. 7.
Word of Nikkel's heart attack shocked the Tabor community and sent concerned students, faculty, and alums to their knees in prayer. Nikkel's two adult children flew to Hawaii. And although school officials delayed making a public announcement about Nikkel's condition until this past Friday, the campus community was kept informed via e-mail.
After several days in the hospital, and a few more days recuperating in a hotel room, the Nikkels made the long flight back to Kansas, and returned to Hillsboro on Friday.
An e-mail sent Friday from Tabor board of directors' chairman Lyndon Vix to the campus community reads, "[Nikkel] is going to need some rest, so please don't rush over to his house. Hopefully, he will be back in the office in four weeks or so. Please keep praying for him."
The e-mail also informs students of Nikkel's decision to retire at the end of the year. While the official announcement was to be made at the President's Dinner Friday evening, the e-mail reads that Nikkel wanted to make sure the students knew of his decision before that time.
Speaking to the media before the dinner, Vix said Nikkel made his decision to retire nearly a year ago; and that it was unrelated to his recent medical condition.
Nikkel, who is the 12th president in Tabor history, became president in 1999. His retirement means the college will enter 2008, its centennial year, under a new leader.
"We are at an important time in our history," Vix said. "We have a lot of things on the drawing board and we are now going to choose the person who is going to give leadership to making some of those things happen."
At the candlelight dinner in the H.W. Lohrenz Building, Vix read a statement from Nikkel:
"This decision was arrived at in the midst of significant ambivalence. The forces that were compelling for continuation include our mission and vision, the development of relationships that extend well beyond raising money, and other functions of management.
"However, when one considers
what will be required in the immediate years ahead, it has become clear that such a commitment is beyond what we can or should make.
"While the decision to retire came before the heart attack, that incident has seemed to provide a punctuation mark of some sort!"
In the 10 months before his retirement, Nikkel said there was still much to be done:
— Complete the residence hall construction
— Implement a marketing plan
— Complete the strategic plan
— Complete the planning and fund-raising for the football and track facility and begin construction
— Launch the school for adult and graduate studies
— Complete the essential elements for the centennial year celebration
— Identify leadership gifts for the campaign
"So let's not plan a farewell party until we have more to celebrate," his announcement read.
Nikkel also thanked the community for its support.
"The hundreds of phone calls, e-mails, words of encouragement were truly special beyond what words can express. Only Elaine knows how often my heart was so deeply touched by your kind words that my only response could be a cascade of tears.
"All of your prayers were so special but perhaps none more than the prayer of our four-year-old grandson who prayed that God would heal Grandpa's broken heart.
"Your prayers and words of support have touched the deepest recesses of our hearts and we can only offer our sincere but inadequate words of thanks. I look forward to our continued work together in the months ahead."
Vix said the board had known of Nikkel's plans to retire, and accepted his announcement "with sadness, but also with great appreciation for the work he has done at Tabor over the past nine years, and with enthusiasm for the plan he intends to lead us through before his tenure is complete.
"He has truly been a blessing to this institution and its people," Vix said.
A search committee has been appointed by the board of directors and will begin its work immediately.
In addition to Vix, an attorney from Wichita, the board includes: Ted Faszer, Sioux Falls, S.D.; David Wiebe, Kearney, Neb.; Diana Raugust, Wichita; and Rusty Allen, Judy Harder, and Steve Schroeder, all of Hillsboro.
All segments of the Tabor community will be involved in the search process, Vix said.
Nikkel is expected to return to work in about eight weeks, Vix said. Until then, day-to-day affairs on campus will be handled by various department heads, under the oversight of Lawrence Ressler, vice president of academics and student development.
