Having been appointed the University of Memphis president’s assistant for the fourth time, Mark Stansbury is reflecting on past accomplishments to overcome new challenges.
Stansbury has been a faculty member since 1989, and has assisted four previous U of M presidents—Thomas Carpenter, V. Lane Rawlins, interim president Ralph Faudree and now Shirley Raines.
Two presidents that stick out in Carpenter’s mind the most are Raines and Rawlins, he said.
“President Raines seems to be more inclusive,” Stansbury said. “She wants to make sure all people are represented equally, and Dr. Rawlins did a lot for The University as far as (campus development).”
Stansbury said his good listening skills and a self-sacrificing attitude have helped him to deal with the duties of his job and with a variety of past presidents’ personalities.
“I’m a good listener and a behind-the-scenes kind of person,” Stansbury said. “I don’t have an agenda; the president’s agenda is my agenda.”
Stansbury said he is grateful to have been rehired in such a specialized capacity.
“It’s not a tenured position,” Stansbury said. “The presidents had the prerogative to keep or let me go, but they didn’t. I’ve been fortunate to do my job well enough to be re-appointed.”
One of Stansbury’s primary duties is to re-open the Office of Diversity.
Although the office occupies space on the third floor of the Administration Building, no one occupies its space. The office has been closed for more than three months.
To revitalize the ghost office, Stansbury will visit various deans and department chairs to discuss and evaluate the issue of diversity and how it relates to the campus.
After he finishes his evaluation, he will create a report for Raines detailing his findings.
Raines and Stansbury are working together to improve the office. The last director, professor Jerrie Scott, left the job in June, according to Stansbury.
“The Office of Diversity is without a leader and it has me on a mission,” Stansbury said.
It is also a responsibility of the president’s assistant to be a community representative.
Stansbury is an active member of Leadership Memphis, the National Conference of Community and Justice and the NAACP. He also represents Raines in the Benjamin Hooks Institute, a U of M program founded by Hooks.
As a reward for his community service, Stansbury received the Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights award April 4.
Stansbury is also a disc jockey for AM radio station WDIA. His program, “Afternoon’s Best Gospel” can be heard every Sunday at 4 p.m.
Througout the years the presidents have change and the of the job, but Stansbury has used the same formula to get him thorough.
“I’ve always been a good listener,” Stansbury said. “I am a behind the scene’s kind of person. The president’s agenda is my agenda.
