Garth - MTDM
Ryan: [00:00:00] Hey! You're listening to Meet the Difference Makers, an Enroll Films podcast where we talk to the difference makers inside higher education. Each episode is crafted to bring you a dose of encouragement, a spark of inspiration, and a heartfelt reminder that the incredible work being done in higher ed is changing lives.
And now your host,
Ryan: Ryan Koral. Hey there, welcome to Season 1, Episode 1 of Meet the Difference Makers. I'm Ryan Koral, and I am so pumped that you're here. Uh, this show is sort of a no brainer for me to launch as I, uh, keep reflecting on my own journey and remember how my life is different today because of the mentors and the difference makers that impacted my life throughout my college career.
And even as I transitioned from college into my first real job as a salaried, uh, person working in the admissions department, um, I know I understand firsthand the importance of the [00:01:00] work in higher education. I also know how thankless it can be. Um, and I believe that our stories. can inspire those working in higher ed as well as celebrate the fruit of our labor, the work that we're doing.
And so I dedicate this show to you, the ones who care about this work and understand its potential impact. Episode one of any podcast is usually pretty important. So no pressure here. I am not sweating. At all. Okay. Maybe just a little bit. Uh, this first episode, it is a nod to the one really responsible for paving the way for me to getting a full ride to attend university and ultimately for me doing this work in video production and storytelling today.
Coach Garth Pleasant. He was the men's basketball coach for over 40 years at Rochester University. He's the second most winningest college basketball coach in the state [00:02:00] of Michigan with over 700 wins. He won multiple national titles, national championships, and uh, and we get into like some very unique and amazing details around The success that he's had, um, and the challenges that he faced.
Uh, we also go into, uh, like the drive behind, uh, his dedication. He dedicated his entire career, uh, to higher ed and like why he did that. Um, our production company a few months ago had the honor of filming Garth's story. We created this 35 minute documentary highlighting his career and the massive impact that he had.
For the university, it has become this really unique marketing piece, um, and I'll share more after this episode about how you can watch this and maybe be inspired to do something similar, uh, to a piece like this. Before we get into the interview, if you are the one [00:03:00] responsible for telling stories at your institution or you know who is, I'd love to share a resource that we use to help create authentic and soulful video content.
to help you enroll students and engage alumni. We call it our testimonial capture checklist and it includes our secret sauce for capturing powerful testimonials. Most testimonials that you see or hear pretty bland. Uh, they're pretty generic and if you want to stand apart from your competition, you've got to be asking the right kinds of questions to get the kind of responses that are going to move the needle in your marketing.
We're giving this resource away, uh, for how we do this in our interviews. Uh, this is my gift to you for being a listener of the show. You can download our checklist for free by going to EnrollFilms.com/checklist. See what we did there? Uh, enrollfilms.com/checklist. Now [00:04:00] let's dive into today's interview with coach Garth Pleasant.
Hey, welcome to the Enroll Films Podcast, uh, I'm Ryan Koral, and here on the show we share stories of the difference makers in higher ed, and what better person to have on the, the first episode of the show than Garth Pleasant, who, uh, has had a tremendous impact in my life, um, and a lot of other people.
You spent almost 40 years working at Rochester College, Rochester University. Close to 50.
Garth: Close to 50. 1971.
Ryan: Uh, you have over 700 wins as a basketball coach there at the university. Uh, four national championships. Um. And the amazing thing, like one of the coolest things, uh, in your story is like you have all these accolades, like as, as the men's basketball coach, athletic director, uh, but there was one thing that you didn't have, what was, what was the, the [00:05:00] one thing, uh, as a basketball coach that you didn't have all those
Garth: years?
We didn't have a home court to play on. For 38 years, we had to find a place to play. One year we played 10 games in seven different facilities. Rochester High School, Rochester Adams, Stoney Creek, Lutheran Northwest, um, OCC Auburn Hills, OCC Outen Waterford, and um, I think it was Fraser and Avondale.
Ryan: I remember my freshman year, we had a homecoming, and we're like, Alright, a homecoming game, and we're gonna go, we're at Rochester High School.
I'm like, Rochester, why are we going to the high school? It's like, oh, there's no, there's no, literally no gym for us to have these games. Um. A big turning point in my life was as we wrapped the documentary that we did featuring you, right? There was a [00:06:00] donor that came forward from the university and said, Hey, I want to, I want us to do a film on Garth.
And I know your feelings on like, Oh gosh, like really? Like we're going to, we're going to do this. But the impact that you've had on so many lives. To be able to tell your story in the way that we did, uh, as I got to, you know, on the day that I interviewed you, got to give you a big hug. I hadn't seen you in such a long time and like all of the emotions like just came rushing back of like, Oh my gosh, I'm standing in this spot with you because 20 plus years ago, I'm going to try not to get emotional here.
Um, but I, I ended up at the university. Because I'm hanging out with Johnny and you're like, who is this young man? That's, uh, you know, doing this Bible study that Johnny's in. And, and for whatever reason, you saw something in me and you said, I want you to meet my boss and I ended up meeting president Johnson and president Johnson, like gets, gets me to come to school there [00:07:00] on the scholarship and, uh, every, everything, literally my, my whole life turned upside down.
Garth: Well, you know, um, it was unusual. For high school kids in 1997, to be meeting two or three times a week to have Bible studies. And I thought that was, I said, you know, this is pretty neat. And as I paid attention, I realized that you were the bell cow, you know, you were the ones, and that's what Johnson referred to you as, and, um, we had, we, we sat down and after, and we had discussions, you worked on my computer, you know, I'm computer illiterate, and, um, Mark Johnson one day at the beginning of school told all the employees, um, why you should call IT.
And reason number 10, if they saw me messing with a computer, but you [00:08:00] know, you were, you, you helped me with that. And then we just, we talked about different things. And I remember going to Dr. Johnson and tell him, you got to get this kid here and set it up. And lo and behold, he did. And you more than paid for yourself.
Um, the people that you brought, great people, and, and, you know, I mean, you met your wife there and, you know, people outkicked their coverage. You really outkicked your coverage. What a beautiful lady, beautiful lady, and, um, and, you know, you're still living for the Lord.
Ryan: Thank you.
Going to school there, meet Andrea, meet my best friends, you know, Chase McCullough, Holly McCullough, uh, just all, all these just incredible people who've had such a huge impact on my life. Hoagland, Stockman's, you know, just, uh, this is a huge list. Well then I end up working for Larry Norman and I, you know, after I graduate and convince him, [00:09:00] hey, you know, we're doing all this cool stuff in admissions and and I want more people to know about this school, the place where I, my life has changed and I convince him to buy me a video camera and a computer and this is back in like 2002 when YouTube doesn't exist but I know that we could make these videos and put them on a DVD and send them out to people so they, they can experience Rochester College in some way.
And then I end up realizing, like, this is my true passion, like, telling these stories with video. Uh, so then I start my business. And then 18 years later, 20, whatever, however long, uh, the school comes to me and says, hey, do you want to do this documentary on Garth? And I'm like, are you kidding me? Like, I'm doing, we're sitting in this studio because you saw something in me.
And, uh, I'm just incredibly grateful. Well,
Garth: that's kind of you say we're sitting in the studio because you. You did it. You know, I suggested it. Dr. Johnson Talked to you. He did You know you made the best of it and um So [00:10:00] the credit goes to you. It's easy to, you know, introduce a young man to the president and say, Hey, this guy would be good for our institution, but you deserve all the credit, but I will take a little credit for Andrea.
Okay. Um,
Ryan: so as many would say, you know, we, we filmed this documentary to, and we got to interview so many people, so many players and, um, People that you've had influence on and to be a part of those experience, the screenings and, uh, hear the questions and the engagements and to hear people afterward to say like, that was a beautiful piece that.
That, you know, represented who you are and the impact that you've had on so many people. For you, as you kind of look at your life, I mean, this show, the reason why we've even niched down and I said, I want to spend more time in the world of higher ed and tell the story, these types of stories for you. [00:11:00] I mean, you gave, like, the majority of your life to this institution and to these people.
Who was, who was the difference maker in your life to, to get, bring you to that spot where you said, like, this is, this is the work that I want to do? Um,
Garth: I went to this college in 1967. I went reluctantly. My parents said I had to go to a Christian school. It was relatively close. to my home in Flint. Um, I had other Christian schools come up and talk to me about playing baseball.
But um, so I went there with the whole idea that at the end of the second, back then they didn't have semesters, they had four quarters. At the end of the second quarter, I was transferring to the local community college to play baseball. [00:12:00] But I didn't. Um, I fell in love with the place. I felt it changed my life in so many ways.
And it was my dream to go back there. I remember telling Dr. Joe Jones, who was the academic dean, he also taught. He wore multiple hats there. I'd like to come back here. And um, the opportunity, it probably didn't hurt that I married the president's daughter. But um, the opportunity came and um, It's been my ministry.
I don't look at it as a job. Um, I love it. Um, how am I going to work there? And my thought was, till I drop dead. You know, and um, I mean, it's just a great place, and I just wish everybody knew what it was like there.
Ryan: Yeah, and you've [00:13:00] done, I feel like you've done such a great job of embodying, you know, when I hear the stories.
My own experience in knowing you, but the, the stories of all other people that come in contact with you, uh, that you're, you're not, uh, there's no cramming of anything like you, you really like live, uh, this life out, um, that, that is the life of service and, um, even, even, you know, going out of your way to, to talk to president Johnson, say like, Hey, there's this young man, like little, little things like that, um, I think make the difference.
One of my favorite, great. Stories in the documentary and I've heard it before the documentary, but when people would come up to you during a basketball season and ask you like, Hey, like, how are the guys looking? How's the team looking? How would you respond to those people? Well,
Garth: players say, how good are we coach?
And I would say, it's not original with me. I heard it [00:14:00] many, many years ago, many years ago. And I said, ask me in 15 or 20 years, when I see what kind of husbands you are, what kind of fathers you are, what kind of people you are in society, they don't know how good we were. Because, you know, that's, that was the mission, you know, to, you know, yeah, we wanted to win basketball games.
Um, I told every kid to play when I recruited every kid, I want, even my own son, I want you to leave here a better person than you came. That excites me. Um, it really does. And I had one player, he was, he didn't, really wasn't buying into it. Um, and before his senior year, I met with him and the other captain.
And we met at Caribou, that was across from Rochester High. I think it's a [00:15:00] Hispanic restaurant now, or something like that. And we talked, and I says, Tell me what this college has done for you spiritually. Neither one of them had a spiritual background. And, The kid said, Coach, I think about it a lot more than I ever used to.
Wow, that's pretty good. And then during the season, he came into my office after practice, closed the door. He says, Coach, my father has cancer. Would you pray with me? You know, I mean, just the thinking about, you know, you know, with the college. Had meant to that young man spiritually. Was very important. The other young man, I, I did his wedding.
And, um, [00:16:00] I, his children, I went to their house and did a blessing for them when they were little. So, I've done probably over, I'm going to say close to 30 kids weddings. Wow. Yeah. And, um, so. Um, it's been, it's been great for me and those young men have helped me, um, they, they really have. And like my wife said, they're really our family and they really are.
As I said in the film, the word I love you, it's easy to say, but I really mean it. I love those kids. That's so
Ryan: good. Is there a thing involved through all the years? Is there a highlight of your career? Well,
Garth: I would say the highlight was win number 500. And here's why it's a [00:17:00] highlight. I don't know if you know this story or not.
We're playing Aquinas at Aquinas. I'm not even thinking. I don't have any idea. And the games, we've got the game one and, um, George, my assistant puts Johnny back in the game, you know, what are we doing? And Aquinas took a shot in Johnny being a point guard went and got the rebound. Now, you know, Johnny, he's sort of a A tough kid when he needs to be, and then he just starts dribbling all over the floor and I'm standing up yelling.
What are you doing? And the clock is ticking down five, four, three, and he's dribbling to me. The clock hits [00:18:00] zero. He hands me the ball and he hugs me. That was our 500th win. That was emotional.
Ryan: The landscape of higher education is very different from when I was in school and from when you first started teaching and coaching.
There's a lot of, I think, challenges that people in higher education have. Challenges that, like, didn't even, weren't even a thing to think about. What... Encouragement as you, as you think about the people in higher ed, like you, right? Like you gave your life to this place. It was your ministry. It was like your mission.
Like you just felt like this was your life's purpose. And I would say that there are a lot of people that came into higher education with this like desire to impact and influence, but you do the work for five years, 10 years, 20 years, and you can forget your purpose, especially with the, the, just the way that the world is [00:19:00] so different today.
what encouragement would you have for people who maybe
Garth: forgot their why? When I would get discouraged, Ryan, I'd always have to go back to the core. Why am I here? Okay. And I'm here for Mike, I'm here for Glen. You know, um, I, I'm, I'm here. I'm here for these students. That's why I'm here. And, the um, the classroom.
You know, I just love the classroom. And, and interacting with students. And um, getting them to know more than just students. But knowing about their lives. One of the courses I taught was stress management. And I [00:20:00] started that course after I had a heart attack. Um, I was teaching in Auditorium East, and I'm lecturing, and I think it was Principles and Practices of Administration, right before chapel.
And I'm thinking, I'm having a heart attack. But I went on. Finished teaching, you know. And um, because I had taken a Rolaid and it wasn't heartburn. So, I sat down for chapel. And finally I said, eh. So I drove up to Crinton Hospital by myself, which I shouldn't have, and went in. And um, sure enough, you know, I had a heart attack.
Um, and I started the [00:21:00] class after that because they thought it was stress induced. I went through a year where my mentor, Coach Shinsky, there's good stress, there's bad stress. And stress is a silent killer. I'm starting to lecture you like you're in my classroom. But I think this is a good story. Look, so Coach Shinsky dies when we're at the National Tournament.
That was tough. We win the National Tournament, good stress. I go back, I do his funeral. And July, um, Johnny gets married and my father in law dies. And I do his funeral. In August, my wife has a stroke. Not a mini stroke, but a stroke. And then, in November, my mother suddenly drops dead. So I do her funeral.
And then we had the young lady [00:22:00] Katie Kirkpatrick. You know, who is now dying of cancer. And her and her boyfriend want to get married. And he said, I'd rather be married for one day than never married to her at all. And I officiated their wedding on a, on a Saturday. Now, I've done my parents funerals, I've done children's funerals, young people's funerals, my grandparents funerals, and I've always been able to be composed.
After I did that wedding and that little girl came down and her arms were like that big, I went into a classroom and locked the door and wept. Now, that was on Saturday. The following Thursday... Pat and I went to Crittenden Hospital. And we were there when she was on life support, and they took her off life support, and she died.
I [00:23:00] did a funeral the following Monday. So Coach Shinsky, um, my father in law, my wife has a stroke, my mother, Katie, who we were very close to. Her parents were in the very first class I taught at the college. And then, we're told that my daughter in law, Rachel, had a malignant brain tumor. And then they found her unconscious.
They did emergency surgery. She had a staph infected lesion that, um, uh, had swollen. She had a midline brain shift. So, and all those things happened to me. And when I told the people at rehab, they said, stress induced. And so I said, I need to teach a stress class. And um, so we started that class, you know, on, on stress management.
And here's what I found. [00:24:00] I'm with kids who are 18 and 19, and I think, kids, you don't realize, you don't have any problems. And then as they write me papers, man, do they have problems. And I would say, I'm teaching this class for you one day, and maybe you can help your parents now. And then I realized, this class can help these kids now.
And um, so I talk about interacting, getting to know the kids. Let's
Ryan: just unpack that a little bit more. For let's think of. Think of the person sitting in admissions that, that feels like they feel like complaining or they feel like, um, I, I don't, I'm more stressed out about all of the things and have forgotten because I think most people get into education because they want to make an [00:25:00] impact, right?
They want to help people that are young people that are, you know, that need to learn the things. But. Even listening to you, it's like you can get caught up in the faculty meetings and all of the politics and all of the things and forget why. So how would you, how would you encourage somebody like me that says like, man, I, I, I think I'm just going to be done.
I'm going to get a corporate job and just kind of like, you know, make a good living or whatever. Um,
Garth: well, I just say like what I did, I would take a bet, uh, I would take a breath. You know, and refocus. Sometimes you have to hit the refocus button. Um, or as I'm driving and, um, my instrument that tells me if a policeman's up ahead or wherever like that, sometimes it says re center.
[00:26:00] Okay, center, not center. Okay, and um, and I think, you know, we just have to refocus. Why am I here? You know, um, what's my purpose here is my purpose to get a paycheck. If my purpose was to get a paycheck, trust me, I could have done a lot better at many, many other places. Okay. Ron, I went for years, I know people think this is crazy, I went for years not actually knowing how much I made.
Really. And um, and I was sitting in the cafeteria and a new guy, new teacher, just talked about, said how much he made. And Dr. Storm and I looked at each other. That's more than we're making. Something's wrong here. But, you know, I [00:27:00] just wanted to teach there. That's what I wanted to do. And, um, I believed in it.
But I go back, gotta refocus. And, but the main thing is the kid, little kids that you have in class. And I always tell our campers, our counselors this. The kid who is your biggest pain in the world. is the kid who needs you the most. I always said, you may have heard me say this, my children needed my love the most when they deserved it the least.
And I really believe that. Um, and I all, you know, I dealt much better with problem kids than I did, you know, with Guys like you, you know who didn't have any problems. Yeah,
Ryan: I think about Uh, in my career, the last decade of running a production business, I've been [00:28:00] so focused on building the business that, you know, your job was one of the, your project, your documentary is one of the few in the span of a decade that I was invested in, right?
That I got to do the interviews in and, uh, see and kind of speak some ideas and vision into. And, uh, and then I see the final piece and I'm like, Oh my gosh. Like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What have I been doing the last decade? And I'm like, I, like, I have to pivot. I have to do more stuff like this that makes me come alive because when I think back, when I first started the business, I wanted to tell stories.
I wanted to sit across from people and hear their story and tell it in a way that other people could be inspired by it. So in that same way, that was a difference maker for me, uh, to, to remember why I got into this work. To begin with, but to your point, like when, when we think about people that are in this, uh, in this field that work with students that felt this calling or this felt [00:29:00] compelled to, to enter higher education, uh, to teach, to help, to serve students, um, because of, uh, the, the potential, uh, the difference that they could make.
And to be able to remember that, to recall that, I think what you're saying is take a take a breath, take a step back and say like this, if I'm doing it for the money, if I'm doing it for like all, you can make, you can make so much more money and probably like have way less stress like elsewhere. But if, if you really feel like you can make a difference in this work, uh, remember that this way you, why you got into it to begin with, I
Garth: was told my kids who you work for.
Is more important than how much money you make. When Clint was at Kent state and they got to the, the Cinderella team and they got to the, um, elite eight, Indiana beat them to go to the final four. The coach [00:30:00] was given the job in, um, Arkansas and he asked Clint to go with him and Clint accepted the plane ticket.
They had announced it in Arkansas and he's supposed to fly out. He doesn't fly out. And I, for the first time I got in my kid's stuff. I said, how in the world can you not go to Arkansas? I mean, you're going to be making six figures. You're one step away from making seven figures. You're the only game in the state, that and football.
How can you not go to Arkansas? He said, Dad, I don't think it'll be good for my faith or my marriage. Well, how's the weather in Ohio? You know, I think we need to think, you know, I... I never had a desire to have one of those big time jobs. I mean, I probably wasn't good enough, but I've seen too many of my friends lose their [00:31:00] families.
And I would say to you, the most important thing to you is your wife and your kids. And I never sacrificed my family at the college. The boys got on the bus, Kimmy got on the bus, they went with me everywhere. You know, and um, I wouldn't take anything for it. So
Ryan: good. Well, as we wrap up the inaugural episode of the Enroll Films podcast, you know, again, we're talking about the difference makers in higher ed.
Um, last piece of encouragement, advice, wisdom that you could share with us.
Garth: Oh, wow. Caught me off guard there.
Your football coach, Bud Riley. He sacrificed everything, even money for you kids, you players, you know, and so [00:32:00] I go back. Why am I here? You know, if I can make the difference in one kid's Wierzynski.
You know who, who after we had won two in a row national championships, we lost it in the next year and he's just sobbing in the locker room and he runs everybody out and he says, coach, I love you. And I said, I love you too, Todd. And he grabs me and he's no, I love you. The handman for you, meaning. The university.
I wouldn't have known of God. You know, and the kid married a wonderful lady, and I look at Adam Haitius. Adam was a math [00:33:00] teacher at Rochester Community School. He had his ticket punched. And he left it. You know, and him and his wife and two kids are Tanzania or somewhere. You know, just doing the Lord's work.
Well, you know, that's exciting stuff. And um, I don't know if I have any great words of wisdom except what I already said. You know, refocus. Why am I here? You know, and um, Johnny told me about a young boy he had. A fifth grade teacher and the boy had been going through a tough time. His mother left his dad for another woman.
You know, kids are damaged [00:34:00] so much by the choices parents make. And they're talking and Johnny said something to the kid. And the kid says, you're not my boss. And I said, did you grab him and tell him, show him who the boss was? He says, no. He called his name, let's say it was Bobby. He says, Bobby, I love you.
And Johnny said the kid ran and jumped in his arms and threw his arms around Johnny and just wept. Wow. If that's the only positive thing that happened to him is of teaching, you know, it's worth it. You know, and, and, you know, hopefully you can change the lives of people, you know, doing these things. Like Dr.
Todd says, I've never seen beauty more than I see it now. [00:35:00] Ever since, you know, he was blind in Vietnam. And, um, you know, and, uh, Uh, and don't get caught up, um, like in my profession, Will Rogers had a great comment. He said everybody's ignorant, just on different subjects, you know. I realize
that I could leave tomorrow and the college could hire someone to take my place. And do just as good if not better job than I did in coaching. I don't think they can hire someone who loves the institution more than me. But I realize that you can be replaced. I've always said put your head in a bucket of water, bring it out, and how big a hole is left, that's how [00:36:00] important you are.
and um, yeah. And so just appreciate what you have. You don't get to think too much of yourself. I think everybody's a scholar in their own field, you know, that probably doesn't mean much, but I appreciate you. Thank, thank you for what you do for the institution. Thank you for being such a positive influence.
And I'm glad that you came to our place and would lay away. Thank you for having me. Yeah, this is
Ryan: a huge honor. Huge pleasure. Um, Thanks for the stories and thanks for the impact. Thank you so much for hanging out with me on this episode. If you're interested in watching Garth's documentary, you can go to enrollfilms.com/coach. If you liked this episode and you think somebody in your circle might appreciate it, please take a screen grab of it and send it to them and say, Hey, you should, uh, you should check this out. If [00:37:00] you're ready to have a conversation about connecting with your ideal students, Uh, alumni, or even donors, using the power of emotive storytelling through video, shoot me an email.
My email address is ryan, r y a n, at enrollfilms.com, would love to have a conversation with you. Thank you so much for listening, I'll see you on next week's episode, and in the meantime, here's to making a difference. Bye for now.
