[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 6 (Tuesday, February 1, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: February 1, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO DR. J. WAYNE REITZ
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Volkmer). Under a previous order of the
House, the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Stearns is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to pay tribute to one
of the finest men I have ever met, and one of the most important men in
the history of our Nation's great universities--Dr. J. Wayne Reitz,
president emeritus of the University of Florida. His passing, on
Christmas Eve, 1993, was a tremendous loss for his family, the
university and the many people who knew him well.
For more than 60 years, Dr. Reitz sat on the faculty of the
University of Florida, and from 1955 to 1967, he served as president of
the university. He is widely credited with leading that institution to
the forefront of our Nation's schools of higher learning.
His achievements at the university were many. Under his leadership,
UF flourished, making great strides in research, faculty quality,
student achievement, facilities and contributions to the larger
community. And, he guided the university peacefully through the years
of desegregation with graciousness and fairness. Largely by the example
he set, an historic injustice was corrected, and the university truly
became one with all the people of our State.
It would be a mistake, however, when counting the accomplishments of
Dr. Wayne Reitz, to look only at his 12 years of service as president
of the institution.
For he accomplished much before and much after those years of
service. I have met virtually every one of his successors, and each one
stressed that his contributions to the university continued until the
day the God he so strongly believed in called him home.
In the years after his retirement, Dr. Reitz served as president
emeritus of the University of Florida. But, I believe that the current
president of the university John Lombardi described his role better
when he called him ``the Spirit of the University.''
Dr. Reitz was a living dictionary of virtues--decency,
accomplishment, humility, graciousness, kindness, fairness and
optimism. He served as a model for what a man, a university, and a
community should strive for. He was a man of conscience and a strong
moral compass.
I had the good fortune to get to know Dr. J. Wayne Reitz well in the
last 5 years of his life. And, I can honestly say that it was an honor
to have been able to call him my friend and to have served as his
representative.
Dr. Reitz and I did not always agree on every question we discussed,
but I have known few men with whom it could be such a pleasure to
sometimes disagree. More often than not, however, I found his views to
be words of wisdom, and I know that he made me a better public servant.
I would hardly do Wayne Reitz justice, though, if I left anyone with
the impression that the man was some type of idealistic academician.
Because one of Wayne's greatest virtues was his simplicity and down-to-
Earth manner.
At his funeral, one of Wayne's oldest friends, George Caranasos, read
from a letter from Dr. Reitz to a geriatrician who asked him what his
secret was to his high level of vigor, interest, and activity in life.
Dr. Reitz responded, listing 12 short points. None was mystical or
the product of an elaborate theory, but rather all were practical and
applicable to all our lives.
I would like to share these points with the House, in the hope that
we can all benefit from his wisdom.
1. Have a wife to love and adore, who looks after your
welfare and provides a home of peace and beauty. Keep close
to your children even though they are no longer home.
2. Arise regularly and take more than a mile walk before
breakfast, preferably every day, but at least four times a
week. A great time to do this is near sunrise when the birds
are singing.
3. Have more to do each day than can get done.
4. Be active in a church even if you cannot support totally
its theology.
5. The things you do should involve goals and the support
of causes which cannot be achieved in a lifetime as well as
assistance to and concern for community needs, friends and
others.
6. Save some time to work in the garden because the
companionship of plants has much to offer.
7. Read widely, enjoy good music and keep abreast of
national and international affairs, and do not spend too much
time in front of the TV.
8. View life positively and look for the good in people
rather than their limitations.
9. Cherish and enjoy the company of friends.
10. Follow a balanced diet and be ever moderate in eating
and drinking.
11. Maintain a sense of humor.
and 12. Take a modest amount of time to enjoy outdoor
recreation, such as playing golf, hunting or fishing.
Last, I would like to quote the 121st psalm which the many who
gathered at Dr. Reitz funeral read together. It speaks our fondest
prayers for this man who gave us so much:
I lift up my eyes to the hills--
from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out
and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.
Who Now Speaks for the Spirit of This University?
J. Wayne Reitz (1908-1993)
When we came to Gainesville, we recognized immediately that
this university has a different spirit, a different character
than its peers. In most ways, America's great public
universities share the same features: many students,
beautiful campuses, quality faculty, excellent facilities,
lively campus and cultural lives, and often college towns. We
in Gainesville have all these.
Even so, this place has a different quality about it. Our
enthusiasm for the university and its work seems greater, our
anger and resentments muted; our optimism seems stronger, our
aspirations higher, our compassion deeper. The faculty,
assembled from the best the nation can provide, give us
strength and intellectual depth; the staff, committed to the
university's mission, give us support; the students, drawn
from the most optimistic state in the nation, give us hope
and energy; but how, I wondered, does all this produce our
special character?
Then I met J. Wayne Reitz. Formal, gracious, charming, and
low key, Wayne demonstrated the sense of purpose and the core
values that symbolize for me what is so powerfully attractive
about the University of Florida. My continuing conversation
with J. Wayne Reitz over almost four years contained no
secrets, no special knowledge, nothing but the core values of
a great university. A treasury of stories and anecdotes, of
the living history of this university as it began its
expansion into the ranks of major American public
universities, J. Wayne Reitz saw this place not so much with
the analytical eye of the empire builder as with the
enthusiasm of the inventor.
Of course he understood about academic quality, about
student quality, about the need for buildings, support,
libraries, and a dynamic campus and community life. Of course
he knew about the finances of the university and the need to
insert this provincial institution into the mainstream of
American and international academic affairs. Of course he
hired good faculty, supported the development of the
university's fundamentally critical research base, and
brought the university into the contemporary mainstream of
academic and intellectual affairs.
For eleven years his work on these fundamental university
issues reinvented us as a place of substance and created the
opportunities for his successors to move this university into
the top rank of American public universities. Were that his
only contribution, we would celebrate his achievements with
enduring enthusiasm.
Dr. John Lombardi,
President, University of Florida.
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