Sparky
OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi Dean of Students Thomas J. “Sparky” Reardon, who helped countless students through disciplinary and personal issues and offered advice to those in need, is set to retire April 30 after 36 years of service to UM.
The Clarksdale native, who is often seen walking around campus and chatting with students, started working at the university in August 1977 on the same day that Elvis Presley died. He began his tenure as director of pre-admissions and served as associate dean of students from 1986 until 2000, when he became dean of students.
Reardon, who earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Ole Miss in 1972, a master’s degree in education administration from Delta State University (1976), and a Ph.D. in educational leadership from Ole Miss (2000), plans to teach at the university after he finishes his time as dean. He also plans to go to baseball games, read, blog and take another trip to Sicily.
He recently agreed to an interview with University Communications to reflect on his more than three decades on campus. Here is a transcript of that conversation.
Q: I imagine a lot of Ole Miss students past and present wonder where the nickname “Sparky” comes from. Could you tell me about the origin of that and how you got it?
A: It was prenatal. I had an older brother who graduated from pharmacy school here, who was about 15 months older than me. Because he was late arriving as a baby, my mother’s cousin called him “Speedy.” Then when she found out she was expecting me, that same cousin, who was also an Ole Miss law graduate and a judge, said, “Well, if you’ve got Speedy, you need to have Sparky.” So that’s the way it’s been.
Q: Years after you got that name, how did you find yourself wanting to become dean of students at Ole Miss?
A: I actually found myself, as a result of some social chairman activities, in the director of student activities office as a sophomore. It was kind of a revelation that somebody had to take this guy’s place someday and I think, really since my sophomore year at Ole Miss and my involvement here, I knew that I wanted to do what I’ve done for the last 37 years.
Q: When you say you were in his office, were you in any trouble?
A: Probably. Not bad trouble, nothing that I would have kicked myself out of school for.
Q: Tell me about your first day on the job. I understand it was a pretty eventful and historic day in this part of the country. Is that right?
A: I remember our offices were over in Weir Hall, which used to be the student union before it was redone into the Galtney Center. I was the director of pre-admissions and I sat in my office for probably 45 minutes to an hour rearranging the pencils in my desk drawer until my secretary came in and said, “You don’t really know what the heck you’re supposed to be doing, do you?” I said, “Not really.” To her credit, Nancy Dantone introduced me to key people all around campus, and I haven’t looked back since. Also, when I went home that afternoon, I heard on the radio that Elvis had died. I always am able to recognize the anniversary of my employment at Ole Miss by the number of people at the candlelight vigil in Memphis.
Q: What was the mood around here that day?
A: Well, it was kind of hard to tell, when you say “the mood around here.” It is easy to judge mood today in an age of social media and (24-hour) TV stations, but since it was prior to school starting, The Daily Mississippian was not publishing and there weren’t many students around here. But it was big news that he was dead.
Q: What are some of the best things about being dean of students here? What are the things you like about that the most?
A: It’s really hard to verbalize what it is, but when you work in a place that you want to be, doing something for which you have a passion and with people whom you love, everything is really good. Even the bad things that I’ve had to deal with, as you look back at them over the years, you just really hoped that somebody has learned something. You hope somebody has grown from it. You hope somebody has changed. Most of all, you hope that you’ve made a difference. I guess I’d like to say I hope that maybe I’ve taught somebody how to make a difference.
Q: What has been some of the more challenging parts of working on a college campus in a leadership role like you have?
A: One of the greatest challenges I’ve had is completely comprehending the Ole Miss mystique. Or, either comprehending it so much that sometimes (it’s difficult) separating myself from what I love (and) doing to what needs to be done, particularly in terms of policy and discipline and those types of things. That’s always been a challenge. Ole Miss people have a great sense of ownership in this place.
I love the story of when we first closed the bathrooms on football weekends. We locked the buildings, and there was a chair of a department coming out of this building. There was a fan who wanted to go into the building and use the bathroom, and he told the chair, “You know I’m going in there.” The chair said, “No, you’re not.” The fan said, “Yes, I am. Look, this is my university. That’s a university building, so that makes it my bathroom and I’m going to use it.” The chair locked the door and said, “Well good, use your key.”
I think what we have to understand is (that) people have a great sense of ownership in this place. Most all of them remember it with embellishment in how good the times were. If anything, a great challenge has been shepherding those folks and the students here and the university into the present and into the future.
Q: What do you feel might be some of your greatest professional accomplishments as dean of students – the things you’ll look back on and take great pride in?
A: I guess, and this is difficult to talk about, but the most tangible thing, I think, would be the UM Creed, co-chairing that committee and actually suggesting it to then-Chancellor Robert Khayat. I think that was huge in the sense that it caused us as a university to examine our values. I think since it was adopted in 2003, that it’s actually become a living document that people refer to, and so I’d say that would be the one thing I would point to that has meant a great deal to me.
I don’t know how you quantify this as a great accomplishment, but if there was a student who came to my office and left and they felt like they were heard and respected and responded to, then to me, every time that happened was a great accomplishment.
“I think we all just one day said we could play with the big boys, and we’re doing it now.”
Q: What’s your assessment of where Ole Miss is today, compared to where it was when you started working here more than 35 years ago?
A: It’s light years ahead. As I look out the window here at the Grove in front of the Union, I can remember when a street used to run where that sidewalk is. I remember when streets ran on either side of the Lyceum, and where the Quad was once a parking lot and where the Residential College was faculty housing. You remember all of those things and you see the physical changes.
But, then when I look at the students walking around and see more of them and see more diversity, you see that that’s changed. When you see numbers coming into the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, the high ACT scores and the great accomplishments there, I think at some point – and I don’t know when it happened – but Ole Miss just got out of bed and said, “Damn it, we’re going to be better than we have been.” I think that’s probably a combination of lots of people, people like (former chancellors) Gerald Turner, Robert Khayat, (former provost) Carolyn Staton, Provost Morris Stocks and Chancellor Dan Jones, those people who have provided leadership here. I think we all just one day said we could play with the big boys, and we’re doing it now.
Q: This may be hard to narrow down, but I want to know your favorite experience at Ole Miss. Is there something that stands out to you?
A: There would have to be some qualification. At one point, I would have said shrimp and beer at Sardis would have been one of my favorite experiences, but you probably can’t say that. I think one of my truly favorite experiences was the “Rock the Vote” festival in the Grove during the 2008 presidential debate. I think that was Ole Miss at its finest. There are just tons of great experiences that I’ve had here that just make you feel so good about the place.
I don’t want to sound schmaltzy here, but one time when students were gone, and it was Christmas and I found myself walking through the campus, through the Circle on a really cold December night with nobody here, and it was so quiet and the Lyceum was so beautiful. It was about midway in my tenure here. It just hit me that I worked in a special place. That was a good experience.
My two favorite days are freshman move-in day and commencement. You just get excited at the beginning of the school year and yet you dread the numbers, the heat, the questions; you dread everything. There’s just this freshness about the school year that’s about to start. Then you go through the year, and you get to commencement and you see those same students four years later who were lugging boxes into Kincannon Hall, and you get to see them with their parents and getting those degrees. That’s pretty special.
Q: Moving on from the professional side of your time here, what does Sparky Reardon do when he’s not working? What are your hobbies, your interests?
A: I love to read. I’ve already started making a stack of books that I’ve bought and haven’t read, or that I’ve started and haven’t finished. That’s one of my objectives. I love to travel. I’m a huge baseball fan. I plan on seeing more baseball during the summer. If I could find some good ground in Oxford like I have in my home of the Mississippi Delta, I’d like to start gardening. I absolutely love to cook, but my all-time favorite thing to do is travel to Sicily.
Q: How many times have you been to Sicily?
A: Three. I wish I would have been more often.
Q: What is it you like about Sicily?
A: The lifestyle. People know how to live. There’s no hurry. No worry. Clocks are insignificant. Really, rules are insignificant in Sicily. Lunch might last 15 minutes or it might last two hours, but it is always going to be followed by rest and relaxation, reflection. The people are very warm and engaging. The island is absolutely beautiful. I just have a passion for Sicily.
In doing this interview, I think we would fall short if we didn’t talk about Oxford and the great relationship there. There was a time in Oxford, and it was a really good time when Oxford was very simple. You had hardware stores on the Square, and I’m not saying it should be like that now, but you had the Hoka, and you had Willie Morris and Dean Faulkner Wells here. It was great to come into that Oxford. I’m definitely not saying it should be like that now because I love Oxford as it is, but I think the emergence of the Downtown Grill, the presence of the Hoka, Square Books, Willie Morris – all those things were predecessors to what Oxford is today.
Q: You’re leaving this job, but do you plan to keep working in any capacity or being involved with the university?
A: I think there’s a really good possibility to teach some graduate education classes and, in addition, I might teach some freshman seminar classes. If I’m lucky enough, I might try to help out the UM Foundation.
Q: What are some of the qualities you’d like to see in the next dean of students at Ole Miss? Will you have any role in helping select that person?
A: I won’t have any role in selecting the person. I have great trust and confidence in my colleagues in Student Affairs who are heading that search up. It would be unfair for me to say what I expect in the next person. I think it would be more fair to say to the university community how much I appreciated the existing campus when I came in 1977, how patient they were with me and how much people on campus taught me, how tolerant they were when I made mistakes. You know, there were times when they had to put up with me, when I just was on a roll doing something that I thought was right and might not have been. I hope they will remember that those people supported and lifted me up and helped me out. I hope the university community will do those same things not only for my successor, but for any person who comes to work for the university.
Q: Do you know if there will be an interim dean, or how that process might work?
A: No. I’m here until April 30th. I say I’m here, but I’m still on the books until April 30. I can’t guarantee you that I am going to be in my office. I have adequate leave time, but I will work with the new person and try to give them what little I have to help them get ready for the position.
Q: Do you know when your last day in your office will be?
A: I really don’t. I know I will be in and out. There are several things, like Honors Day – I will work with that committee – some chancellor’s leadership class duties, just days that I feel like I need to be in the office. But there will be days that I feel like I need to be somewhere else. Since I feel like I’ve earned those leave days, I’m probably going to take them.
Q: Do you have any parting words or parting wisdom – anything else you’d like to say about your time here at Ole Miss?
A: It’s been very, very special. I can’t imagine that there’s been a man or a woman lucky enough to have been placed in a spot in time, in a place they love, like I have. I’ve been very blessed in that somehow, my talents seem to have worked in some instances, and when they didn’t work, there have been people who have helped me learn how to hone them. Ole Miss is always going to be a part of me. If at any point, I’ve done anything to contribute to the success of the university, then I consider myself very, very lucky to have been a part of it. I’m not going to miss it because I’m really not going anywhere. For as long as I’m around, I hope I can continue in some way to help this place that we all hold so dear.