ver my 30 years at Manchester, I have gotten very good at asking others open-ended questions to start a conversation: What are you most looking forward to about college? What campus experiences are you most enjoying? What has your journey been since leaving Manchester?

Since announcing our impending retirement in October, Renée and I have been on the receiving end of similar questions. What have you most enjoyed about your time at Manchester? What are you planning to do in retirement?

The first question is easy for us to answer: We’ve most enjoyed the people we’ve met, stories we’ve shared and relationships we’ve developed. We cherish hearing from alumni about how they met their future partners at Manchester.

Renée Fancher and I met at Manchester on the first day of first-year orientation in 1976 and love to share our story with others. We get excited hearing our students talk about professors and staff who have changed their lives here. We’ve also enjoyed making unexpected connections. I remember being taken aback, and then deeply intrigued, when I met a donor at her door and the first thing she said was, “You have your Uncle Bob’s eyes.”

TOP LEFT: Dave and graduation celebration 2016. RIGHT: His story proudly includes building Manchester University Fort Wayne, which is our health sciences education hub. BOTTOM: Rabbit ears or “V” for victory? Manny offers one or the other at the launch of the Manchester Bold capital campaign.

Images from the McFadden inauguration

The answer to the second question is less definite. We will move to our lake house 45 minutes north of campus and enjoy morning coffee, yardwork and taking out the pontoon. We plan to buy a travel trailer and wander some. We won’t stop working but will look for opportunities that give us more control over our schedules. There are lots of unknowns, but we do know that we will enjoy spending more time together.

I have worked at Manchester for 30 years but have been connected for nearly my entire life. I have a photograph of my brothers and I sitting on the steps of Schwalm Hall sporting Manchester College T-shirts when we were in early elementary school.

Much has changed over those years. We became Manchester University and added a second campus. People, programs and buildings have come and gone. We’ve embraced opportunities and mourned losses.

I remember standing in front of the student body in full regalia during Opening Convocation during my first year as president. With mixed feelings, my thought was, “I have become Blair Helman.” It began to dawn on me that day that I was a caretaker of the legacies of all those who came before me and the possibilities that await future generations of students, graduates and colleagues.

Our mission connects past, present and future. A visitor to campus recently heard me give my presidential stump speech about our mission and summarized it this way: “It sounds like your mission is to unscrew up the world.” That’s it. That’s us. Unscrewing up the world, one Manchester graduate at a time.

Renée and I are grateful for the opportunity we’ve had to serve Manchester College and Manchester University. It has been our honor and privilege. Go Spartans!

Dave McFadden retires June 30 from Manchester University.