When MSU President M. Peter McPherson left East Lansing to help establish a stable economy in Iraq, the university had endured one of the most tumultuous years in its history. MSU Trustee Dee Cook said McPherson should be back "no later than Thursday."
When he comes back, things will look the same on campus as they do any September.
But not everything is the same as when McPherson took an unpaid leave of absence from MSU in April.
University officials were faced with increasing tuition costs. Enrollment among minority students was up but so were racial tensions on campus.
The football team had fallen apart. The basketball team made formidable strides, but students were displeased with its efforts on March 30. Things cooled down on campus as the temperature rose during the summer while McPherson was gone.
But things could heat up even more, which is why McPherson should take time to smell the cherry blossoms outside Cowles House before tackling another year that could be as dramatic as the last.
Student voices are getting louder because of the East Lansing City Council's revised noise ordinance. Minority student enrollment has gone down for the freshman class.
The unpredictable football team will have a renovated stadium by 2005.
And everyone has had to dig deeper in their pockets this semester as the state continues to slash funding for higher education.
It might have looked like a war scene during the March 28-30 disturbances in East Lansing, but in Iraq, McPherson walked among many people who had firsthand experience of an actual war.
McPherson often wore a bulletproof vest in public because violence still lingered in the Middle East country.
If McPherson decides to sit back and enjoy the first days of fall, then he should take that opportunity.
While McPherson was gone, Provost Lou Anna Simon took over as interim president, and she did it well.
There's no reason that when McPherson arrives in East Lansing, Simon can't continue on in this position a little bit longer.
McPherson's transition should be a slow and smooth one.
Together, he and Simon can keep the university running while they each ease back into their respective positions.
Whether McPherson decides to take a vacation, he should be thinking of how to apply what he learned in Iraq to operations here in East Lansing.
McPherson used his financial expertise he had built up in other positions, including deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Treasury, to stabilize the university's budget.
Any new skills picked up in Iraq can be applicable at MSU.
The State of the University address isn't until Oct. 26, giving university officials plenty of time to update McPherson on the happenings at MSU but also for him to talk of his experience in Iraq.
