I came away from last month's Deval Patrick campaign event with President Obama with two impressions.
First, while ever passionate and eloquent, the president was outdone by Patrick on both counts. Second, the most poignant and moving moment for me was their embrace after Obama spoke — two close friends and leaders facing the loneliness of governing during the worst of times, and doing so as the first African-Americans to hold their offices.
Their common background growing up in what singer Jim Croce once sang as "the baddest part of town," no doubt bonds them even more. Not a few of us believe they are being held to a higher standard for shattering the race barrier in their respective jobs.
Their partnership is particularly important to me and community college presidents across the country as it was Patrick who convinced the president in his role as lead governor on stimulus funds to allocate significant amounts for higher education. That Patrick has chosen to use the funds to float our colleges through the precipitous fiscal downturn means we are enrolling more than 1,000 additional students this fall at North Shore Community College than we have ever had before.
Patrick asked me recently to join the group planning an "economic summit" at the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston and serve as a "discussion leader" for the group charged with producing strategies for "Clearing the Way for Business Expansion." The evidence lends credence to Patrick's belief in the intrinsic value of public higher education.
And with almost 100,000 students at the commonwealth's community colleges — a total equaling the combined enrollments at UMass and the state colleges — our perspective is important.
Forgetting my camera and relying on my Blackberry, I did not get the clearest of pictures of the encounter between Obama and Patrick. But it's a scene I will always remember.
Also, I did get close to the president as he walked the line after the event. As one would expect, he looked a little more frayed around the edges than the times I was with him during the New Hampshire primaries or when I first heard him speak at the 2004 Democratic Convention. But he hasn't lost his bounce, nor his sense of humor — attributes he sorely needs as he leads our nation and world in these troubled times.
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Wayne Burton is president of North Shore Community College, which has campuses in Danvers, Lynn and Beverly.
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