That was the day he officially took reins as the 22nd president of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in a solemn, history-laden investiture complete with customary academic pomp and circumstance.

However, the closing recessional sparked his emotions. As he led the multi-colored cap-and-gowned dignitaries and trustees from the auditorium, the students in the galleries suddenly cheered and applauded thunderously, the happy cacophony bouncing throughout the Mayborn Campus Center.

Those student shouts of approval were an unprompted, apt gift for the school's first alumnus-president who unashamedly admits he "bleeds purple."