The Values of a Marine

Photo By Master Sgt. Jon Holmes | Gen. Charles Krulak, president of Birmingham-Southern College proudly displays his memories of time served as a Marine Officer in his office. As a young man, Charles Krulak respected the values of his father – selflessness, moral courage and integrity. His father, Marine Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak, imparted in his son the same values introduced to him as a Marine.  

BIRMINGHAM, AL, UNITED STATES

05.08.2014

Story by Sgt. Jon Holmes 

6th Marine Corps District

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - As a young man, Charles Krulak respected the values of his father – selflessness, moral courage and integrity. His father, Marine Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak, imparted in his son the same values introduced to him as a Marine.

Following in his father’s footsteps and making the transformation to become a United States Marine, Charles Krulak embodied these values. They are still a part of who he is today.

My father instilled in his three boys a solid foundation of trying to be men of character—being selflessness having great moral courage and having integrity,” said Krulak, the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps. “At the same time, taking those values and seeking to do the most good for the most people.”

That final piece led Krulak to his current post as President of Birmingham-Southern College. A position he says is one of the most challenging of his life.

Mismanagement and a growing debt foreshadowed the college’s future. Budget cuts cost students their educational programs and professors their jobs. Dropping enrollment, a demoralized faculty and a community that lost confidence in the school posed additional problems making Birmingham-Southern College’s future uncertain.

One of Krulak’s first decisions as the new college president was to refuse a salary.

“They were pretty surprised when I did that,” he said.

He also turned down the university vehicle and even lived in a dorm instead of the Birmingham-Southern College President’s house.

“Why,” Krulak asked. “Why turn down the salary? Because of the sacrifice everyone else had gone through. If all of the sudden I came in and had this salary and drove around in a college car and lived in the house of the president, I wouldn’t be doing what all Marine do – setting the example.”

Krulak continued that example by visiting every classroom on campus and meeting with the faculty, staff and students. He even spent time in the cafeteria serving food to the students- something he did for his Marines as an officer.

Former students who have returned to serve as staff to the college notice his actions.

“I was most impressed with his relationship with his students,” said Katie Glenn, the executive assistant to Krulak and graduate of Birmingham-Southern College. “He knows them all and genuinely cares. He even delivered cookies to the students, just as he did for his Marines. He really cared about his Marines, and here, he cares about his employees and students.

For Krulak, his actions are not unusual. They are the actions of a man of character. They are from the values of his father and the Marines past, present and future who are bound together by their core values and ethos.

“You hear time and time again the Marine Corps made you the individual you are,” Krulak explained. “That transformation is forever. That ethos is in all of us for life.”

• Date Taken: 05.08.2014
• Date Posted: 05.08.2014 13:18
• Story ID: 129187
• Location: BIRMINGHAM, AL, US