 "Photo:")
SIUC students will not only lose an administrator when Bill McMinn retires in December.
They will lose one of their biggest supporters.
"I'm here to serve you. You're a student. That's my job," the longtime director of Recreational Sports and Services said.
McMinn has worked for SIUC Recreational Sports and Services for the past 25 years and has been its leader for the past 13. As director, McMinn oversees the Recreation Center and a variety of programs such as intramural sports.
McMinn said he chose to retire on Dec. 15 to pursue other goals, such as traveling and working to help the underprivileged throughout southern Illinois.
"There's just some other things I want to do in life," McMinn said.
McMinn said he has seen the Rec Center undergo countless changes since he saw it built as a student in 1977.
The biggest change, he said, is the influx of patrons.
"It's the popularity. We had a total of 80,000 users in 1977, and now we'll get 80,000 here in the month of February alone," McMinn said.
In addition to the users, the Rec Center employs more than 300 students. McMinn said it is his personal responsibility to make sure these students develop as good citizens.
"That's what really makes me excited about having a position like this," McMinn said. "I think it's important for them to know that I've got their back, and I am genuinely concerned not just about how they're doing here but how they're doing in school and how they're doing in life."
Lindsey Lappin, a senior from Marion studying fashion merchandising, has worked at the Rec Center's Information Desk for a year. She said McMinn is always stopping by to make sure she is having a good day.
"He's very personable, always making sure we're doing well in school," Lappin said.
McMinn, a veteran of the Vietnam War, said he tries to lead students by example, a practice he said he learned during his service in the Marine Corps.
"I got this title that's next to me called director, but I am no different and no more important than any person that works here," McMinn said. "In the Marine Corps, the general never thought of himself any more important than the private in the foxhole, and that's how you should lead people here."
McMinn said the personal approach is what makes SIUC such a unique campus.
"Very seldom you'll see a university of this size that has such a genuine, sincere compassion for its students," McMinn said.
He said the diversity of the student body is another thing that sets the school apart.
"I could walk through this Rec Center and take a trip around the world and never have to leave just by talking to the students from various countries," McMinn said. "It's truly an accurate reflection of what the world is that they're going to go into."
Assistant Athletic Director Jason King, who has worked closely with McMinn for the past six years, said McMinn goes out of his way to help anyone he can on campus.
"Bill is just an unbelievable ambassador for the whole university because he really is a person that looks at how whatever needs to be done can affect the university and how he can best serve the university and the students," King said.
McMinn said he would continue to play racquetball and work out at the Rec Center after his retirement.
"I'll still have a chance to come in and interact with the students," he said.
Sean McGahan can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 259 or sean_mcgahan@dailyegyptian.com.
