When Truman State University senior Erica Nolan learned in February that her school president would be leaving to become the 10th president of UMW, she wrote a letter to Mary Washington students. This is an excerpt.
Dear University of Mary Washington Students,
Writing this has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It’s primarily because I’m still in shock that President Troy Paino is leaving Truman State University. It’s also because President Paino is impossible to put into words.
To UMW, Troy Paino is currently just a man. To Truman, he is so much more than that. He’s our biggest cheerleader. He’s a role model to every student who walks on campus. He’s a father figure when you need one, and he will always and forever be our own personal T-Pain [a nickname he’s called by Truman students].
If you ever have the opportunity to meet a Truman student or alum who had the privilege of having Paino as president, I can guarantee they have a personal Paino story. He’s willing to make guest appearances in promotional videos for student organizations. He stops his own workouts to cheer on students on group runs. He has even taken time to teach courses. He’ll take selfies with students if they ask him and makes us fantastic videos during breaks just to tell us he misses us.
A piece of Troy Paino’s heart will always be a Truman Bulldog. Every action he has made in his last 10 years on our campus has shown how devoted he is to our school, and I have no doubt that he will always hold Truman in the highest regard.
With that said, I fully believe that he will do the same for you. President Paino puts every ounce of himself into making the community around him great. I’m jealous that you get him all to yourselves next year, but I’m also excited that there will be a school somewhere else that understands how wonderful this man is.
As a senior at Truman, I’m lucky to be leaving at the same time as President Paino. However, knowing that he won’t be on campus when I visit as an alum is pretty numbing. While Truman is great in so many ways, President Paino was a large part of what made my four years at this school wonderful.
So, here we go, UMW. We’re handing the torch to you. Please understand that a man more than 7,000 students love is about to become your president.
Please try your hardest to appreciate him as much as we do. We’ll be keeping tabs, seeing as a majority of us are his Facebook friends. You’re allowed to love him as much as we have – if you can.
Sincerely,
Erica Nolan ’16
Truman State University
Erica Nolan’s open letter to UMW students was first published in February on Odyssey, a social content platform for millennials.