Lee’s president an icon among students

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — His face is on posters, dolls, cartoons, music videos and T-shirts, but he isn’t a Hollywood star or a professional athlete.

He’s the president of a small Christian university called Lee.

“Most college presidents are kind of dull and bland,” sophomore Zack Callahan said. “But Paul Conn is like the Lee equivalent of Tom Cruise.”

Students say the president often has lunch in the dining hall, visits them during dorm events and hosts an “Ask the President” session every year.

“Making himself available to students is part of his commitment,” Dr. Linda Thomspon said. “They sense that and they feel comfortable relating to him.”

Thompson, associate professor of music education at Lee, said she’s taught at other universities but never seen a president as visible on campus as Conn.

Because he was appointed from the faculty, not the corporate world, Conn said he’s energized by spending time around students.

Every time junior Tempest Melvin sees the president, she snaps a picture for her Facebook album: “P-CONN Sightings.”

Last year, Melvin said, she taped a painting of Conn’s face to her dorm room ceiling.

“I’m a bit more extreme,” she explained. “It’s not like I’m stalking him; I just honestly love him and respect him as our president.”

“Conn artists” frequently post photos on Facebook of homemade creations like gingerbread cookies and carved pumpkins in the president’s likeness. Online fan clubs praise the president’s iconic mustache and ask him to run for U.S. president. Conn has even made cameo appearances in student films.

“I think it means that I don’t seem as remote to them,” he said. “They do some pretty clever things sometimes.”

Conn said students always act in a light-hearted and good-natured way, and that he enjoys reading and responding to their e-mails.

“He values the opinion of the student body and the faculty,” senior Silas Sham said. “You always see the odd T-shirt around with his face on it. That just shows how much respect he garners from all the students at Lee.”

Several years ago, the faculty secretly commissioned a series of Paul Conn bobble heads for a presidential dinner, Conn said.

When students found out, requests started pouring in by the dozens, he said, though he doesn’t know where the dolls are kept.

“They keep appearing from somewhere,” he said. “It’s like the terra cotta soldiers.”

The campus bookstore has repeatedly requested to sell the dolls, Conn said, but he won’t permit it.

Melvin said her dream is to one day own one of the rare dolls.

Senior Justin Wallace said he doesn’t think any college president but Conn would be made into a bobble head.

Unlike most university presidents, Conn also teaches a class, Thompson said.

Wallace said the president gave pizza or gift cards to the 150 students in his freshman psychology class almost every day.

Senior Amanda Bagley said Conn once invited her class to his home.

“I was so excited,” she said. “I told everyone I was having lunch with the president.”

By spring, Conn will have been president at Lee for 25 years, far above the national average for college presidents (8.5 years, according to the American Council on Education).

“I have never seen a president do as much for a university as Dr. Conn has,” Wallace said. “His long-term vision is what sets him apart.”

Conn tripled the school’s population to more than 4,000 and more than 20 buildings have been constructed or renovated during his presidency, the university website says.

Melvin said she knew Conn was a celebrity even before she came to Lee from Ohio. She had seen YouTube videos of students building a huge Paul Conn snowman.

Junior Rebecca Davis said she loves Conn because he’s a humble leader.

“Every time I see him, I freak out,” she said. “Sometimes I can’t even bring myself to say ‘hi’ to him.”

Davis said she and Melvin are writing letters to the president in hopes to spend a day as his assistants.

“I’ve talked to other people who don’t even know who the president of their school is,” Melvin said. “Conn makes the effort to really get to know us. ... I just imagine no one else can love him as much as I can.”