A ‘heartbeat’ unlike any other
The man whose name is at the heart of campus exemplified the heart of a Waynesburg education in his life.
Dr. W. Robert Stover, whom most students know as the namesake of the Stover Campus Center, died Monday at 93 after leading a successful life influenced by his studies at Waynesburg.
After graduating as a member of the Class of 1942 and serving a stint in the United States Navy, Stover founded Western Temporary Services, a California-based business providing non-clerical temporary help services in various fields.
He did so with only $800.
According to Timothy R. Thyreen, university chancellor, Stover struggled to obtain a loan when he started the business until one bank recognized his devout Christian nature, evidenced by a tithe in Stover’s original business plan.
“He had nothing. He had a few hundred bucks if he had that, but he needed the startup capital,” said Thyreen. “His faith had become very important to him, and he could not consider starting a business without [a tithe] up front. I’m sure that bank saw a disciplined man that really had it figured out.”
This spurred a company that eventually became a multimillion-dollar corporation with 200 offices based in the United States and six international locations. Thyreen credits the company’s success in part to Stover’s lifetime commitment to internal growth.
“He never lost his ability to learn and his desire to learn. He was very studious, very scholarly, and read and thought very deeply,” said Thyreen. “That’s what you want; you want a person that thinks critically, is constantly reading and doesn’t think they know it all. That’s what we want from our students. The academic preparation is what you’re here for, but the moral values and the Christian institution is why we exist. Really, it was the blending of academic discipline, the constant search for knowledge, the service for others and living out faith. That’s what he stood for.”
Stover’s commitment to the integration of knowledge and faith made him the perfect teammate for Thyreen, who served as president from 1990-2013, as he began to plan the development of a building meant to serve as the centerpiece of the campus.
“That campus center is really the heartbeat,” said Thyreen. “It’s almost like the heart’s pumping — and this is really what [university master planner] Carl Johnson and I talked about — and all the veins come into it.”
According to Thyreen, the need for a building at the center of campus became apparent after the construction of the Goodwin Performing Arts Center in the early 1990s. He desired a building that would link Eberly Library and Buhl Hall — the buildings at the top of the hill — to the rest of the buildings beneath it.
“The campus center builds community,” said Thyreen. “Without it, you don’t have community because you don’t have a chance at community.”
Thyreen’s vision included what is now called the Center for Service Leadership, a constant reminder of the institution’s commitment to its mission, and later, the development of the Stover Center for Constitutional Studies and Moral Leadership.
With this plan in mind, Thyreen needed a donor to begin funding the project. He prepared a speech for the Board of Trustees in order to sway them, knowing he would need a substantial monetary contribution to start the project.
An unexpected phone call received the week before he would deliver the speech changed the landscape of everything.
It was Stover on the line, and he somehow had read Thyreen’s mind, saying he thought the campus needed one more piece to make it more complete, and pledging a lead gift for the project.
“My wife said ‘I knew that was him calling, and I knew what he was doing,'” said Thyreen as his eyes began to well with tears. “She just knew.”
The Saturday after his conversation with Stover, Thyreen presented the plan for a campus center to the Board of Trustees. This plan came into fruition in 1999 when the Stover Campus Center was dedicated.
While Stover provided a significant donation before Thyreen petitioned the Board of Trustees, he humbly told Thyreen he did not want to see the building named in his honor. Thyreen said it had to happen because he wanted Stover to serve as an example for both students and alumni.
“He didn’t do it for a naming opportunity. I said ‘that’s simply the way it’s going to be,'” said Thyreen. “I said to him that we need examples on our campus where our successful alumni give back to the institution so our students subliminally learn that that’s what they do.”
Stover’s name is also forever attached to the Stover Scholars Program and the Stover Nursing Award, a scholarship for nursing students.
Dr. Larry Stratton, director of the Stover Center for Constitutional Studies and Moral Leadership, agrees that Stover is the ideal namesake for the program, which was also produced by talks between Thyreen and Stover.
“Stover used his wealth to increase people’s faith in Jesus Christ,” said Stratton. “He looked back on his own life and found his education at Waynesburg gave him the foundation to be a leader in life, so he wanted to make sure that continued at Waynesburg.”
Nancy Mosser, chair of the Department of Nursing, said she has spoken numerous times with Stover about the academic program she leads. Stover was a vocal supporter of the Department of Nursing, and according to Mosser, he provided a significant gift to a nursing student seriously injured in a car accident a few years ago. This donation allowed the student to renovate a bathroom in her home, making it handicap accessible.
“Dr. Stover led by example, and I knew him to be a kind, faithful and generous soul who wanted to improve the lives of others,” said Mosser. “He was a patron of the Department of Nursing, continuously supporting the profession through the funding of nursing education. We will miss him and the kindness he shared with others.”
When students see Stover’s name on campus, Thyreen hopes they regard Stover’s life as an example of what they can achieve in their own.
“You make your life count. You want human kind to be better off because you’ve lived,” said Thyreen. “You’ve enjoyed the process of the preparation and you continue to be intellectually engaged throughout your life. But based upon all the things you’ve learned at Waynesburg, you feel nurtured and challenged to make a difference in your life.”