The Facebook page of Towson University President Robert Caret lists a line from Pat Conroy as his favorite quotation:
"Why do they not teach you that time is a finger snap and an eye blink, and that you should not allow a moment to pass you by without taking joyous, ecstatic note of it, not wasting a moment of its swift, breakneck circuit?"
In six years at Towson, Caret has not wasted a second. The university's recent skirmish with neighbors in Rodgers Forge, over the location of a new 5,000-seat arena, is an example of both Caret's urgency and his diplomacy. He wants to step up athletics, to broaden Towson's name recognition, and he got recalcitrant neighbors to sign off on the arena.
At the same time, he has been planning a satellite campus in Harford County and a friendly takeover of Baltimore Hebrew University, as well as adding thousands of students and starting construction projects valued at a half-billion dollars. Research grants and contracts have tripled in five years.
Towson, for years a sleepy university with a good reputation for teaching but little ambition, is on the move.
Observers give much of the credit to Caret, a 61-year-old from Maine with a hyperactive metabolism and a down-to-earth style. Caret refers to his colleagues as "guys" and "gals," in a disarming New England accent that hasn't quite worn off. He keeps a guitar in his office.
"He's very charismatic," says Janice Moore, president of the Rodgers Forge Community Association. "But he's very focused. He's very driven."
Part of his mission is growth, to bring the university attention and political clout. A decade ago, Towson had 15,900 students. It's at 21,000 today, and Caret projects 25,000 in five years. He's building new dorms to accommodate the students and give the campus a more residential feel. A $122 million College of Liberal Arts is under construction - the first new academic building in 30 years - and it will frame a new quad.
Towson produces more nurses and more teachers than any other university in the state. It has the largest undergraduate business school and as many African-American master's students as Morgan State University. Its retention and graduation rates are among the highest in the state.
Caret reels off the statistics with ease, and obvious pride. "I'm a competitive guy, but I don't do this for competitive reasons." Rather, he wants people to understand Towson's contribution to the state. But, he adds with a grin, "My presidential colleagues probably won't say that's true."
