You can do anything. Never underestimate yourself. That is what Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and Vice Chancellor for Students James Earl McLeod tried to teach every student that he came into contact with.

Whenever he met a student, McLeod would always go out of his way to learn about him or her. When families visited campus, he gave his personal number to parents, with a promise that he would answer any questions. McLeod cared about every person he met, learned their interests and dreams, and then inspired them to go out and do good in the world.

He could make you believe you could save the world by bedtime. He could make you think that you could accomplish anything you set your mind to, no matter how difficult and impossible the prospect seemed at the moment.

The reason McLeod could make you feel that way is because he could actually do those things. He could, regardless of his schedule, help any students with just about anything they needed and more.

Countless policies and programs that have shaped the very essence of Washington University were the product of McLeod’s genius. He created the Ervin Scholars program for students committed to service, he urged Residential Life to know each student “by name and story.” That our University can function with him gone seems nearly impossible to imagine.

He did more than probably any other administrator to promote diversity on this campus and create a place of tolerance and acceptance in which any person could feel welcome. McLeod was able to seek out those in need, offer help and follow through.

Most of all, he was, probably more than any other person at this University, a gentleman: a man of empathy and compassion who did all he could to make sure that all who came into contact with him felt as though he had their backs, no matter what. A man who attended the Ervin Scholars weekend, despite a body inflicted with cancer, and the tiring treatments that go with it.

He said, when interviewed by Student Life in 2005, that the thing he was most proud of was “reasonable progress at being a decent human being”. Undoubtedly, he made more than just “reasonable progress”.

The University will miss him. Our community will miss him. Those of us who never had the opportunity to meet him will do our best to miss him, and regret that missed opportunity.

Regardless of how well you knew James McLeod, take to heart his messages and how he tried to live his life. Here was a man that we all can, and should, look up to, that we can all try to be. A man whose worldview should inform upon our own. A good man, a gentleman. A man who can continue to teach us, even though he has passed.

Remember Dean McLeod, and try to live by his example.