Provost Mickey A. Latour finds a culture of kindness at Tennessee Tech
Tennessee Tech University’s new provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, Mickey A. Latour, had a feeling about the university before he ever sat down for his formal interview.
He arrived on campus at 6:30 a.m. for the first part of his two-day interview process. With 10 or 12 hours to fill before a scheduled dinner at downtown Cookeville’s Fire & Vine, Latour spent the morning walking more than five miles through campus, visiting buildings and getting acclimated to the university.
“I felt it,” Latour recalled. “I said, ‘If I get the opportunity to work here, I’m going to do it.’”
What he encountered during those few hours reinforced that instinct.
The first person he met was Allyson Farris, an administrative associate in the College of Business Student Success Center, who took time to help him navigate campus.
She had no idea he was a candidate for provost. Neither did the people he encountered elsewhere that morning.
“That was the thing that really struck me,” Latour said. “Everyone was kind and warm, and at that point, no one had any idea who I was or that I was a candidate for provost.”
He even stopped by the university bookstore, where an employee asked if he worked at Tech.
“I hope to one day!’” came Latour's response.
Latour officially joined Tech on July 1, bringing three decades of higher education experience, including more than a decade in senior leadership roles at universities including Arkansas State University, Southern Illinois University and Purdue University. He is also an internationally recognized researcher in the area of lipid metabolism.
But his early impressions of Tech have centered less on titles and accomplishments and more on people.
During his first weeks on campus, Latour visited each academic college and the library, meeting with faculty and staff and learning about their programs and aspirations. Latour said he was struck by Tech faculty and staff members’ talents and high standard of excellence.
“What has impressed me most is the sincere desire to help students succeed, grow and thrive both personally and professionally,” Latour wrote in an email to university employees. “That level of commitment cannot be manufactured; it is woven into the fabric of this institution.”
For Latour, that culture of care is more than something to appreciate. It is something he hopes to make central to the university’s story.
“We could very well be the kindest campus in America, and we need to talk about that more,” he said.
As provost, Latour is working with Tech’s deans and academic leadership to identify what makes each college distinctive and develop authentic ways to communicate those strengths. He has introduced leadership teams to ideas from Simon Sinek’s bestselling book “Start with Why” and Jim Collins’ “Good to Great,” encouraging them to think deeply about direction, purpose, identity and the ways their work transforms students.
“This place has everything going for it,” Latour explained. “We’re not trying to sell something we don’t have – we have it. We’re setting the course within each college to ensure we will be the university to watch in the coming years.”
A native of south Louisiana, Latour is a first-generation college graduate and the father of two adult daughters. His late mother worked as a school custodian and, inspired by her son’s academic pursuits, eventually returned to school herself. She earned her GED in 1996 — the year after Latour earned his Ph.D. He keeps her diploma framed in his office.
Latour’s office also features a small statuette of a rabbit, which he chose to symbolize the importance of moving quickly on tasks affecting students. Photos from past Tech commencement ceremonies line his office wall as another reminder of the ultimate purpose behind the work of a provost: helping students reach graduation.
Outside the office, Latour can often be found walking. When his daughters were young, he developed a habit of picking up trash while on their daily walks. He has continued that practice at Tech and around Cookeville, where he says the simple routine gives him time to think, plan and rehearse upcoming remarks.
Most weekends, he is at Cane Creek Park by 6:30 a.m., walking and visiting with the familiar faces he encounters there. He also recently took new faculty members and their families to Cummins Falls and hopes to share the area’s natural beauty with students in the future.
That sense of connection to the people around him has become an early hallmark of Latour’s time at Tech — and one he hopes to build upon as provost. He encourages students, faculty and staff who see him around campus to say hello and welcomes simply being referred to as “Mickey.”
In one of his first acts as provost, Latour presented Farris with a university “Wings of Kindness” award, recognizing her for the kindness she showed him that first morning on campus. For Latour, the moment was a fitting reminder of what first drew him to Tech: a community where people look out for one another, care deeply about students and are willing to take the time to help.
Learn more about the Office of the Provost at www.tntech.edu/provost.