ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 13, 1995 TAG: 9512130015
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS
Former U.S. Sen. Paul S. Trible Jr. says he didn't know that a committee searching for a new president for Christopher Newport University would stop looking when he said he was interested in the job.
``I assumed my name would be considered along with all the rest of the candidates,'' Trible said in an interview after being tapped to succeed Anthony R. Santoro. ``I didn't know the search would come to a halt.''
His only condition for taking the post was that the Board of Visitors' decision be unanimous. The board canceled the search and Trible's selection was announced last week.
Trible, 48, served in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. He said his political connections will help in his new post, which he takes over Jan. 2.
``I have a lot of friends in Washington on both sides of the aisle, and they expend billions of dollars that benefit universities all over the country,'' he said. ``The time has come for the good work of CNU to be generously funded.''
Trible will become Christopher Newport's fifth president. Santoro announced earlier this year he would leave the post to return to teaching.
Trible left politics in 1989 and remained mostly out of the public eye until last year, when he was appointed by Gov. George Allen to the CNU Board of Visitors.
In interviews last week with the Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot, Trible said his intends for the school to develop a stronger set of goals and to more clearly lay out its mission.
``My sense is that for far too long, Christopher Newport University has been reacting to events rather than proactively looking for things to happen,'' he said in one interview. ``Others have been defining our mission. But if you react to events, you're not in charge and you're not shaping your own destiny.''
He also said the school needs to identify academic programs that give it distinction, particularly in business and scientific research.
``And perhaps we need to do something with law enforcement. It is America's growth industry today,'' he said. ``We need police officers who are effective, competent and passionate.''
Trible said he's been happy out of the limelight but was ready for a new challenge.
``I have reveled in being a private person. It has been wonderful not reading about myself in the newspapers, not being the target of controversy,'' he said.
``Now I start a new season. Now I can once again serve and hopefully contribute.'
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Trible.by CNB