But just as President Lacey would remind us of others' contributions, he would also state that being a college president is what he does - not who he is as a person. Then who is Alton Lacey? "I'm just a regular guy," he replied. "God led me and my family here five years ago and I've developed a passion for the College." While most regular people graduate high school in their late teens, Lacey graduated just months after receiving his driver's license. He also earned his doctorate from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary before he was thirty and has worn more hats in higher education than Dr. Seuss's Bartholomew Cubbins. In twenty years of service at Louisiana College he learned the intricacies of higher education from the role of both administrator and faculty. Before being appointed as MBC's president, he had served in the position of Vice President for Development at "LC", as he calls it with a Southern drawl.

In defining who Dr. Lacey is, traits of integrity, leadership and excellence were mentioned without exception. Knowing Dr. Lacey, this comes as no surprise. But one that took me by initial surprise was the word "enigma." Upon further questioning, an explanation began to surface. In almost every respect, Lacey balances two opposing positions in an "out-of-the-box" harmony that causes an occasional double-take by those watching. He works by a very simple but, at the same time, paradoxically complex system of beliefs that only become more fully understood the better you know him. But just in fractal-like nature, the more you know him, the more complex he is to understand. He is a blend of both the scientific method (his Bachelor's was in chemical engineering) and faith. He works diligently and thoughtfully to better the institution in a very structured and corporate manner, while at the same time, he knows the College's future rests in God's will. In search for a better definition Lacey is perhaps a neo-Renaissance man, studied in both arts and sciences and able to pick up a guitar as easily as a slide rule and pencil. He can sit and spend a warm afternoon's conversation with a new freshman just as easily as he can stand toe to toe with the most academically honored lecturers and professors that come to campus.

When posed with complicated administrative issues, several times this writer has witnessed an uncanny deftness at which President Lacey has moved inflated matters of irrelevance aside and determined the best possible course of action. The stereotype of the typical CEO's flying-off-the-handle approach to administration is a direct one-eighty from Lacey's. He is casual and disarming - trusting of those who work for him, but steady and firm in his decisions.

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