David McNamee

“Your name, György, is your currency. Spend it wisely.” The words are spoken in a dim apartment after an argument that neither father nor son will ever fully resolve. István Kovac has survived war, immigration, poverty, and long stretches of silence. His son, George, hears in his father’s voice not wisdom but restraint, not strength but hesitation. Where George wants defiance, his father offers caution. Yet the line lingers long after the anger subsides.

More than a theoretical framework, servant leadership is a philosophy grounded in action, empathy, and a focus on serving others. Recently, I had the rare opportunity to witness servant leadership in practice during a ride-along with my son, Deputy Chris McNamee, who works in law enforcement as a deputy with the Pickens County, South Carolina Sheriff’s Department.

In higher education today, more and more instructors are finding themselves in a space once considered marginal: the asynchronous online classroom. Here, there are no buzzing hallways, no raised hands or nodding heads, no lecture halls filled with students scribbling in notebooks. Instead, there are discussion boards, assignment dropboxes, and occasional glimpses into students’ lives through written reflections or submitted projects.