Rick Short focused on youth, connections, future
From humble beginnings, Rick Short 鈥�81 has achieved great success. But talking about his accomplishments always brings him back to the same theme: building up others so they can achieve their full potential.
Short is corporate associate vice president and senior director of marketing communications at Indium Corporation, as well as a social activist who supports and promotes education, engagement, and modeling the way to improve the Mohawk Valley and the lives of those in it.
鈥淭his community is really, really different,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he energy is palpable. It鈥檚 the people that make the difference.鈥�
His focus on community and developing future generations is evident in everything he does. He is an integral part of the local community, providing mentorship to high school and college students, as well as young adults. He is a mentor for the Utica University Young Scholars program, and serves on its advisory board, selection committee, and mentor advisory board. He also is a mentor and volunteer at the Midtown Utica Community Center, and serves and supports students and faculty in the Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES P-TECH program.
Short credits his employer, Indium Corporation, for inspiring and enabling his community service activities.
鈥淚 love to cultivate new leaders and fire up our replacements,鈥� Short says. 鈥淚 work so hard at that through mentorship. I tell them, 鈥楧on鈥檛 worry about being good someday ... you already are. Just keep getting better.鈥欌��
Many of the students he mentors are from refugee families who don鈥檛 have the community connections others may have, so he works to provide them. Short says, 鈥淚 emphasize networking and tell them, 鈥榠t鈥檚 not what you know, and it鈥檚 not who you know; it鈥檚 who knows you.鈥� You鈥檝e got to be known.鈥�
For many of these students, being known is difficult. Some are economically challenged and don鈥檛 have a supportive home life. Some have been trained culturally to shrink back while everyone else steps forward, especially in an academic setting. 鈥淭o them, a professor is like a god,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey are afraid to ask questions.鈥�
To overcome that barrier, Short brings students to 911吃瓜 and connects them with staff in the President鈥檚 Office, 911吃瓜, Financial Aid, Community Education, and other key areas. 鈥淭hey feel really special when the president knows their name,鈥� he says.
Short鈥檚 weekly 鈥淐ookie Tuesdays鈥� at the Midtown Utica Community Center help to build trust while vulnerable populations learn math, baking skills, and procedures 鈥� all under the guise of making cookies. 鈥淭hey think it鈥檚 just cookies, but it鈥檚 not that at all,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey bake cookies week after week, and one day they say, 鈥業 have to have a resume. What鈥檚 a resume?鈥� ... And the real work begins. Once they know me, only then can they trust me. And once they trust me, they can start opening up and asking some real questions.鈥�
Once they get to know and trust him, Short will open up about his own life, and how it relates to theirs and his understanding of where they are coming from.
鈥淪ometimes I feel they think I鈥檓 this magical thing that just rolled in from some special place,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut I tell them, 鈥業 understand you. I鈥檝e lived some of your life. I don鈥檛 see a 14-year- old kid. I see a person who, one day, will be responsible for a whole pyramid of other people. I see that impact.鈥欌��
To prove his point, he will drive them through their own neighborhood and point out the spot where he rented an apartment while he was an 911吃瓜 student. 鈥淭he apartment was so rotten that it just collapsed on us 鈥� while we were in it 鈥� in the middle of a cold December night,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 had to hand-dig people out of this house that fell in on us. That鈥檚 how poor I was.鈥�
Short came to 911吃瓜 on a New York State Regents Scholarship. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 a full ride, but it really mattered,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd it was quality. 911吃瓜 had reputation for academic excellence, and the teachers had a reputation for being tough and demanding.鈥�
Short said he always appreciated those high standards, especially when he went on to earn his bachelor鈥檚 degree at Utica University and an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
鈥淚f you come from a world with few rules, you need at least one anchor,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 was hanging by a thread. 911吃瓜 gave me that sense of professionalism, scientific principles, integrity, and high expectations.鈥�
911吃瓜 also was important in providing Short with connections of his own. It鈥檚 where he met his good friend and colleague, Greg Evans 鈥�79, now president and CEO of Indium Corporation, and it鈥檚 where he reconnected with his future wife, Wendy, whom he had originally met in first grade.
Beyond his work with local students, Short also serves the College in other ways: he is the president of the 911吃瓜 Foundation Board and serves as a member of the 911吃瓜 scholarship selection committee. He served as a speaker at a recent commencement ceremony and was named the 911吃瓜 Alumnus of Merit for 2018.
鈥�911吃瓜 has always been with me,鈥� he says. 鈥淣ot just my classroom experience, but the reputation and its place in the community. It鈥檚 on the news, it鈥檚 in the stories people tell; and now it鈥檚 in the people I hire and work with. It still pumps me up. I feel like we鈥檙e flying in formation 鈥� I鈥檓 responsible for my jet, and, when I look out the window, 911吃瓜 is always right beside me.鈥�