Reporter
The battle strategy for the 2013 W.R. Poage Lecture “Leadership and Lessons Learned from a Decade of Conflict” might need to change.
The lecture, scheduled for today, was originally set to feature retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. and former Fort Hood Commanding Gen. Pete Taylor and retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General and former Fort Hood Commanding General Paul Funk.
Both Taylor and Funk held the same posts at different times.
The discussion was to be moderated by Chet Edwards, the W.R. Poage Distinguished Chair for Public Service and a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
However, health problems caused Taylor to opt out this Tuesday, two days before the lecture.
Despite the setback, the event will still continue at 4 p.m. today in Bennett Auditorium.
At the time of publication, Edwards was still attempting to find a suitable replacement for Taylor.
“[Edwards] asked a few other generals, but it’s a little short notice at this point,” said Ben Rogers, director of the Poage Legislative Library.
Rogers said Taylor’s decision to opt out and the problems he encountered were sudden. Taylor recently underwent a heart procedure.
“He felt OK on Monday, but didn’t on Tuesday,” Rogers said.
Carl Flynn, director of library communications, said Taylor is not in any serious danger.
“He’s doing fine,” Flynn said. “He’s just having some adverse effects.”
Even without Taylor, Rogers remains confident in the event, due partially to the fact that Funk once lectured at University of Texas at Austin.
“He has a history in teaching and education,” Rogers said. “He and Chet will still be able to carry on a very spirited conversation about leadership.”
Edwards will be asking questions related to the broad topic of leadership, which Funk will answer from his experiences as a U.S. Army officer and as the commanding general of Fort Hood.
“He’s going to ask him what he learned as a leader of Fort Hood, which was in heavy combat at the time,” Flynn said. “It’s not a historical lecture about that time; it’s more of a conversation about the key principles of leadership that grew out of his times of trial.”
The discussion is a part of the annual W.R. Poage Lecture series and came about due to Edwards’ mission to encourage Baylor students to a pursue leadership and public service.
