Jayasuriya fulfilling a dream
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MARSHALL -- As the youngest child in a family of six and growing up poor in Sri Lanka, Kumara Jayasuriya had dreams of a better life. This past week, Dr. Jayasuriya fulfilled his boyhood dream and lifelong career pursuit when he was named the next permanent president of Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.
"My life story is a prime example of the transformative power public higher education and public education in general has on individuals," Jayasuriya said. "My father passed away when I was very young and I was raised by a single mother who did not have a job. Fast forward to (Thursday), I was just introduced by the (Minnesota State) system chancellor (Devinder Malhotra) as your 10th president. That is the transformational power of higher education. That's why I'm so passionate about student success and public education, and that's why I have committed my whole entire adult life to public education."
Jayasuriya shared his gratitude for the opportunity to those in attendance at a welcoming ceremony on Thursday at SMSU. Afterward, he spoke even more from the heart.
"My mom is the reason why I'm here," he said. "I was tired of being poor, so I went and got a job. I played cricket, so it wasn't hard for me to find a job. People wanted me to come and play for their teams, for their companies. So I got a job twice before I graduated from high school and my mom cried and begged me to go back to school. She believed in education."
Jayasuriya said his mother had an impactful motto.
"She said, 'We will suffer today for a better tomorrow,'" Jayasuriya said. "So that's the reason why I'm here today. That's why I was so emotional in my speech."
The parallels between Jayasuriya and current SMSU President Dr. Connie Gores are striking. Not only did Gores lose her father when she was young, but she was also raised by a strong woman who believed education provided a path to a better future.
"Honestly, it's a dream come true," Gores said at her welcoming ceremony six years ago on the SMSU campus. "Education has always been my passion."
Among 10 siblings in a blended family, Gores was raised on the prairie in Cando, North Dakota -- a rural community dubbed for the "can do" spirit of the pioneers who settled there in 1884.
"My mom is a very hard worker," Gores said in 2013. "I hope I have her genes and her energy because she can probably work every one of us under the table."
Gores oftentimes likened the prairie and its "endless possibilities" to that of higher education.
"We transform lives, we build brighter futures and we truly change the world with what we do," she said.
While he didn't think in terms of any particular university, Jayasuriya always knew he wanted to work at a system school.
"I have always prepared myself to take a presidency," he said.
Most recently, Jayasuriya served as the provost and vice president of academic affairs and as a mathematics professor at West Virginia State University since 2014. Prior to that, he was associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and a mathematics professor at Purdue University-North Central (2011-2014). Jayasuriya also served at Indiana University East as dean of the School of Natural Science and Mathematics (2007-2011) among other roles there.
"(Jayasuriya) is an impressive individual," Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes said. "He's very outgoing and has an excellent background. I'm very hopeful he'll be a good fit for southwest Minnesota and SMSU in particular. He has an engaging personality and sincerity as well as the academic credentials."
During his speech at the welcoming ceremony, Jayasuriya said he was dedicated to working with everyone to take student success at SMSU to a new level.
"I hope when I come here, all of you will work with me to get all of our students -- not 50 percent, not 60 percent, but all of the students -- to the finish line."
The next president encouraged those in attendance to imagine the power of working together.
"All of you can make a big difference -- not just the retention office, not just the admissions office," Jayasuriya said. "All of us can play a big role. All of us can market our university. It's easy to pay $5,000 or $10,000 and get a billboard put up on the highway, but imagine the power of 3,000 people wearing SMSU gear everywhere you go and be a walking billboard."
Jayasuriya continued, asking everyone to envision what could happen if 3,000 people posted positive messages on social media and talked to their neighbors, friends, teachers and others about the high quality programs and what is happening at SMSU.
"Ninety-nine percent of our students get jobs," he said. "Ninety-seven percent of the students get a job in their field. Imagine how powerful that message would be if we all shared that. That's the power of working together. And that's what I'm going to advocate for."
Jayasuriya said he looks forward to meeting with people in small groups -- not individually -- in the near future.
"I spent two semesters (at West Virginia University) doing nothing but meeting with people (individually) and I'm not going to make that mistake again," he said, drawing a lot of laughter. "I want to hear your innovative ideas to move SMSU forward. I want to hear what your concerns are, what excites you about SMSU -- those are things I'd like to hear from you. And then I will plan ahead with all of you."
The incoming and outgoing presidents are also family-oriented. After finishing out the 2018-19 school year -- officially on June 30 -- Gores is looking forward to spending more time as a grandma. After moving closer to them, Gores intends to make more memories with her two grandchildren and daughters, who live on the East Coast.
Jayasuriya's presidency will begin July 1. He plans to move to Marshall this summer. He has been married to Salmini, who he calls the love of his life, for 30 years. The couple has three sons: Daniel, 25, Dylan, 21, and Devon, 13.
"My two oldest sons are going to stay in West Virginia," Jayasuriya said. "My oldest son attends medical school at Marshall University, ironically. He's going to be a medical doctor. My second son is going to graduate in December from the school where I work right now. So he's going to stay there and finish his last semester and then he's planning to go to Marshall University as well, into the medical school."
The 10th president said he's not sure if he'll move his youngest son to the area this summer or the following year.
"He's in seventh grade, so I have two choices: move him now to the eighth grade (here) or wait till he goes to high school, so then everybody's new," Jayasuriya said. "I have moved him three times, so I need to think about doing what's best for him."
Jayasuriya showed his humorous side by sharing that it might take bribery to assure his youngest son moves more willingly.
"When I came here for an interview, (Devon) told my wife he wishes he didn't have to move again, so that broke my heart," he said. "But then he changed. He said, 'You get me a gaming room, with a TV and computer and we can talk.'"
After being named as president, Jayasuriya said congratulatory support came pouring in.
"My phone lit up like a Christmas tree," he said. "There was a lot, but there was one message that caught my eye. This message said that, 'Today, the average height of the presidents in Minnesota went down by an inch. (Obviously) I have weird friends."
While Byrnes has high hopes for the new president, he acknowledges that Jayasuriya has big shoes to fill. Gores took community involvement and engagement to a new level. Due to her seemingly endless amount of energy, Gores has often been referred to as SMSU's Energizer Bunny.
"Connie is a person who made an immediate impact in her role as president," Byrnes said. "She was engaged in the community and a great partner in many, many things. A lot of things are tough to do individually, as a city or university, but Connie was one that really fostered partnerships and valued partnerships. I'm hopeful for the future, but also realize that we'll really miss Connie's leadership."
There will certainly be challenges ahead for SMSU and for Jayasuriya as its future leader, but by working together with the incredible amount of supporters that showed up in large numbers this past week, Jayasuriya looks to be a key ingredient to SMSU's future success.
"He recognizes the importance of the job, the importance of engaging with the community, but he also recognizes the challenges, not only at SMSU but all of higher education in terms of student recruitment, student retention and higher education funding," Byrnes said.
SMSU is the youngest of the seven universities in the Minnesota State system, having been founded in 1963 and opened in 1967. The four-year public university serves approximately 7,000 students in both undergraduate and graduate programs through on-campus, remote site and online delivery.