Hampden-Sydney’s Reggie Love
by: Conor Sanders ‘11Former student body president sits down to tell The Tiger all about being President Howard’s go-to guy
After a little more than six months on the job as Special Assistant to the President, Drew Prehmus ’08 is still enthralled and excited to be helping President Howard further the mission of Hampden-Sydney College. The former student body president and four-year basketball starter recently took time to sit down to reflect about his time since coming back to The Hill.
TIGER: A little over six months on the job–is it what you thought it would be?
DP: When Dr. Howard asked me to work, I asked him what it would be like. Dr. Howard said that he was going to work my butt off, and he has. The diverse responsibilities and involvement in a range of activities has been exciting and working for Dr. Howard has been awesome.
TIGER: What is the best thing about the job?
DP: Being able to observe how Dr. Howard executes efficiently, manages an organization, and develops real relationships with people.
TIGER: What has been the most challenging part of this job?
DP: Working outside of my comfort zone. It seems like at least twice a week, I have to go out of my comfort zone in order to get something done. While this may not be easy, it is a great long-term skill for me to develop.
TIGER: What are your main duties as Special Assistant and what have you been tasked with doing?
DP: First, I work to make Dr. Howard’s life as easy as possible so that he can focus on running Hampden-Sydney College. Second, I strive to work with others to improve Hampden-Sydney wherever I can in order to further the mission of the College. For example, last fall we organized the Tiger Walk—
which went so well that we hope to make it an annual event. I enjoy working to ramp up school spirit in order to get students excited and build the community atmosphere on campus.
TIGER: What is it like working for someone of Dr. Howard’s status–Rhodes Scholar, Harvard MBA, distinguished military career?
DP: Dr. Howard truly does have an incredible resume, and the people who he speaks with on the phone each day are mind bending. But I have been most impressed that Dr. Howard is very personable and connects remarkably well with people from all walks of life in a quick and meaningful way.
TIGER: What do you miss most about being a student here at Hampden-Sydney?
DP: The camaraderie and hanging out with the other men.
TIGER: What is an average day like on the job?
DP: Dr. Howard works out around 6:45 at Tiger Rec so I normally start my day there and am in the office by 8. Normally, I check my list of both long and short term projects that need to be done. The job primarily consists of me researching, handling correspondence, writing letters, and talking to people, and doing whatever needs to be done to keep Dr. Howard functioning at peak capacity. If Dr. Howard is traveling, normally I will drive. He will have a Blackberry in one hand and a folder of materials to review in the other. Once both have been caught up on, it is a great time for some mentoring and just talking. At alumni functions, my main job is to be sure Dr. Howard speaks to everyone and that is great because I also get to meet a number of really interesting people.
TIGER: Dr. Howard is big fan of great quotes. What is one of your favorite quotes?
DP: “Go ‘til someone stops you.”
TIGER: What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?
DP: Working for Dr. Howard provides me with great exposure to all the opportunities that are out there in the world. I don’t have any definite plans, but ten years from now I would like to have gone to graduate school and worked abroad in either Europe or South America. But so far I can’t give anything too definite–I am the type of person who hesitates to make decisions until I know that I truly want to do something.
TIGER: You are in charge of the Hampden-Sydney Facebook page–how is everything going with that?
DP: We have 50% more fans than any other school in the ODAC and the main goal is to get every Hampden-Sydney student to be a fan. I am eager to hear any suggestions anyone has to help me make the page a place for community interaction.
TIGER: You were recently a guest columnist in the Richmond Times Dispatch with a piece titled “Young Men in Crisis.” What do you believe Hampden-Sydney is doing to better the position of young men going forward?
DP: Hampden-Sydney recognizes men as individuals. Young men are able to get our particular brand of individual attention in small classes and by living in our close–knit community.
TIGER: Tell me something that most students would not know about Dr. Howard?
DP: They say that General Sam is the most interesting man in the world, and I will not dispute that. But Dr. Howard is a machine, much like Chuck Norris. For example, he doesn’t sleep at night—he waits. Also, when he thinks through a problem, he always asks: “What would the Greeks do?” And then “What would GE do?”
TIGER: You have been compared to Reggie Love, the Duke basketball player who is now President Obama’
s body man in the White House. Do you think that fits your description?
DP: Sure, that is an interesting comparison, Reggie Love is in a similar position to the one I currently occupy, and I don’t mind be compared to the 38th most powerful person in Washington according to GQ Magazine. But I may have been a more athletic basketball player. He was pure finesse, and I was all about bruising people.
Prehmus is off to a great start working for Dr. Howard, and the College community is looking forward to what their team has in store for us going forward.
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