You just never know where Dr. James Beggs of GCU’s College of Arts and Sciences will turn up.
Could be YouTube, sporting a sideways baseball cap and spouting his latest original rap tune. Could be atop a cherry picker, snapping bird’s-eye photos of the Arena construction. Could be behind the wheel of a backhoe, as it was on Thursday.
The incomparable Dr. B, who can talk his way into just about anything, had a chance to take part in the teardown of the old Event Services building (Building 8), which was being leveled to make way for a new Arts and Sciences building.
The photo op was too good for us to pass up, and we asked our Demolition Man if there’s a larger truth to the wrecking-ball life.
“Of course, I have something philosophical to say about everything, including demolition,” Beggs says. “Demolition brings out the ‘tool person’ in all of us. And that (backhoe) was like my favorite power tool on steroids.
“But it really symbolizes the vision GCU continues to embody for our neighborhood, our community and our world. There is nothing so powerful as an idea, and we are in the business of giving people ideas that can change their lives and their world.
“You gotta love being a part of making that happen — even the demolition part.”
