Beasley: The leadership model that Jim Leventis left us

During a somewhat contentious Richland District 1 school board meeting in the 1980s, there was discussion about closing two high schools. Public comments reflected the concern that these closures could create further inequity among the district’s schools. Jim Leventis, a member of the school board at the time, had been quietly and attentively listening to the discussion. When it appeared that the discourse was winding down, Jim spoke. I will never forget what he said.

He began by saying that he would like to share one of his favorite quotes, from a former president. He then began to recite perfectly something that Teddy Roosevelt had said decades earlier: “This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.” Then he said the school district must be a place where all students have equal and abundant opportunities to learn, “a good place for all students to study and learn.”

Jim Leventis’ graceful words quieted the crowd and ended the meeting on a thoughtful note. This sort of gentle, strong and wise leadership was Jim’s trademark of service to our community. Columbia was the most fortunate of cities to have a native son who contributed so much, for so many years, in such diverse and significant ways. From service on the Richland County Council, the school board and numerous commissions and panels to leadership in Columbia’s business community to diligent work in smaller arenas, Jim displayed insight, intelligence, patience and, above all, grace.

But as the poet Longfellow tells us, “the life of a wise man consists first in active and willing service to his family.” Once when speaking to a group of visiting Russian students at A.C. Flora High School, Jim provided an example of the true American dream as he spoke with great pride about his parents who had come to Columbia from Greece and created happy, successful lives here. He spoke of his father’s steadfast influence on him to embody a strong work ethic and to serve this community that had provided such a warm home for the family.

Jim’s pride in his own wife and children was abundant; I had the privilege of teaching Jim and Laura’s two oldest children in high school, and it was easy to see the qualities of leadership and responsibility, and the spirit of loving life, that had been passed along to them. James, the oldest son, is an assistant U.S. attorney here in Columbia, and Laura, the oldest daughter, has enjoyed service in the diplomatic corps, serving the State Department in U.S. embassies around the world. Mirroring her father’s business acumen, she helped to create one of the first American chambers of commerce in a former Soviet republic.

Today in South Carolina we are hungry for the kind of leadership and service that Jim Leventis gave so unselfishly to our city and state. With the crucial decision coming up in the next legislative session about how to achieve educational equality in our state’s poorest school districts, Jim’s voice and wisdom would provide insight, integrity and compassion. As our state struggles to deal with infrastructure challenges, further exacerbated by this fall’s flooding disaster, Jim’s business acumen and ability to seek compromise would help facilitate potential plans and solutions. Most of all, we need the sort of calm, focused, informed and fair perspective that Jim Leventis brought to many challenges our city and state have faced.

A fellow South Carolinian, Marian Wright Edelman, the founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, our nation’s largest child welfare advocacy organization, once described the importance of public service by saying that “Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time.”

Jim Leventis, who died this week at age 77, personified this definition of service as perfectly as anyone could: He gave us his wisdom, his leadership and his service to his community all of his life.

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 11:03 AM.