A statue’s journey of self-discovery

Published 2:40 pm Monday, July 22, 2013

Many go off to college and then embark on a journey to find themselves. Perhaps that’s what happened to Dr. Harry Jenkins (the statue). Missing for 18 years from the campus of Tyler Junior College, the 300-pound image has now returned.

Let us hope he will now be a little more unbending in his devotion to his duties at the school.

Oh, it’s not an uncommon phenomenon. Parents and professors see it all the time; they hope a student’s “voyage of self-discovery” doesn’t last too long or end up wrecked on beach somewhere (though that does happen).

It’s just that Jenkins (the statue) took the whole thing further than most. He certainly had the brass to do so. He went missing on April 16, 1995. Looking at the date, we can speculate that perhaps the pressures of finals were weighing on him heavily.

Before anyone knew it, Jenkins (the statue) was gone. We can speculate on the nature of his road trip — he’s certainly not talking about it now — but that’s all it is, speculation. We know it was heavy. We feel he probably sought to test his mettle. Who doesn’t, in their college years?

We do have some reports that Jenkins (the statue) was the life of the party at many, many parties.

The evidence comes from the kind-hearted Bernardo “Berny” Trevino, who found Jenkins (the statue) crashing in an Austin apartment in 2002. With a consideration not shown by Jenkins (the statue)’s old crowd, Berny took him in and cleaned him up. Berny gave him a place to call home, even a place of honor.

“For the first couple (of) years, we had him on our patio and we’d decorate him for Halloween and for Christmas,” Berny explained. “He wore a Santa outfit and stuff like that. And we had a luau, he wore a lei. He was the quiet guy in the corner, and he kept peace.”

It was fun while it lasted, but let’s face it — no one wants a refugee from college crashing at their place, rent-free, for too long. Berny and his (paying) roommate felt it was time to send Jenkins (the statue) home. After a little Google-assisted detective work, Berny learned that Jenkins (the statue) was unexcusedly absent from Tyler Junior College.

On Thursday, Jenkins (the statue) was finally back on campus, where he’s supposed to be.

Of course, Dr. Harry Jenkins (the administrator) was quite a different person. He wasn’t quite as flexible as his namesake statue, by all accounts. He was a firm hand, students said.

It’s time for Jenkins (the statue) to put aside his youthful ways, and become a rock-solid fixture at TJC.