Salute: Grace and Good Humor Jim Farrar '74 reflects on the life of Farris Hotchkiss '58, former vice president of university relations and secretary of the university.

By Sara Butler
December 5, 2023

Farris was a kind and thoughtful man, interested in others, unfailingly polite, and utterly devoted to his family, church, university and community.

~ Jim Farrar ’74, former secretary of the university and senior advisor to the president

Straight out of central casting, Farris Hotchkiss ’58 arrived on W&L’s doorstep in 1966. He was an early example of something President Robert E. R. Huntley ’50, ’57L called “The Guardian Angel Theory of History.” When circumstances required, a guardian angel delivered to the university’s doorstep that which wasrequired to carry the institution to new heights. Farris remains one of the best examples.

President Huntley got it right when, in 1968, he named Farris director of development. Farris barely had time to find his office before he was faced with a fundraiser’s most daunting challenge: raising a lot of money — in a short period of time — from a constituency that did not have a good understanding of institutional need. Circumstances were dire; W&L periodically had to take out loans to pay salaries until it deposited tuition revenue.

From that challenging start in 1968 to his retirement in December 2001, Farris and his team steadily managed the growth of what would become a nationally known, award-winning advancement program that other institutions admired and sought to emulate. Farris was its heartbeat.

His personal values and W&L’s institutional values of honor, civility, scholarship and community aligned perfectly, and he immediately became one of the chief transmitters of those values. I attribute much of Farris’ success to his character, personality, and the way he led his life. He was a kind and thoughtful man, interested in others, unfailingly polite, and utterly devoted to his family, church, university and community. Farris modeled a life of service and commitment with grace, good humor and a twinkle in his eye.

My wife, Kitty, and I are forever grateful that Farris (and Dick Sessoms) hired me in 1986. I admired his style and always felt that life slowed down a bit when I spent time with him. I came away from our meetings and conversations inspired and determined to be a better person.

Farris Hotchkiss ’58, former vice president of university relations and secretary of the university, died on June 21, 2023. Read his obituary here. His friend and colleague Jim Farrar ’74, former secretary of the university and senior advisor to the president, retired in 2021 after 35 years.