"I am too, and I'm proud of you," Tate stood and offered a hand across the desk for Ethan to shake. Part of him wondered if the man would take it, but he HOPED he would. "I think Lafay is a proud woman, proud of her accomplishments and her big old brain, but she isn't a bad woman. I always thought she had it in her to be a really good professor someday, although I resent the governors telling me my business."

He glanced at Miranda as well. "I know the inclination may be to make this about us and what we're losing, but I hope you will continue as you always have. No... I'm sure you will. Continue to support the students above all other things."