Not everybody has heard of 133 year-old Philander Smith College, with its student body of less than 700, located in Little Rock, Arkansas, in the shadow of the State Capitol where Bill Clinton first made his name as a young governor. But that low profile may soon be a thing of the past.  And Bill Clinton may soon have a competitor for the title of best-known young leader to emerge from the state.

This week's issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, the prestigious publication that focuses on U.S. colleges and universities, has a wonderful cover story about Philander Smith's dynamic and youthful president, Dr. Walter Kimbrough.  The article may not boost Philander Smith's name recognition to the level of a Morehouse or a Spelman College, but it certainly is creating a buzz about this small college and the leader who for six years has been transforming it.

A new-generation president with new-media savvy, Walter Kimbrough regularly blogs in national publications like the New York Times, gives his cell-phone number and email address to prospective students and their families, has over 1600 Facebook friends, and tweets @HipHopPrez on Twitter. 

Although he dresses soberly in dark suits, speaks standard English, enunciates clearly and, to my certain knowledge, never uses profanity and always respects women, Walter Kimbrough consistently "keeps it real." to quote his colleague Julianne Malveaux, president of Bennett College for Women (like Philander Smith, one of the 39 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that are members of UNCF).  And his knowledge of black popular culture, along with his embrace of young people where they are, could prove just the new style of presidential leadership that Philander Smith and other colleges like it need to attract and retain more of the students who will be considering college now and in the future.

When Dr. Kimbrough became president of Philander Smith in 2004, he was just 37 years old.  Over the last six years, he has strategically leveraged his youth and his ability to connect with students in order to drive the transformation of this once-struggling historically black college.  Today, Philander Smith is a college on the move, attracting national attention, as leaders in higher education watch with interest all that he is doing to achieve the college's bold new mission:  "To graduate academically accomplished students, grounded as advocates for social justice, determined to change the world for the better."

Is Walter Kimbrough succeeding? Consider these facts:

* An $11 million dollar debt to the federal government was negotiated down to $3 million and is being paid off.

* The freshman class has doubled in size at the same time that the college is attracting students who are academically better prepared.

* The graduating class increased this year by 30%.

* Year-over-year retention of students has gone from well below 50% to over 70%.

What accounts for these changes?  Is it all because President Kimbrough is young and knows more about Tupac than about the Temptations?

I don't think so.

Yes, Walter Kimbrough is younger and, no doubt, hipper.  But his real secret is that he is passionate about his work and deeply engaged in it--a prescription for success that is as old as it is universal, though not often enough followed.

Walter Kimbrough lives out his job in ways we've too often forgotten in this "me and mine" world in which we live.  For example, he has refused to take pay increases, instead using the dollars to fund student scholarships.  The son of a Methodist minister, he and his attorney-wife Adria and their two children attend worship services at the college chapel, and they tithe to the campus ministry.

To my mind, Walter Kimbrough has brought a fresh and refreshing commitment to his presidency--pursuing it in a manner akin to the pastoral role of his minister father.

But make no mistake; he has also brought a businessman's attention to marketing and customer service.  He is telling the story of Philander Smith across the country through new media like Facebook and Twitter, but he is also traveling to conferences and symposia to speak personally and passionately of his work before every audience that he can find.  Most important, he is going to high schools in Little Rock, throughout Arkansas and all over the country to recruit the kinds of students he believes will be the foundation of the new Philander Smith.

He wants students who are academically better prepared and who want the small nurturing environment that I have seen and felt when I have visited the college's campus.  But he hasn't lost sight of Philander Smith's--and for that matter HBCUs'-- long tradition of attracting low- and moderate-income students for whom a private college is so often out of their financial reach.  Seventy-five per cent of Philander Smith's students are eligible for Pell Grants and their median family income is a modest $39,000 per year.  The Kimbrough administration is doing more for them with less, charging a modest $17,000 for tuition, room and board.

One of Walter Kimbrough's aspirations is to have Philander Smith receive a transformational gift during his tenure at the college--a gift like the $20 million donation Bill and Camille Cosby gave to Spelman three decades ago, thus propelling it into the top ranks of American liberal arts colleges.

I don't know if Walter Kimbrough will get such a gift, but I believe he and Philander Smith deserve one and would use it wisely.  This young president is not only reviving and reinventing his college.  He is showing all of American higher education what real leadership can accomplish.  And he is reminding the naysayers who dismiss HBCUs as relics of the past, that all of our colleges can and should thrive.  All they need is strong leadership and the willing support that such leadership can attract.

I am nearly twenty years older than Walter Kimbrough, and I don't know much about the music that young people listen to today.  But I know real leadership talent when I see it.  And Walter Kimbrough is the kind of leader who not only makes a difference but shows others how to make a difference as well. Philander Smith College and all of us in education are lucky to have Walter Kimbrough as our Hip-Hop Prez.