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Chuck Schroeder answers opportunity’s call in return to Lincoln

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Chuck Schroeder

Chuck Schroeder has made Lincoln his home – three times – while answering opportunity’s call in other cities and states. 

PHOTO BY RANDY BRETZ

BY RANDY BRETZ FOR L MAGAZINE

Strong, vital rural communities with strong leadership and big dreams are essential not only to the future of Nebraska, but to the U.S. and to countries around the world. Watch and listen as Chuck Schroeder, executive director of the NU Rural Futures Institute, explains the purpose and audacious goals of the RFI, then read the story written by Educational Media’s Dan Moser.

The guy has made Lincoln his home three times, and finally, the third time was a charm. He’s settled in.

As you get to know Chuck Schroeder, I call him “Cowboy,” you’ll discover he’s learned to answer when opportunity calls. Cowboy first came to Lincoln from a ranch near Palisade, Nebraska. He answered the call to study animal science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, discovered his bride (they’d known each other since high school but began dating in college) and headed back to the ranch.

Institute aims to help Nebraska rural communities

Then, about 10 years later came a call from then Gov. Bob Kerrey, inviting him to return to Lincoln as assistant director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. From there, he hopped back over to UNL, serving as executive vice president of the University of Nebraska Foundation. But eventually another call came, and he and his family headed to Colorado, where he helped found the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

“I helped put the association together, and spent about seven years really growing the organization,” noted Schroeder. “But I never intended that to be my career.”

The NCBA was a merger of several groups in the beef industry, and Cowboy was just the person to herd them together and point them in a common direction. All the while this was happening, he was still dabbling in his interest in art. Chuck’s wife Kathi knew of his love of art and encouraged him to participate in a program in New Mexico. Stick with me here, we haven’t gotten him back to Lincoln the third time.

“So, there I am in Colorado, feeling pretty good about what I’d accomplished with the NCBA, developing my artistic interests, trying to figure out just what to do next,” Chuck said. “I called my friend Bob Kerrey and arranged to visit with him to sort out my future.”

Conference participants pitch ideas to improve rural places

By now, you’re thinking, Chuck’s headed back to Nebraska. Nope, this is where you’ll think this is made up. Schroeder was sitting at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, headed to New York to meet with Kerrey, when he answered a call from someone who had been hired to find a new head of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. (Go back and read that sentence again.) That fateful call resulted in a hastily arranged meeting in New York, and ultimately an offer to head the museum.

This story about Schroeder is more like a ping pong ball bouncing around than a boomerang. But rest assured, he does return to Lincoln after spending about a decade in Oklahoma.

“I was busy running the museum in Oklahoma when I was approached by Ronnie Green (then vice chancellor for the Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources and vice president of the University of Nebraska) and J.B. Milliken (then president of the University of Nebraska). They invited me to return to Lincoln as head of the University’s Rural Futures Institute.”

So, in 2014, Cowboy saddled his horse, grabbed Kathi and rode back to Nebraska for the third time. It helped that their daughter, Dr. Lindsay Hastings, and her family were here.

Former state official to lead NU rural institute

The work with RFI was rewarding.

“It was a pleasant surprise, as I started visiting rural communities, working with progressive community leaders,” Schroeder said. “There was hardly a community where I went that I didn’t know somebody.”

If you haven’t figured by now, one of Chuck’s great strengths is connecting with people. “It was great fun working with those men and women, working with people who wanted Nebraska to be the epicenter of dynamic rural community development work.”

Answering all these calls to pursue a wide variety of opportunities wouldn’t surprise you if you’d known Chuck from childhood. He’s been answering calls to meet a myriad of challenges since grade school.

“I still have a note one of my teachers sent home to my parents,” he quipped. “It said, ‘He could be anything he wants. Trouble is, he’ll struggle to figure out what that is.’”

It was about this point in the interview when I said I’d change his nickname from Cowboy to Chameleon.

Schroeder, who has made Lincoln home three times, has answered a number of calls, and along the way he’s enjoyed a wealth of experiences. These have included visiting multiple states as a 4-H participant, benefiting from the friendly culture of Nebraska, and as we closed the interview he pointed out, “There is a certain courtesy among Nebraskans that we appreciate that ought to be emulated elsewhere. I do love it.”

And responding to our query about what to say to people who have received a call to return to Lincoln and Nebraska, he replied: “You’re likely to see what you’re looking for. When it comes to Nebraska, if you’re looking for a dynamic, entrepreneurial community, a place where your children can grow up in the midst of people demonstrating strong values, if you want a place where you can make a positive impact on the environment by your daily choices, if your ambition is to be a change maker in a community where you raise your children, then come to Nebraska.”

Oh, and yet another call that Chuck the chameleon has answered — in retirement he’s an active artist working in a variety of media. Yep, it’s a good thing Kathi encouraged that talent years ago. He’s doing commission work creating portraits in oil, exploring Nebraska history by doing paintings of old barns and farmsteads in watercolor, capturing exciting moments of rodeo activities in charcoal, and generally developing and enjoying those artistic abilities he’s had all along.

Photos, video: New life on Nebraska farms, ranches

Foal

Foal

Cortney Martin, courtesy photo

Watch now: Newborn calf stands up for the first time

Lambs

Lambs

Lambs born in February 2021.

Courtesy photo

Quest, stud colt

Quest, stud colt

Quest was born in February 2021.

Courtesy photo

Baby bison

Baby bison

Custer State Park bison calf.

Custer State Park

Calf

Calf

This calf was born outside between storms. Sandhills rancher Terry Licking said if she hadn’t been there, he would have died. His mom, a first-calf heifer, had not gotten up to remove the sack covering his nose. He would have suffocated if Licking hadn’t pulled it off. “Between my husband and myself, we have saved a total of four like this.”

Terri Licking, courtesy photo

Calving

Calving

Getting babies here is the first hurdle and keeping them alive is the next. Terry Licking and her husband check first-time moms diligently because scours can take a real toll.

Terri Licking, courtesy photo

Baby lambs

Baby lambs

Baby lambs while social distancing: Halle and Adelyn Heiss and Maddie Peterson

Courtesy photo

Calf

Calf

Courtesy photo

Near Beaver Crossing

Near Beaver Crossing

Courtesy photo

Angus calf

Angus calf

Courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf.

Kassie Moline, Courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf at Froggy Bottom Farms.

Shannon Jochum Nielsen, Courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf.

Ella Hanzlicek, courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf at Froggy Bottom Farms.

Shannon Jochum Nielsen, Courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf.

Hannah Peterson, Courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf near Beaver Crossing.

Jill Eberspacher, Courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf near Beaver Crossing.

Jill Eberspacher, Courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf near Beaver Crossing.

Jill Eberspacher, Courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf

Alisa Pesek, Courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf

Kerns farm, courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf

Janet Schwager, Courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf

Rhonda McClure, courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf

Kerns farm, courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf

Kerns farm, courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf

Rhonda McClure, Courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf

Rebecca Johnson, Courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf

Dave Behle, Courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf

McKenzie Barry, Courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf

Ronald Robinson, Courtesy photo

Calf

Calf

Calf

Ella Hanzlicek, courtesy photo

Calves

Calves

KAREN STRONG, courtesy photo

New life

New life

Heidi Treptow, courtesy photo

New life

New life

Heidi Treptow

New life

New life

Heidi Treptow, courtesy photo

Calving

Calving

New calf

SHANA GLOVER, courtesy photo

Calving

Calving

New calf

Eric Wellensiek, courtesy photo

New calf

New calf

New calf near Ord

Robyn Koelling, courtesy photo

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