07-31-2022 EDU - Flipbook - Page 6
6 The Baltimore Sun | Sunday, July 31, 2022
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT
Pictured, from left, are three of Salisbury University’s leaders: President Emerita Dr. Janet Dudley-Eshbach, who led SU from 2000-2018; Incoming President Dr. Carolyn Ringer Lepre; and Outgoing President Dr. Charles Wight,
who has led SU since 2018.
Salisbury University welcomes next president
W
hen the University System of
Maryland (USM) Board of
Regents conducted its national
search for Salisbury University’s
10th President, USM Chancellor
Jay A. Perman and committee
members at the state, local and University levels
sought a dynamic leader who could continue SU’s
nearly century-long tradition of excellence and
lead the University into its 100th anniversary in
2025.
They found that and more in Dr. Carolyn
“Lyn” Ringer Lepre. Her career in higher education spans more than two decades, including
faculty positions at California State University,
Chico; the University of Tennessee, Knoxville;
and Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York,
where she ultimately became dean of the School
of Communication and the Arts in 2016.
She comes to SU with proven leadership experience, having served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Radford University,
Virginia, from 2020-2021 and interim president
from 2021-22. Throughout her higher education
career, she has demonstrated a strong commitment to student success, distinctive academic programs, opportunities for first-generation students,
on-time degree completion, experiential learning
and mutually beneficial collaborations.
In addition to her academic work, Lepre has
extensive professional experience in the communication industry, having worked for various national publications and media outlets. Her
research has focused on media representation of
gender diversity, health communication and mass
communication education.
At SU, she will build upon the legacy of her
predecessor, Dr. Charles Wight. Serving as SU’s
president from 2018-2022, Wight helped students
and others make tomorrow theirs by focusing on
priorities including ensuring educational accessibility and affordability, building on SU’s culture of
diversity and inclusion, being a steward of financial resources and the environment, and furthering mutually positive community relationships, all
with the ultimate goal of providing students with
the greatest opportunities for success.
Under his leadership, SU opened the Dave and
Patsy Rommel Center for Entrepreneurship at SU
Downtown and an enhanced 3-D arts studio. In
2020, SU announced the endowment of its Glenda
Chatham and Robert G. Clarke Honors College,
providing expanded opportunities for highachieving students. The University’s College of
New leadership
for tomorrow
Empowering students to excel as
scholars, citizens and practitioners and
instilling a passion for lifelong learning
is an incredible responsibility and
privilege. Dr. Carolyn Ringer Lepre
is up to the challenge.
“I am thrilled to join such a prestigious,
student-centered and forward-thinking
university,” said Dr. Lepre, who was
appointed the 10th President of
Salisbury University.
Her vision for student success will
help shape the SU of tomorrow.
Make Tomorrow Yours
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Go to salisbury.edu/visit
Salisbury University is an equal educational and employment opportunity institution.
Health and Human Services, announced in early
2018, and its Center for Healthy Communities
also were launched during Wight’s tenure.
Since Wight took the helm as SU’s president,
students also have earned national and international academic honors. The University was one
of only five recognized by the U.S. Department
of State among the nation’s top producers of both
Fulbright Students and Scholars for 2021. This year,
SU celebrated a record nine Fulbright Students.
Another major initiative has been “We Are
SU: The Campaign for Salisbury University,” a $75
million fundraising effort representing the largest in campus history. He and his wife, Victoria
Rasmussen, have provided support for SU in
the way of gifts and endowments, including the
$40,000 Dorothy Ruxton Student Chemistry
Research Fund, named in honor of Wight’s mother. Wight will continue to teach in the Chemistry
Department this fall.
In addition to these successes, Wight also has
led the University through several challenges,
including incidences of racial injustice both on
and off campus. He worked to make the campus
more welcoming for all by establishing the SU
Center for Equity, Justice and Inclusion (now
named in his honor), reinstating the University’s
Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and commissioning a campus climate study.
Wight also guided the University through
modified operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. SU has been recognized as a leader in the
USM throughout the pandemic, implementing
safety protocols that allowed the University to
offer on-campus housing and classes with face-toface components in fall 2020, while many other
institutions did not. During that time, SU’s students, faculty and staff also provided assistance to
the surrounding community, from donating food
to area shelters to providing (and, in some cases,
even constructing) personal protective equipment
to combat shortages at area hospitals.
Though SU, like most other universities in
the nation, saw decreased enrollment during the
heart of the pandemic, those numbers are turning
around. This fall, SU is on track to welcome its
largest class of first-year students ever — meaning
Lepre will be far from the only new face on campus.
Those interested in becoming part of this
year’s historic class — or attempting to beat that
record in future years — may visit www.salisbury.
edu/admissions for application information and
details on how SU can help shape their tomorrows.