We need to read the signs of the times but do so through the lens of being a residential liberal arts college.” “We can’t become a college for people who design widgets, as the colloquial expression goes. “We’re all aware of the demographic and financial headwinds that are facing all colleges today, and particularly small, private liberal arts colleges,” Annarelli said. While social distancing was “an absolute necessity,” he said, the separation “undercut what is so very distinctive about Eckerd College and other small residential colleges.”Įckerd College president James Annarelli greets students on campus. While Eckerd’s enrollment has remained stable at just under 2,000 students, Annarelli said the school and others like it felt the pandemic’s impact more acutely, as they rely on a sense of community. But as a private institution, Eckerd has so far been insulated from the political currents that led to a tumultuous state takeover of New College earlier this spring. Other small liberal arts schools, including publicly funded New College of Florida in Sarasota, are facing a similar reckoning. “How do we maintain our mission and focus, yet adapt that mission to changing needs in society and among our students?” “The question while I’m president that I want to lead the community in addressing is, what does a residential liberal arts college like Eckerd look like moving further into the 21st century?” he said. This is a place and community we really care about.”Īnnarelli said he sees the president’s role as a vocation and his most pressing task as propelling Eckerd into the future. “Most of us are here because there’s a set of values that are really important to us - values and a vision of the world. “He’s part of the community and knows Eckerd deeply,” Garcia said. It’s that leadership from the heart.”Ĭhristyna Reagan, president of Eckerd’s Organization of Students, said she didn’t think students would be as excited about the president’s selection as they were when Annarelli was named. “He always puts the college’s interest first and community interest first. “We already had the right person for the job,” said Blanca Garcia, assistant director of inclusive excellence at Eckerd. Eckerd students who graduated in the early 2000s came to be like older siblings and still keep in touch. His own two children, now 31 and 27, grew up on the campus, he said, and were often toted along to weekend events. He worked closely with students on various initiatives - from Eckerd’s famed pet graduation, started in 2013, to the more recent Eckerd Together Forum, started in 2021 to unite the campus after a string of troubling social media posts and protests. Īnnarelli, 68, has been at Eckerd for more than three decades, serving 21 years as dean for students along with a variety of other administrative positions. Eckerd College president James Annarelli stops to pet a dog while walking through the campus in St.
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