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White grounded in liberal arts as DePauw’s new president
Less than a day after the announcement came that she had been appointed as DePauw University’s new president, it is safe to say Lori White understood the momentousness of the occasion.
She came into the excitement focused on getting to know the campus and its people better, to figure out more what makes DePauw tick. She, perhaps appropriately, started early by ringing the Monon Bell, and did it with a bright smile.
White was officially introduced to the wider DePauw community as the university’s 21st president during an afternoon reception held Wednesday in the Green Center for the Performing Arts.
Justin Christian, who chaired the presidential search committee, and Kathy Vrabek, who presides over DePauw’s board of trustees, first offered remarks on the eight-month process that saw interest from academia and business.
Both shared that faculty, students and administration were looking for a strong leader who would be student-forward, valued open dialogue and was passionate about the experience of a liberal arts education. The stakeholders found these qualities in White’s experience as an educator.
White currently serves as the vice chancellor for student affairs at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., and will soon succeed Mark McCoy, DePauw’s president since July of 2016.
She will be the first woman, as well as the first person of color, to serve as president of DePauw. Set to assume her duties on July 1, White will also be the only African-American woman leading a university in Indiana, and one of few in the nation to do so.
The Banner Graphic sat down with White during the reception, in which she spoke about what has attracted her to DePauw, as well as the goals of the liberal arts from her perspective.
“What struck me about DePauw was really seeing it through the eyes of our students,” she began, “and how they describe their transformational educational experience.”
She referenced her interactions with a student who is combining Japanese and computer science majors, as well as another who is a music major with an “absolutely fabulous” voice.
The thread was how they have the opportunity to take their education to the fullest.
“It’s just being able to see the ways in which students who study at DePauw are able to take full advantage of our outstanding faculty,” she said, “of all the opportunities that we have to offer to be not only successful while they’re here as students, but will take that off into the world and live their hopes and dreams.”
White suggested that while it is essential for them to utilize what they have learned in various ways, she believes a liberal arts education in general offers a practicability that prepares students for different challenges.
“I want to think about a liberal arts education in two ways,” White said. “One is the impact while you’re a student, and then the impact of a liberal arts education once you’re graduated from places like DePauw.”
She highlighted institutional factors such as being residential, having a “100-percent” focus on students, providing opportunities for a variety of experiences and the mentorship of faculty and staff as crucial elements to student success.
“When employers tell us they need our graduates who are outstanding communicators, who have the ability to problem-solve, who have the ability to work in diverse groups, who have the ability to ask critical questions and the ability to engage in deep research,” White said, “those are all of the things that you get from a liberal arts education, regardless of your major.
“My opinion is that liberal arts graduates are the best-poised to be successful in a job market that we know is changing every single minute,” she added.
Though looking to further establish connections and encourage dialogue with faculty, administration and trustees on campus, White says she is committed at the outset to making a DePauw education accessible to a diversity of potential students.
“Certainly a high priority for me is going to make sure that we have the financial resources,” she provided. “That we can offer scholarships and financial aid to any student who wants to come to DePauw, so they can decide to come regardless of their financial circumstances.”
Asked ultimately what she values most in a liberal arts setting as an educator and an administrator, she pointed back to the DePauw community working together as a whole to ensure the success of its students.
“What I value most is that we are singularly focused on making sure that every student who comes to DePauw is going to be successful,” she concluded.
“Everybody in the community, from faculty to staff, to our custodians to our groundskeepers, really fulfills that spirit and that mission.”