20 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • AUGUST 2021
LI'S NEW CLASS OF COLLEGE PRESIDENTS
“You’ve graduated under unmatched
circumstances, showing grace, determination
and resilience in the face of
adversity,” McInnis told Stony Brook’s
Class of 2021 graduates from 66 nations
and 36 states, ranging from age 19 to 69,
at their recent graduation.
These presidents, typically leading a
school for the first time, also needed to face
adversity and adapt as education underwent
changes equivalent to an earthquake.
Commencements, dubbed “carmmencements,”
with students riding in cars not to
but during graduation, caught on. Teachers
and students went from classrooms to
Zoom or Zoom-like rooms.
While students go to school to learn, educational
institutions found themselves
training educators to shift online and go
from bricks to clicks. New presidents
led a new imagining of education.
“We trained teachers. Students are
staying engaged,” Sams said. “We have
not experienced a mass exodus of students.
Our enrollment numbers stayed
strong.”
Enrollment often slipped due to gap
years amid the pandemic, but is often
recovering amid reopening, a relief to
many presidents.
Stony Brook University recently conferred
more than 7,700 degrees, including
the largest number of bachelor’s
degrees it has awarded in a year. And
the school is not alone in seeing robust
numbers.
Molloy has about 4,800 students enrolled
and more are enrolling. And
Adelphi University, which Christine
Riordan has led for seven years, anticipates
its biggest class of first-year
students.
Although these leaders often have
different backgrounds, the position of
provost proved the most common path
to the presidency – often from schools
around the nation.
Maurie McInnis served as executive
vice president and provost at the University
of Texas at Austin since 2016
after nearly 20 years at the University
of Virginia, before taking the helm at
Stony Brook.
Bonahue most recently served as the
provost and vice president for academic
affairs at Santa Fe College in Florida,
since 2009.
Timothy E. Sams took over at SUNY Old
Westbury after serving as a three-time
vice president, at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute in Troy, N.Y.; Prairie View
A&M University in Prairie View, Texas;
and Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga.
Before taking the helm at Nassau
Community College, Williams served
as vice president of student affairs at
North Shore Community College, in
Massachusetts. He also was assistant
vice president for access, transition,
and success at Northeastern Illinois
University, in Chicago and director of
student success initiatives at Community
College of Philadelphia
The presidents’ specialties vary, although
they all rose through academia
to become administrators. Sams earned
a bachelor’s degree in history and sociology
from Union College in Schenectady,
New York. He also holds a Ph.D. in African
American Studies from Temple
University.
McInnis is described as a “cultural historian”
whose writing and research has
focused on the history of the American
South, including slavery.
And Bonahue, a Shakespeare expert, obtained
a Ph.D. in English literature from
the University of North Carolina; M.A.
in English literature at the University
of North Carolina; and B.A. in English
literature from Wake Forest University.
Williams received a bachelor’s degree
in anthropology and sociology from
Lafayette College, amaster’s of arts in
sociology from St. John’s University, and
degrees in education.
Lentini also brings experience in creating
harmony: He is a composer and
classical guitarist whose recording in
2020 was named one of the top classical
releases by the Chicago Tribune. Are
there connections between orchestrating
music and organizing a school?
“Composing takes a tremendous amount
of organization. You write for multiple instruments,”
Lentini said. “You have to create
and organize materials in a way that works.
That’s great training for the discipline you
need to think through and analyze.”
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