APRIL 24, 2025 | NEWS | By Sydney McGarr (News Editor)
Current Colorado College interim President Manya Whitaker’s term ends in June 2026.
In a recent email to the CC campus community, Board of Trustees Chair Jeff Keller announced that the college plans to begin taking next steps to secure a new president who will hold the position permanently. The new hire will be CC’s 15th president.
According to Keller’s email, “executive search and leadership advisory firm Russell Reynolds will help [the Board] develop a detailed executive leadership profile for the College, informed by the input of CC community members.”
The aforementioned advisory firm, Russell Reynolds, is a global management consulting firm that specializes in leadership advisory and executive recruiting. The firm has previously worked with various higher education institutions.
The organization’s website says its goal is to “help organizations and individuals answer critical leadership questions to thrive in today’s challenging landscape.”
Colorado College joins a long list of colleges and universities that are on the hunt for a new executive leader in a time when a polarized political climate, federal budget cuts and increased student protest controversy afflict the world of higher education.
According to The New York Post, the average tenure for a university president has declined from 8.5 years in 2006 to 5.9 in 2022. This data was taken before the 2023-2024 year, during which Stanford, Cornell, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University all turned over leadership.
The most recent edition of The American College President Executive Summary (2023) found that 55 percent of presidents planned to step down from their current positions within the next five years.
Colorado College’s 14th president, L. Song Richardson, cited the political climate as one of the reasons for her resignation in February 2024.
“As our national dialogue about these topics continues to intensify,” she wrote in a statement at the time, “I find myself increasingly torn between my desire to pursue that work as an academic with the freedom to fully engage in these debates, express my personal views, and challenge the status quo, and my responsibilities to CC as president.”
Moving forward, Keller says that students, faculty, and community members will have the opportunity to provide input on specific qualities that they are looking for in a new president through a series of surveys and in-person presidential listening sessions hosted by Russell Reynolds.
“Securing our 15th president is a tremendous responsibility for the Board and a wonderful opportunity for CC,” he wrote. “With this in mind, we are taking the opportunity to listen first so that we move forward confidently later in a way that reflects our shared values and with your aspirations in mind.”