KADIA KING
Photo courtesy of Saint Michael’s College
Dr. D. E. Lorraine Sterritt has resigned from her position as president of Salem Academy and College to serve as the 17th president of Saint Michael’s College.
Chair of the Board of Trustees, Sallie Craig Huber, informed the community of Sterritt’s resignation in an email sent Friday afternoon. Sterritt later confirmed the news in an email sent from the Office of the President.
“For the last four years it has been my very great honor and privilege to serve as President of Salem Academy and College. During that time our students have impressed me profoundly with their intellectual curiosity, their social consciousness, their athletic talent and love of competition, and their brilliant artistic performances of every kind,” Sterritt wrote. “Through their commitment to this remarkable institution, our faculty, staff, administration, alumnae, Board of Trustees, and Board of Visitors have consistently demonstrated their love for Salem and their dedication to our mission, and I will always be grateful for their hard work and their support.”
Sterritt has accepted the position of president of Saint Michael’s College, effective July 2018.
Saint Michael’s College is a private, Catholic college in Colchester, Vermont. Founded in 1904 by the Society of Saint Edmund, it describes itself as the only Edmundite college in the world. It became coeducational in 1970 and granted degrees to its first four female students in 1972. Sterritt will become the college’s first female president in its 114 year history.
Sterritt joined the Salem community in 2014 after the nationwide search for a new president was launched.
The last Presidential Search Committee was appointed in November 2013, following the announcement of former president Susan E. Pauly’s retirement. The committee, which sought to represent students, faculty and trustees, was comprised of 20 members. The student representatives were then-SGA president Sara Otero and Academy Honor Cabinet president Amelia Garner.
Sterritt was chosen from a group of 12 semifinalists for her “warmth” and “genuineness”, according to committee member Dr. Gary Ljungquist in a 2014 interview with the Winston-Salem Journal.
Salem has undergone several changes during Sterritt’s four year presidency. The McHugh Sister’s Flats, completed in 2015, became Salem’s first new residence hall since the construction of Gramely in 1965. The Bert Lain Tennis Center was constructed in 2016. In October 2017, Sterritt commissioned the College Council on Diversity and Inclusion with the task of developing a campus-wide plan to foster a culture of diversity and nondiscrimination at Salem, in conjunction with the new Strategic Plan.
Sterritt will continue serving as president for the remainder of the 2018 academic year. Details of the new presidential search have yet to be revealed.
thesalemite.org 