Hired
Todd G. Fritch – University of West Alabama
Todd Fritch will be leaving his post as provost at the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota following his appointment as president at the University of West Alabama.
A Ph.D. scholar in geology, Fritch completed the Institute for Educational Management program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in July 2022. Prior to his tenure at State College of Florida, he served as the chief academic officer or provost at Shorelight Education and the American International College.
Kristi Kirk – Concordia University Texas
Another provost is getting the green light to head an institution. Kristi Kirk will remain at Concordia University Texas in her new role as president and CEO. She is the first woman to achieve this position in the university’s 100-year history.
Kirk has a longstanding history with Concordia, which is her alma mater. She has worked for its university since 1993 and has served on the board of directors for a nearby high school and a city nonprofit. As provost, she is credited with helping to reduce undergraduate tuition by nearly 40% and acquiring $2.71 million in Title V funds thanks to the university’s designation as a Hispanic-serving institution, Community Impact reports. As president, she plans to deepen Concordia University’s ties to the region’s Christian community.
Retiring
Joanne Berger-Sweeney – Trinity College (Conn.)
With plans to retire at the end of the academic year, Joanne Berger-Sweeny will cap off an 11-year tenure as president of Trinity College. School correspondence suggests she will leave behind a legacy of increasing financial- and need-based aid and expanding Trinity’s footprint throughout Hartford’s community and industry.
Berger-Sweeney raised over $600,000 to create a new scholarship fund at the turn of the college’s 200th anniversary. She also helped increase undergraduate financial aid by 50% in an attempt to enrich Troy’s socioeconomic diversity.
Furthermore, the outgoing president helped found the Center for Hartford Engagement and Research (CHER) to strengthen academic and co-curricular partnerships between Hartford and the college’s students, staff and faculty. The Trinity College Innovation Hub also establishes a networking and training facility to better connect the institution with corporate partners and a nearby community college.
Kent Trachte – Lycoming College (Penn.)
Ken Trachte, Lycoming College’s longtime president, announced his plans to retire in June 2025. Under his 11-year run, Trachte raised $79.2 million in support of capital projects that invested in facilities across the campus community and the city of Williamsport.
Aside from the construction or renovation of its new science center, residence halls and athletic facilities, Lycoming also finished constructing a community baseball park and downtown art gallery. Trachte committed to investing in first-rate faculty: almost 50% of the current tenure track faculty hired at the college took place since 2013 when he took office.
Edward Montgomery – Western Michigan University
Also retiring next summer is Western Michigan University President Edward Montgomery. An economist by training, Montgomery had his hands full handling multimillion-dollar projects throughout his nine-year tenure, such as the creation of its $100 million student center last year. Western Michigan also received a historic $550 million donation in 2021, The Detroit Free Press reports.
Another accomplishment for the history books is the university’s first increase in enrollment in a decade this fall. It has also experienced new highs in retention rates and six-year graduation rates.
Stepping down
David Harris – Union College (N.Y.)
David Harris has announced his plans to step down at the end of June 2025, leaving behind a seven-year presidency at Union College. He has no plans to pursue the job elsewhere at another college or university and simply believed it was time to “pass the baton,” according to a university statement.
Harris is credited for revamping the liberal arts school’s general education curriculum and adding new programs in environmental and civil engineering, as well as overseeing the construction of a new hockey arena in Schenectady, which will house its Division I team. Union College also received two generous donations totaling $91 million and helped raise $316 million in its most recent fundraising campaign, a school record.
Jonathan Holloway – Rutgers University (N.J.)
Jonathan Holloway will conclude his five-year term as president of Rutgers University at the end of this academic year only to return as a full-time faculty member. His legacy will endure for both his notable accomplishments and his controversial handling of campus protests and faculty union strikes.
The university credits Holloway for a record number of applications from out-of-state and international students, climbing the table on popular college ranking websites and exceeding fundraising goals. However, he also received a no-confidence vote from the university senate last year following campus strikes, and he was called upon by a U.S. House committee investigating campus antisemitism at Rutgers.
Of the seven college leaders called upon to testify about antisemitism before Congress, only two remain at their post, The New York Times reports.
“This decision is my own and reflects my own rumination about how best to be of service,” he said in a school statement.
