BY Olivia Montes and Erica Quinones
News Co-Editor and Editor-in-Chief
In an Aug. 5 email, Washington College announced Dr. Michael (Mike) Sosulski as the thirty- first president of WC.
The announcement comes six months after the College announced its search to find a permanent president to succeed former Interim President of the College Dr. Wayne Powell. While the decision to begin a new presidential search came a semester into Dr. Powell’s term, both Dr. Powell and the College’s leadership decided they required stable presidential leadership to best address their short- term issues and to best pursue a long-term investment strategy, according to the Aug. 5 email.
To find a permanent president, WC established a search committee consisting of 15 members and two ex officio members, according to Presidential Search Committee Co-Chair and Vice Chair of the Board of Visitors and Governors Bill Harvey.
The committee included faculty, staff, student, and Board representation. They proceeded to select the search firm Wit Kieffer to assist in the search before hosting Zoom meetings with staff, students, alumni, and parents to establish what attributes each party thought was needed in a president.
That data and input from the Board was analyzed by an independent party who created a list of attributes for which the search committee would look, according to Harvey.
Those characteristics included leadership in change management, higher education experience, broad leadership skills, a unique ability to unite WC as a community, compassion for community relationships with Chestertown, the ability to inspire the College, marketing and fundraising experience, and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusivity, according to Harvey.
While the presidential search began at a disadvantage because of its start date, the committee whittled down about 80 candidates to the unanimously approved Dr. Sosulski within their timeframe.
According to Harvey, Dr. Sosulski impressed the search committee with his energy, ability to drive conversations, dedication to the liberal arts, student-centered nature, attention to the culture of WC and how it must shift going forward, transformational talents, concrete ideas, experience in residential life, and authenticity.
Though it was Dr. Sosulski’s current resume and attitude that impressed the search committee, he said he initially did not want to pursue a career in higher education in his youth.
Dr. Sosulski grew up in Chicago, where his parents worked as professors at a local community college.
Originally, he did not want to follow his parents’ career paths. Instead, he pursued German and jazz music through college, attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston after graduating college. While Dr. Sosulski explored the possibility of becoming a professional musician in Boston, he discovered his limits.
“That’s one of the greatest things that you can do in life: try things that don’t work out, learning what’s not going to be the right pathway for you can be absolutely just as important as finding the thing that you really love and that you feel like you’re kind of called to do,” Dr. Sosulski said.
So, despite his efforts, Dr. Sosulski followed his parents’ professorial path, finding his way to Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., where he served as provost.
According to Dr. Sosulski, he decided to take the leap to president at the urging of President of Wofford College Dr. Nayef Samhat. He ultimately decided it was worth a chance in the spring of 2021, when Dr. Samhat received a phone call pertaining to the presidency at WC and he recommended Dr. Sosulski.
When Dr. Sosulski began investigating a prospective future as a college president, he was told that if he wants to pursue the occupation, he must love the institution—so, he began researching WC and liked much of what he saw.
Part of what attracted him to WC was the College’s dedication to the liberal arts.
Dr. Sosulski said that he felt strongly about the importance of the liberal arts today, because they educate future citizens who will exist in a world in which science is being questioned like never before, facts are disputed, and technology allows people to curate their data in ways which make productive dialogue more difficult.
“Part of what makes the liberal arts the powerful educational experience that they are, is the fact that they cultivate an appreciation in students of multiple perspectives. And the understanding that there are multiple discourses, there are multiple voices that need to be heard. And that truth is a complicated amalgam of multiple perspectives and not just one kind of partisan or curated view,” Dr. Sosulski said.
Another aspect of the College which Dr. Sosulski liked was its honesty with its past and how it links that history to what it wants to pursue in the future through programs such as the History Project and the Asterisk Initiative.
The pursuit of a more equitable and inclusive College was present in Dr. Sosulski’s goals for the institution, drawing on the successful initiatives established at Wofford College for inspiration as to what he may pursue at WC.
“The College has been through some rough years, as everyone knows, and it’s been difficult to be a student during the pandemic. It’s been difficult to be a staff member or a faculty member through the pandemic for all kinds of reasons, material and psychological. And these folks were persevering, and loved this College very clearly, and wanted to see it thrive again,” Dr. Sosulski said.
Such strategies included reviewing the proposal for a chief diversity officer and pursuing it with vigor; creating a diverse faculty and staff that reflects “the diversity of the world that we live in” by establishing a diversity advocacy program which would place one committee member trained in diversity advocacy on each search committee; supporting the creation of inclusive pedagogies; and seeking to further diversify the student body.
“We have exciting work to do in order to be the inclusive community and the equitable community that we dream of, and that we want to be, and that we know we will become,” Dr. Sosulski said.
Overall, Dr. Sosulski said that what struck him was how much the people he met at WC cared about the institution.
“The College has been through some rough years, as everyone knows, and it’s been difficult to be a student during the pandemic. It’s been difficult to be a staff member or a faculty member through the pandemic for all kinds of reasons, material and psychological. And these folks were persevering, and loved this College very clearly, and wanted to see it thrive again,” Dr. Sosulski said.
Photo by Izze Rios