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| VIEW FROM THE HILL |Trustees Praise Perry’s “Visionary” Leadership as Searchfor New President BeginsWhen President Roger Perry retires in June 2005, he will leave behind a 23-year legacy that began with his workas vice president for academic affairs and was followed by his contributions as provost. In 1992, Perry becameChamplain College’s sixth president and has spent the years since then guiding its expansion and redefining its mission.“The word ‘visionary’ is tossed around too often these days,” Board of Trustees Chairman William Post said.“However, I think it is appropriate to use it here: Roger Perry truly defines visionary leadership.”During his presidential tenure, Perry led the transformation of Champlain from a two-year to a four-year collegethat offers both traditional classroom and on-line distance learning and has satellite campuses abroad. A host of progressiveacademic majors have been added, as well as a graduate program.Perry oversaw the construction of several vital projects. The Main Street Suites and Conference Center and TheCenter for Global Business and Technology will open this summer, as will the dining area of the new Student LifeComplex. That complex will be completed by summer 2005 with the addition of a gymnasium, fitness center and studentlounge. “The William R. Hauke Family Campus Center and Alumni Auditorium gave our eclectic campus thefeeling of a traditional quad,” Post said. Perry’s bold thinking also led to the Robert E. and Holly D. Miller InformationCommons, which Post called “our innovative and architecturally striking knowledge center.”Trustee Tom Pierce has called Perry “a dreamer and a doer,” and “one of the most remarkable visionary business oreducation leaders in New England. … Roger converts worrisome trends into wondrous new programs.”The search committee, co-chaired by trustees Holly Miller and Bob Allen, has hired the Boston-based firmIsaacson, Miller, which headed UVM’s most recent presidential search, to assist the committee. Perry will continue towork diligently for Champlain until his retirement according to Post, also on the committee. “I also know that we willfind a new president who will successfully lead Champlain College into the future.”Professor Inspired by the Caribbean Returns the FavorSeveral years ago, Sociology Professor Alan Stracke spentseven months living in a small village on the island ofTortola, where he began to write about his 25 years ofexperience in the Caribbean culture. The result was a booktitled “Why Ask, A Cultural Exploration of the Caribbean.Stracke uses the book in his popular Introduction toSociology classes to explore major sociological concepts.Stracke also uses the book to benefit students in theCaribbean. The proceeds from sales of Why Ask toChamplain students, Vermonters, and Caribbean touristssupport the Cultural Explorations Scholarship Programfounded by Stracke and his wife, Lynda Reid. The fundcreates opportunities for students from the Caribbean togo to college.“We’ve devised a way in which students at ChamplainCollege can make a life-altering difference in another youngperson’s life, while at the same time gaining insight andunderstanding about our own society and their place in oursociety,” Stracke says.The first scholarship winner has been chosen, and twomore students will earn scholarships next year and in subsequentyears. Stracke says the first scholar, FrancisMcLawrence of the island of Carriacou in Grenada, is akind and personable 17-year-old who is studyingadvanced math and physics in Grenada and hopes tobecome a mechanical engineer. He is the son of manygenerations of shipwrights, and he has demonstrated acommitment to his community as a soccer coach for youngboys in his village.Stracke, a 30-year faculty member at champlain, wonthe colleges’ Edward Phillips Lyman Professorship Awardin 2001 for his engaging teaching and mentoring of students.6 Champlain View | Spring 2004