Anonymous
03/13/2026 18:02
Subject: LAC leadership
Anonymous wrote:Midd had leadership problems. Clayton Rose was a superstar at Bowdoin. Rougeau has Holy Cross at full speed ahead.
Midd never had leadership problems. Laurie Patton wasn't bad, she was just "Midd". She was too cautious and slow to make decisions but to say that she was a problem is disingenuous.
Anonymous
03/13/2026 17:07
Subject: LAC leadership
Anonymous wrote:Midd had leadership problems. Clayton Rose was a superstar at Bowdoin. Rougeau has Holy Cross at full speed ahead.
Had. Midd has an amazing new president who would be a get for any school.
Anonymous
03/13/2026 17:06
Subject: LAC leadership
Anonymous wrote:Is this the troll trying to stir things up? Even if it is I'll bite for a minute.
Roth (Wesleyan) is probably the best college President working today even if he is a bit of a talker at times.
David Greene (Colby) is doing a great job raising money for the school and raising it's profile even if he is gaming the stats like Northeastern which ultimately will cap how they do rankings wise.
Baucomb (Middlebury) Quickly move to close down MIIS which was a distraction and budgetary drain. He is a heavy hitter in education administration circles and it was a big loss for UVA when he left. He would have been a leading candidate at any R1 but chose Middlebury. I expect that he will aggressively move to scale Middlebury's endowment towards $2.5G+
Willie-LeBreton (Smith) is doing a great job out of the gate in raising money.
Jenkins (Bates) is very focused on getting Bates in a better position to compete with their NESCAC peers financially and boosting the endowment.
Chapdelaine (Conn College) has stabilized CC's finances and can now look to raising money for financial reserves and endowment growth.
I am sure that there are others but I am mainly familiar with the Northeast.
This is a great take.
I will add -
Willie-LeBreton (Smith) handled the touchy student protest situation very deftly and it was not long after she arrived. Perhaps let it go a tad too long but then she negotiated a resolution, kept Smith out of the papers, kept it from becoming a Columbia type mess. She seems well liked by students. Smith is also doing a revisioning/refresh of the whole campus for the next decades, so she's bringing some good vision. But the changes won't be popular with all, so we'll have to see how it shakes out.
Baucomb (Midd) is very new but brings a Jim Ryan like energy. Really making the effort to connect with the students. Even spent a night in a dorm! Seems like a great start.
Anonymous
03/13/2026 16:53
Subject: LAC leadership
^+1 HC is a fine school.
Anonymous
03/13/2026 16:12
Subject: LAC leadership
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Doug Hicks at Davidson and Vince Rougeau at Holy Cross top shelf.
Holy cross leadership is pretty mediocre. The school is not really comparable to the top LACs and has failed in ranking and prestige over time.
Stop it now.
Anonymous
03/13/2026 16:11
Subject: LAC leadership
Anonymous wrote:Add Maud Mandel to the A list. Done an admirable job at Williams. Disagree about negativity PP has with Holy Cross very good LAC on the level of Colby and Colgate.
Agree that Mandel has done a very good job.
Anonymous
03/13/2026 16:09
Subject: LAC leadership
Add Maud Mandel to the A list. Done an admirable job at Williams. Disagree about negativity PP has with Holy Cross very good LAC on the level of Colby and Colgate.
Anonymous
03/13/2026 15:49
Subject: LAC leadership
Tremendous leadership by Hiram Chodosh (CMC)- wherever he’s off to, they should be very excited. Michael Roth is another heavy hitter!
Anonymous
03/13/2026 15:44
Subject: LAC leadership
Anonymous wrote:Doug Hicks at Davidson and Vince Rougeau at Holy Cross top shelf.
Holy cross leadership is pretty mediocre. The school is not really comparable to the top LACs and has failed in ranking and prestige over time.
Anonymous
03/13/2026 13:20
Subject: LAC leadership
Interesting that Hicks is an ordained Presbyterian minister and Rougeau is an African-American, non Jesuit with 2 Ivy degrees.
Anonymous
03/13/2026 13:17
Subject: LAC leadership
Midd had leadership problems. Clayton Rose was a superstar at Bowdoin. Rougeau has Holy Cross at full speed ahead.
Anonymous
03/13/2026 13:14
Subject: LAC leadership
Have heard AMAZING things about Davidson's leadership too.
Anonymous
03/13/2026 13:08
Subject: LAC leadership
Is this the troll trying to stir things up? Even if it is I'll bite for a minute.
Roth (Wesleyan) is probably the best college President working today even if he is a bit of a talker at times.
David Greene (Colby) is doing a great job raising money for the school and raising it's profile even if he is gaming the stats like Northeastern which ultimately will cap how they do rankings wise.
Baucomb (Middlebury) Quickly move to close down MIIS which was a distraction and budgetary drain. He is a heavy hitter in education administration circles and it was a big loss for UVA when he left. He would have been a leading candidate at any R1 but chose Middlebury. I expect that he will aggressively move to scale Middlebury's endowment towards $2.5G+
Willie-LeBreton (Smith) is doing a great job out of the gate in raising money.
Jenkins (Bates) is very focused on getting Bates in a better position to compete with their NESCAC peers financially and boosting the endowment.
Chapdelaine (Conn College) has stabilized CC's finances and can now look to raising money for financial reserves and endowment growth.
I am sure that there are others but I am mainly familiar with the Northeast.
Roth (Wesleyan) is probably the best college President working today even if he is a bit of a talker at times.
David Greene (Colby) is doing a great job raising money for the school and raising it's profile even if he is gaming the stats like Northeastern which ultimately will cap how they do rankings wise.
Baucomb (Middlebury) Quickly move to close down MIIS which was a distraction and budgetary drain. He is a heavy hitter in education administration circles and it was a big loss for UVA when he left. He would have been a leading candidate at any R1 but chose Middlebury. I expect that he will aggressively move to scale Middlebury's endowment towards $2.5G+
Willie-LeBreton (Smith) is doing a great job out of the gate in raising money.
Jenkins (Bates) is very focused on getting Bates in a better position to compete with their NESCAC peers financially and boosting the endowment.
Chapdelaine (Conn College) has stabilized CC's finances and can now look to raising money for financial reserves and endowment growth.
I am sure that there are others but I am mainly familiar with the Northeast.
Anonymous
03/13/2026 13:00
Subject: LAC leadership
Doug Hicks at Davidson and Vince Rougeau at Holy Cross top shelf.
Anonymous
03/13/2026 12:40
Subject: LAC leadership
Which LACs are leading the pack? Which ones are currently experiencing bad leadership?