Orange : New Chief of Chapman Wants Lots of Advice
Allen E. Koenig, the new president of Chapman College, welcomed students and faculty to the liberal-arts school Tuesday by pledging to share governance with faculty, students and alumni.
Koenig, speaking at a convocation ceremony, said he will seek broad input for a strategic plan that he will present to college trustees next spring. The plan, Koenig’s vision for the future, will include a new statement of mission and goals for academic achievement, fund-raising and construction.
“I am eager for your feedback, and I invite and expect your feedback,” Koenig said. “ ‘Management by walking’ is how some would describe my penchant to gather information both formally and informally. . . . It is through such co-active leadership that I hope to involve the campus community--as architects--in drafting this beginning blueprint for Chapman’s future.”
Koenig, 50, was named the 11th president of the 2,400student college last month, after an 18-month search for a successor to G.T. (Buck) Smith, who retired in 1988. He is the first Roman Catholic president of the college, which was founded in 1861 by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Koenig had been president of Emerson College in Massachusetts since 1979.
For Koenig, who was born in Los Angeles and is a former executive director of USC’s Idyllwild campus, the move West is something of a homecoming.
“I can assure you from the bottom of my heart, it feels mighty good to be home again in Southern California,” he said.
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