The following was sent to the Wartburg College community from President Darrel Colson:
Dear Students, Colleagues, Alumni, and Friends of Wartburg College,
With deeply mixed feelings, I write to share a bit of news. Earlier this week, I informed the Board of Regents that when my current contract concludes at the end of June 2022, I’ll be retiring from my role as president of the College.
While our love for the College and its many constituencies has not dimmed, Christy and I hear new calls which grow insistent by the day. Our grandchildren are growing up, and we relish every moment we spend with them and their parents. The many needs of our hometown in Louisiana beckon, and we’ve long imagined how we might use the lessons we’ve learned here to contribute to positive change there. It’s time for us to live into the vocations of family and community.
If we considered only the satisfaction that we derive from this work, I’d likely never retire; and yet, we learned many years ago from a more experienced presidential couple that one of the most important, and yet difficult, decisions a president must make is when to step aside and pass the baton to another. Loving Wartburg as much as we do makes it difficult to leave.
And yet, taking this decision serves the College well, for its future is as bright now as we’ve ever seen it. Enormous promise lies before us—a strategic plan nearing completion, fundraising efforts to support that plan awaiting development, and an ambitious vision to realize—to become the leading institution in educating the whole person. What a propitious time for a new President to join our community and to pursue those ends.
I continue to feel blessed by the call and opportunity to serve as the 17th President of Wartburg College. I firmly believe that we who work here serve a student body whose spirit is the finest in the East or West.
I have already begun working with Mike McCoy, the Chair of the Board, to ensure a smooth transition. In a couple of weeks, our Board will meet and finalize plans to retain a consultant and launch a national search for Wartburg’s 18th President. In due time, Mike will communicate more details.
During the final months of my term, Christy and I will continue to embrace this Mission that we hold so dear: to challenge and nurture students for lives of leadership and service as a spirited expression of their faith and learning.
How grateful we are for the opportunity to serve that Mission together with you.
Yours,
Darrel