Worcester Business Journal

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H I G H E R E D U C AT I O N F O C U S Fitchburg State University presidents President Tenure Notes John Thompson 1895-1920 First president of Fitchburg State, then known as Fitchburg Normal School William Parkinson 1920-1927 Added education, practical arts programs Charles Herlihy 1927-1945 Implemented four-year programs as school became Fitchburg State Teachers College William Sanders 1945-1950 Led school through post-World War II boom in students Ellis White 1950-1953 Added student counseling with addition of school psychiatrist Ralph Weston 1953-1962 Grew college's nursing program James Hammond 1962-1975 Oversaw large growth of campus, construction of library and campus center Vincent Mara 1976-1995 Continued construction of new buildings and renovations, added to curriculum Michael Riccards 1995-2002 Worked with City of Fitchburg to improve North Street corridor leading to campus Robert Antonucci 2003-2015 Drafted new strategic plan for university, constructed new science complex Richard Lapidus 2015-2024 Established ideaLab entrepreneurship center, purchased Main Street theater block Donna Hodge 2024- First woman president of university, began tenure on July 1 Source: Fitchburg State University website ed leader, remembering the ways that I popped in and out of higher ed myself as a student," Hodge said. "It has made a huge difference in how I approach the work I've done in higher ed." Statistics increasingly show what many consider to be a traditional college student, the 18-24 year old with no real-life responsibilities, is actually not the norm. About 40% of college students work full-time, according to stats from the Lumina Foundation, an Indiana-based group pushing for more accessibility to higher education. Other students balance being a single parent or a caretaker for an elderly family member, only received their GED, served in the military aer high school, or simply didn't have the desire to attend college until later in life. Whatever the case may be, Hodge wants what are oen referred to as non-traditional students to be supported. "It [once] was very odd for anyone in higher ed to think about focusing their efforts on non-traditional students. Today, it's really odd to think about traditional students," she said. Enrollment is the biggest challenge facing universities at the moment, Hodge said. "We've been surviving on a model that doesn't exist anymore," she said. "e belief that a four-year degree at the age of 18 is something everyone is looking for. I think it's just it's chang- ing more rapidly than [universities] can keep up with. So I think, you know, we've already solved a lot of those things here. We're doing amazing work with our graduate programs." Economic development partner Once a fortress on a hill with minimal interaction with the the community it was based in, Fitchburg State has become an integral part of the rede- velopment of the city over the tenure of its last two presidents, said Nick Capasso, director of the Fitchburg Art Museum, which has joined the school in working with other stakehold- ers to help revitalize the city of 41,579 people. "e economic development work continued under President [Robert] An- tonucci's successor, President Richard Lapidus," Capasso said. "Fitchburg State became very involved in the various economic redevelopment teams that have been funded and set up in the city." ese ties have been mutually ben- eficial, particularly the revitalization of North Street, the most-trafficked route into campus. It was once lined with abandoned remnants of the city's industrial past, said Liz Murphy, execu- tive director of community develop- ment and planning for Fitchburg. "I went to Fitchburg State and grad- uated in 1996, and we did not come downtown," she said. "You would have to go through this whole blighted area." at has changed since. "e city has done what it can to create a nice corridor for the students to come down and the university has partnered with us over the years," Murphy said. "As we've improved the infrastructure, they've added their own decorative lighting and things of that sort to really add to the attractiveness of that corridor." Hodge appears poised to continue the university's role in downtown develop- ment. "You can't disentangle Fitchburg State from Fitchburg," Hodge said. "We are one in the same, and the health and vitality of this campus helps drive the health and vitality of the commu- nity and vice versa." One project already catching Hodge's attention aer a few days on the job is the university's Fitchburg eater Block renovation project. "e eater Block is obviously a very, very big initiative and one that I'm going to spend a lot of time understanding and delving into in the months to come," Hodge said. e school purchased the downtown theater property in 2015, launching a multi-phase project seeking to estab- lish a university presence downtown and bring the performance space back to life. "It's been a real benefit to Fitchburg to have such a committed partner in the downtown revitalization work in the form of Fitchburg State," said Mary Jo Bohart, director of economic develop- ment for the City. "We look forward to getting to know President Hodge and collaborating with her and her team as we continue what we're doing." Continued from previous page Hodge hosted an ice cream social for staff alongside outgoing President Richard Lapi- dus on June 25. W

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