Colgate President to be KWU Commencement speaker

MEDIA CONTACT: Leslie Eikleberry, Director of Public Relations, 785-827-5541 ext. 1127

February 24, 2009

For Colgate President Rebecca Chopp, Kansas Wesleyan University’s Commencement will be a homecoming of sorts. Chopp, who received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kansas Wesleyan in 1974, is scheduled to be the University’s 2009 Commencement speaker.

Commencement Day at Kansas Wesleyan is scheduled for May 9. Activities will include the Baccalaureate Service at 10:30 a.m. in University United Methodist Church and the Commencement ceremony at 3 p.m. in the Mabee Arena.  The Class of 2009 will be the first class to graduate in the Mabee Arena.

“I am so pleased that Dr. Chopp has agreed to serve as our Commencement speaker,” said Kansas Wesleyan President Philip P. Kerstetter.   “Since my arrival at Wesleyan, I have invited people to serve as Commencement speakers who are able to speak about the value and importance of service to our institution, to their profession, or to the church.  Dr. Chopp embodies all of these, and she serves as an outstanding example of what is possible with a Kansas Wesleyan University education.”

Chopp became Colgate’s fifteenth president on July 1, 2002. She will leave that post at the end of May to become president of Swarthmore College.

While at Colgate, Chopp has:

• Presided over the development and implementation of a comprehensive strategic plan that has strengthened academic programs and developed new interdisciplinary institutes and centers.

• Expanded the university’s academic space by the largest amount in its history including the construction of an interdisciplinary science center and a library/information technology center.

• Implemented a new vision for residential education that provides leadership education for students and new programs in the arts, academic teams and wellness.

• Strengthened athletics.

• Expanded university-community partnerships including the establishment of the Upstate Institute which transfers intellectual capital through the work of faculty and students with non-profit organizations.

• Developed the most successful campaign in Colgate’s history with a goal of $400 million which, by the time it had gone public, had already raised more than half the goal while creating new alumni avenues of connection and support.

• Overseen notable increases in admissions, improvement of student quality, and expansion of programs supporting diversity and globalization have occurred.

Prior to working at Colgate, Chopp served as Dean and Titus Street Professor of Theology at the Yale Divinity School. Before that, she spent 15 years at Emory University where she held the positions of Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. Chopp also served as Director of Graduate Studies for the Institute of Women’s Studies, Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs at the Candler School, and Charles Howard Candler Professor of Theology at Emory. 

In addition to her Bachelor’s degree from Kansas Wesleyan, Chopp received a Master of Divinity degree from St. Paul School of Theology and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Chicago. 

A well-known scholar of religion and American culture, Chopp has authored or edited five books and has published more than 50 articles in her areas of expertise. In recent years her research and professional presentations have focused on changing structures and cultures of higher education, on the role of liberal arts in a democratic society and on religion and higher education.

Chopp has received the Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Chicago; the Alumna of the Year award from the University of Chicago Divinity School, honorary doctorates in divinity from Lehigh University and Lafayette College, the Alumni Achievement Award from Kansas Wesleyan, the Distinguished Alumna Award from Saint Paul School of Theology, and the Founder’s Day Award from Baker University.

Chopp currently serves on the boards of the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the National Survey of Student Engagement. She has served on the executive committee of the Annapolis Group, the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Foundation for Teaching and has served on the Council of Information and Library Resources. Chopp has served as president of the Patriot League and is currently serving on the Presidential Advisory Committee for the NCAA.