McCardell to depart College, leaves rich 34-year legacy

President Emeritus of the College and Professor of History John M. McCardell, Jr. will assume the position of vice chancellor at Sewanee: The University of the South, beginning July 1.

Announcing his decision on Jan. 6, McCardell said, “The prospect of serving a unique institution whose history and traditions are so inextricably tied to the American South and to the Episcopal Church, and where the academic attainment of its faculty, students and alumni is so distinguished, was one to which I felt particularly drawn.”

McCardell has taught at Middlebury for the past 34 years, and was college president for 13 years, from 1992 to 2004.

Sewanee is a 13,000-acre liberal arts university known for being a top producer of Rhodes Scholars and for its publication of The Sewanee Review, the longest running literary magazine in the country. The university has graduate programs in literature, the founder of which was a Bread Loaf graduate, as well as The School in Theology, an Episcopal seminary.

Sewanee has just completed a $200 million capital campaign, extensive renovations to campus buildings, has an endowment of approximately $300 million and is, according to McCardell, “in very sound shape.”

“Although the two institutions are in many ways different, there are more similarities than one may realize,” McCardell said.

McCardell said an old friend approached him in August and asked him if he could recommend anyone for the vice-chancellorship of Sewanee, as part of a national presidential search for the position that began in February 2009.

McCardell offered a few possibilities, and was then asked, “What about you?” McCardell responded with a resounding “no,” but later said he would “think about it — I’ll think about anything.”

The rest of the story, McCardell said, is “a case study in executive search recruitment.”

He met with Sewanee administrators in Charlotte on the way to his son’s wedding in South Carolina in late November, and was compelled to make a final decision about whether to be a candidate as the search reached its denouement at the end of the year. McCardell was still resistant, but found the reasons for his hesitancy seemed quite sparse.

“I’ve talked to my kids, and they both think it would be a great idea, and my wife thinks it’s great,” McCardell told the Sewanee administrators. “I keep waiting for someone to tell me not to do it, and nobody has.”

After spending a day on the Tennessee campus the Monday after fall-term classes ended, McCardell agreed to become a candidate, and was offered the position in a meeting in Washington, D.C., a week later. Just before Christmas, McCardell accepted the position. The trajectory of this decision over the past six months is not something McCardell would have predicted. In a letter he and his wife Bonnie sent to friends to communicate the surprising announcement, the couple wrote that “neither of us had ever thought another presidency loomed in our future. Yet, as this particular opportunity presented itself, we found it increasingly intriguing, and … we have become ever more certain that this is the right decision and looks to be a very good ‘fit.’”

As for why he considers the school a good fit, McCardell called Sewanee “a place as good as it knows it is, better than most people realize it is, and not as well-known as it ought to be.”

Sewanee administrators and alumni have been effusive in their praise of McCardell and his appointment, including Jon Meacham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editor of Newsweek, who graduated from Sewanee in 1991.

“This is a great day for Sewanee,” said Meacham. “In John McCardell, we have found a leader who believes, and in many ways embodies, our universal and distinctive values. We are fortunate beyond expression that he has consented to come among us.”

President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz also acknowledged that McCardell has an opportunity to make a big impact at Sewanee.

“Sewanee appears to be an excellent match for John for a number of reasons, and I think he will do great things there,” wrote Liebowitz in an e-mail.

“He will be missed here at Middlebury — his 34 years at the College as professor and president have been profound for the institution.”

Liebowitz was not alone in praising McCardell’s contribution to Middlebury — many long-time colleagues were quick to commend McCardell.

Travis Jacobs, Fletcher D. Proctor Professor Emeritus of American History, a long-time friend and colleague of McCardell — with whom he co-taught many courses — called McCardell a “perfect teacher” and that “teaching there will help him to get to know the students faster. He still has a lot of energy and wouldn’t have accepted the position if he thought it was something he wouldn’t enjoy.”

“My sense,” wrote Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science Murray Dry in an e-mail, “is that as the next president of Sewanee, John undertakes a new challenge, because The University of the South, due to its history and its Episcopal affiliation, is a different kind of educational institution from Middlebury. And to the extent that the administration of an American college or university has a common core to it, the task is very important and John McCardell is very good at it.”

Dean for Faculty Research and Development, Rehnquist

Professor of American History and Culture and former McCardell student Jim Ralph reiterated his colleagues’ confidence in McCardell’s ability to lead.

“John’s presidency was transformative,” said Ralph. “The College built on a number of its strengths. It gained greater confidence and became more ambitious. This is clear in both its physical plant and the programs offered. The International and Environmental Studies programs, for example, grew immensely during his tenure.”

Ralph also acknowledged the personal mark McCardell made on students and community members.

“John has been a one-of-a-kind professor and member of the community for 34 years,” said Ralph. “He was devoted to making Middlebury a better place. He touched so many students with his teaching. He is a great public advocate for Middlebury College and its programs. We should celebrate his time here and wish him the best as he embarks on this new challenge.”

The sentiment is mutual, for McCardell knows there are innumerable things he will miss about the place he has called home for 34 years.

“I could give you a long list of the things we’ll miss, and I’m not sure I could prioritize that list, but if I were forced to, it would be the students, current and past,” said McCardell. “You know, you’re always my student, that doesn’t end. And that’s what we’ll miss the most.”

Choose Responsibility, the nonprofit organization McCardell founded in 2007 to encourage debate about the drinking age in America, will now be led by A. Barrett Seamen, the organization’s current secretary and author of Binge: Campus Life in an Age of Disconnection and Excess. McCardell will continue to serve on the board of the organization. Sewanee’s current president, Joel L. Cunningham, was one of the original signatories of the Amethyst Initiative, a collection of college and university presidents seeking to provoke discussion about underage drinking.

Members of the College also had words of praise for Bonnie McCardell, who has been a fixture at Middlebury along with her husband. In 2009, the McCardells received honorary degrees from the College, and every year the College awards the Bonnie McCardell and John M. McCardell Awards for Public Service.

“Bonnie has been a great supporter and advocate of Middlebury College and making Addison County a better place,” said Ralph.

“She worked hard on the College’s Bicentennial to ensure it was a celebration for students, faculty, alumni and friends of the College but also for the people of Addison County.”

Dry stressed that the McCardells are a package deal, and that their new home in Tennessee is lucky to have them.

Speaking for myself — but, I believe, not only for myself — I wish John and Bonnie every success and happiness in this new phase of their lives,” wrote Dry.

“Sewanee may have hired John as president, but they will be getting a very able McCardell team.”

McCardell said that the greatest lesson he learned during his tenure as Middlebury president was that “the reports of the death of the liberal arts college are, and always have been, greatly exaggerated.”

“Our demise has been predicted over and over again,” said McCardell.

“They were wrong then and they are wrong now and we can’t allow ourselves to succumb to the conventional wisdom that institutions like this are unsustainable. I don’t believe it and if you do believe it, you are creating an opportunity for those who don’t believe it to get ahead of you. I wouldn’t be taking this position if I thought Sewanee wasn’t ready. When everybody else is zigging, we’ll zag.”