Connecticut College has named Andrea Chapdelaine as its next president, effective June 1.
The search began after Katherine Bergeron, Connecticut College’s former president, resigned amid months of protest from students.
Currently, Chapdelaine serves as the president of Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, a role held since 2015. Earning a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Connecticut, Chapdelaine was previously vice president of academic affairs at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania.
During her leadership at Hood, Chapdelaine oversaw a successful increase in the college’s enrollment, retention and endowment. In October, Hood received a $50 million donation, the largest in the college’s history.
With a strong fundraising record, Chapdelaine’s role will be to steward Connecticut College in a new direction.
Bergeron was ousted in 2023 after Rodmon King, the former dean of institutional equity and inclusion, resigned in protest to then-President Bergeron’s planning of an event at a Florida social club with accusations of racism and antisemitism.
[Timeline: Connecticut College protests, resignations, demands]
For 10 days, students locked themselves in the college’s administrative building, which housed the president’s office, demanding additional funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programming and the resignation of Bergeron.
Chapdelaine was selected after a search committee comprised of students, faculty and college board members met throughout the academic year. The college tapped executive search firm WittKieffer to lead the search for prospective candidates.
Chapdelaine will replace Les Wong, the college’s interim president since June 2023.
“The college could not find, nor seek a better person for the job,” Wong said in a statement to the college community.
This story was first published March 28, 2024 by Connecticut Public.