By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Staff Writer
Evan Dobelle, the charismatic leader of an elite East Coast university and the former president of the City College of San Francisco, could be officially named president of the University of Hawai‘i at a special Board of Regents meeting Monday morning.
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| Evan Dobelle "may be the June Jones of college presidents," a Trinity College trustee said of Dobelle's expected acceptance of the University of Hawai'i presidency.
Trinity College |
Stanley Twardy, a trustee of Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., confirmed yesterday that Dobelle is under consideration for the position as president of the 10-campus Hawai‘i system. Dobelle enjoys enormous popularity at Trinity and is credited with the economic revitalization of the urban neighborhood that surrounds the private campus, but has also overseen college systems during times of budget crisis.
"What is wonderful about him and why this would be perfect for him is he really is the education equivalent of a turnaround artist," Twardy said. "He would be tremendous in Hawai‘i. He has done everything here that he has promised he would do. I think he would tell you his strength is in the turnaround. He may be the June Jones of college presidents."
Dobelle did not return telephone calls for comments.
In a luncheon speech Wednesday at Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, Dobelle alluded to rumors that he would leave Trinity for the Hawai‘i position. "Whether they are interested in me or I am interested in them is something that will be determined," Dobelle said. "Whatever happens, no one could find better colleagues than I have at Trinity and better friends than I have in Hartford, which just complicates my life very much."
Linda Campanella, senior vice president of Trinity, could not confirm that Dobelle is a candidate for the UH job, but said Dobelle is scheduled to leave Connecticut for a trip Sunday. UH regents will announce the replacement for President Kenneth Mortimer, who is retiring this summer, at a special meeting at 9:30 a.m. Monday in the foyer of Bachman Hall at the Manoa campus.
"He has loved it at Trinity. Trinity will be a very hard act to follow for him. Under his leadership the college has raised its profile, increased applications, increased alumni giving and virtually everything is on a upward trajectory," Campanella said. "He is admired and supported widely."
Dobelle, 55, a former Democratic Party official and the former mayor of Pittsfield, Mass., brought national recognition to Trinity College when he spearheaded a $250 million neighborhood revitalization effort in the area around the school. The efforts led to the construction of three new schools in the area and the first Boys and Girls Club in the country to be affiliated with a college or university. Plans for a new Connecticut History Center, to be designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, were recently announced.
Applications at Trinity have risen 77 percent since Dobelle’s arrival, the SAT scores of incoming students have increased by 30 points and the college completed a $100 million capital campaign ahead of schedule.
But Dobelle was considered an unconventional choice in 1994 when he arrived at Trinity, where the average student’s tuition is $27,000 a year. He came to the tiny, liberal arts college of 2,200 students from the City College of San Francisco, a community college system with 97,000 students. Before that, he was president of Middlesex Community College in Lowell, Mass.
Rodel Rodis, acting president of the Board of Trustees at the City College of San Francisco, said he was surprised to hear Dobelle would consider coming to Hawai‘i. "He’s become quite a big name on the East Coast," Rodis said. "He’s been very much a player in national politics."
Dobelle, like his predecessor, would face uncertain times at the university. Mortimer arrived at UH in 1993 and has overseen a tumultuous period of crisis management and massive budget cuts at UH. The university has not recovered from its massive financial hit, national rankings have slid, there’s a maintenance backlog of more than $166 million and the faculty union will begin its strike vote March 19 — one week after the new president is named. The union has been without a contract since 1998 and could walk off the job in early April.
Rodis said Dobelle arrived in San Francisco in 1990 to find a situation not unlike Hawai‘i’s. "It was a very difficult period," Rodis said. "We had a severe budget crisis. The governor had slashed our budget and he (Dobelle) had to make some very unpopular decisions."
Dobelle reduced the number of administrators from 82 to 41 and, with those budget cuts, did not find the widespread support he has at Trinity. But he was able to get the community to pass a sales tax to support the college.
Twardy said that although Dobelle was considered an atypical choice as leader of a liberal arts college, he has become the prototype for what colleges similar to Trinity have started searching for. "As unhappy as we would be to lose him, the people of Hawai‘i would be grateful to have him. He has taken a college that for a number of years had suffered from its urban location and turned that into a positive."
Dobelle is a public policy professor and has taught classes in his field every semester at Trinity. He holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in education and public policy from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a master’s in public administration from Harvard University.
He was the U.S. chief of protocol for the White House under President Carter and was assistant secretary of state with the rank of ambassador at age 31. He was twice elected as mayor of Pittsfield, Mass., while in his 20s, and was the Massachusetts commissioner of environmental management and natural resources. Dobelle is also the former treasurer of the Democratic National Committee.
His wife, Kit, was the U.S. chief of protocol for two years during the Carter administration and served as chief of staff to Rosalyn Carter. The Dobelles have a son, Harry, 13
The Hartford Courant contributed to this report.
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