On The Edge News

By OTE staff 

Edgewood College President-in-waiting Andrew Manion has declined to be interviewed by OTE until he officially takes office June 1. 

But he did say he is honored to be the ninth president of Edgewood College. 

“We will be an innovative, student-centered community committed to providing an excellent educational experience, pursuing truth, and fighting for social and economic justice,” he said. 

Student Senate hosted a town hall with Mary Schmoeger, chair of the presidential search committee, on April 14 to hear about the search process and the decision to hire Manion.

According to Schmoeger, the only school Manion applied to was Edgewood College. She said he is drawn to Edgewood because of its Dominican values and its small campus located in Madison. He wants Madison to be the city he spends the last part of his career, Schmoeger said. 

Qualifications 

Schmoeger said the qualifications for Edgewood College’s president were the following: 

•  executive experience 
•  success with enrollment and retention rates 
•  a commitment to diversity and inclusion 
•  an understanding of issues facing higher education and a vision for navigating them, and 
• a student-centric attitude. 

These criteria led the search committee to select Manion. “He has addressed the types of opportunities that we have at Edgewood,” Schmoeger said, referring to a budget deficit and declining student enrollment. 

Identifying as Catholic was not a requirement for the new president. However, Manion’s wife attended Dominican University, Edgewood’s sister school. “He personally understands the Dominican heritage . . . the values,” said Schmoeger. “He lives and breathes and eats those.” 

Schmoeger said that Manion made strides at his previous institutions – Marian University, Aurora University and Saint Mary’s University – in diversity and inclusion.  

He hired Jeneise Briggs, a doctoral graduate from Edgewood College’s School of Education, to direct Marian University’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. She said she worked under Manion’s leadership for three years. He “is extremely student-centered and provides executive oversight and vision for a campus of inclusive excellence,” Briggs said. 

Shaunda Brown-Rivera, director of student inclusion and involvement at Edgewood, was one of two search committee staff members. She said she is happy to have Manion take over as president.  

“Edgewood needs extensive restructuring, vision and coordination in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion,” she said. “This work cannot be done without a president that holds it as a priority.”  

Search process 

There were almost 90 applicants for the presidential position at Edgewood College. The search committee narrowed this down to 34 candidates, then 10. Nine of the 10 were interviewed at a local hotel due to confidentiality – one of the candidates fell ill.  

Schmoeger said it was a “diverse set of applicants.”  

The committee narrowed the search down to four candidates who each presented to the board of trustees via WebEx. After their presentations, they came to campus on separate occasions, meeting with numerous administrators, staff, faculty, and board members.  

The search committee then looked at each candidates’ “strengths, opportunities, how critical they were, and what actions did they take to make them the best president ever,” Schmoeger said.  

After this consideration, the search committee selected Manion. The decision was passed to the board of trustees executive committee, then the full board of trustees. After the board’s approval, the decision went to the college’s sponsorship group of Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters.  

Resignation from Marian University  

Marian students, staff and faculty received notice of Manion’s resignation on April 3. The email said he was leaving Marian “to pursue other professional opportunities.”  

“During his time at Marian University,” it said, “Dr. Manion has advanced the university’s mission to serve the students in the best way possible to prepare them for professional service and leadership in our global community.” 

Miranda Dorn, a student who transferred from Edgewood College to Marian in 2017 and plans to graduate in December, said she enjoyed having Manion as president. “He knew a lot of the students’ and all the tour guides’ names,” she said. He also attended numerous campus events, often bringing along his wife and dogs, Dorn said.