Spotlight on Chapdelaine

By Mary Milligan

Chapdelaine was drawn to Hood by its strong reputation, success and history, and after being nominated for the position, she felt that it was a good fit.

While her own educational background is in state schools, she began teaching at a liberal arts school during her graduate education and “fell in love with it.” She saw that the liberal arts education provided the ability to teach across the board.

Her current role as provost at Albright College unfavorably limits her interaction with the students. However, the shift to her role as president at Hood will improve her ability to interact with students more frequently. Chapdelaine sees a strong community at Hood and looks forward to being a part of it.

She is excited to build on the strengths that Hood has already established. Chapdelaine wants to serve Hood in her role as president and better suit student needs.

When Chapdelaine first met with students at Hood, she proposed the idea of open office hours. After further discussion, she said that they would not be weekly due to her busy travel schedule, but she hopes for some way for students to have access to her on a regular basis.

Chapdelaine sees a tremendous opportunity to serve the surrounding community as well as providing the students a holistic approach to learning. “Hood has an incredible reputation, and we can do even better,” she said.

She hopes to work on a master plan for the future of Hood. This includes renovations to the residence halls and raising money. Chapdelaine would also like to continue to grow the international program here and increase the number of international students.

Chapdelaine would like students to choose how she is involved on campus. She loves sports, musical theater, and looks forward to celebrating the success of students outside the classroom, but would like student input about what she attends. She considers herself to be very social and looks forward to student interaction.

The traditions that Hood holds close are something that she found very admirable, like the Ring Ceremony and Policies for Dollars. Chapdelaine believes that traditions are representations of the strength of the community. She even started a midnight finals breakfast at Albright and is happy to see that it is also a tradition here.

She is excited for the change in the commute and living on campus. Chapdelaine looks forward to the close proximity to downtown Frederick as well as the close commute to Washington D.C. and Baltimore.

Although she looks forward to her changing role from provost to president, she will miss the students, faculty and staff at Albright. Her position there allowed her to grow professionally and learn a lot.

Chapdelaine is really excited for the change from provost to president. Although she is a bit nervous for the role, she is confident that she can do the job.