McCall sees opportunity at College of Wooster

The new College of Wooster president, Anne E. McCall, will be inaugurated Saturday.

Her enthusiasm for her new position is academic and personal. The College of Wooster and the city of Wooster attracted her on many levels.

Even in larger institutions where she has worked, McCall has "always tried to strengthen the smaller units" within each of them to advance the mission of liberal arts.

Her previous academic and administrative positions include provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Xavier University of Louisiana and associate dean of Tulane University.

At The College of Wooster, she recognized, "This is the kind of place I should really be."

The College's history also was a big draw.

Because of her affinity for, and scholarly interest in, the 19th century, "its very exciting to me"  to be affiliated with a college founded in 1866.

McCall also commended The College's forward-looking perspective.

"Wooster didn't wait for globalization," she said, but rather combined the local and global from its inception.

Reflection of the heritage of students

The College's history and even its buildings reflect a heritage of students who early on trained to be missionaries and then returned to some of the buildings now in use for student housing.

They brought with them knowledge of many languages, cultures and conversations.

The College of Wooster's commitment to racial diversity and gender equity and to enlarging access to higher education is key to McCall.

A lot of institutions do one or the other, she said. "We do both."

Speaking to The College's international commitment and listing the many nations from which students come, she said, "We have students from Uzbekistan and from right around the corner."

Among the educational roles from which McCall has always derived the most pleasure is mentoring senior honors theses.

Joining a college where every student completes an independent study and "the entire curriculum is built to take students to that place, was a big draw."

An Ohio native

Last but not least, she said, in elaborating on the many reasons she is grateful to be in Wooster, "I grew up in Ohio."

Although she has traveled, lived and studied all over the world, Ohio retains "a certain familiarity, (with) things that speak to me from that part of my life," making relocating to Wooster "a special treat."

"I have never lived in a town where the public has access to such incredible public amenities," she added, also admiring the city's "smart philanthropy."

In pursuing her priorities of diversity, equity and inclusion, she will incorporate "a lot of wisdom" from the people with whom she works, taking advantage of integration of efforts and external partnerships.

"This work is never done."

There are companies and organizations The College may not yet have been in touch with in a formal way, McCall said, noting, "We may not be as well-known for the work we're doing as we should be."

'Tons of ideas' on diversity, equity, inclusion

On the topic of diversity, equity and inclusion, she said, "I have tons of ideas, some not as exciting to hear, but important," such as increasing accessibility of buildings. Her own office building, Galpin Hall, has issues with stairs.

Encouraging students to have difficult conversations is another, she said, pointing out some of those discussions might not be pursued because students care about each other and don't want to hurt other students or seem inconsiderate of their beliefs.

"It's extremely important to me that we be a place where we can have those conversations and have them regularly.

"We can like each other and really disagree on topics," McCall said, and must model that dynamic for students. "We're an institution of learning."

"We may not agree with ourselves over time," she pointed out. "We give each other opportunities to learn."

McCall lauds the College of Wooster and other liberal arts colleges for contributions to society, the economy and the work force. Concerning the marketability of a variety of college degrees, she said, it's unfair to tell a student he or she shouldn't worry about a future job or income.

Rather, they should understand the skills they're learning are going to be applicable to jobs that don't yet exist.

They will be creating the jobs for which they will be qualified, she said.

Some of the hype surrounding liberal arts education results from the types of knowledge it fosters "that can be disruptive to our society."

Inaugural activities begin Friday at College of Wooster

As part of the inaugural activities, a series of panel discussions to be held Friday will focus on "Celebrating Disruptions in the Liberal Arts" and the changes in perspective resulting from new knowledge.

McCall advises students to take each semester a course that might seem "weird" and outside their areas of interest to them.

For McCall, who earned a bachelor's degree in French and German from the University of Virginia and spent nine years in Europe obtaining a master's and doctoral degree in French literature, it was economics.

Her interest in literature stems from it being "the way we express ourselves, the way we see the world, the way that we can imagine someone else's."

Literature from our own country and  other countries has "the potential to make us more empathetic, to pull us into someone else's reality."

"If it works properly, it should broaden the vision of what people are and can be."

If McCall had the opportunity to teach a gender studies class, she would teach sex and gender in a global context.

A question Americans tend to ask is, "What is the other side?" as if there is only one.

There are many points of view, she said, not just among other countries, but between urban, rural and "all the kinds of identities people bring."

"What is highly politicized in one country may be a no-brainer in another,"  she said. "We have a lot to learn from other people — not that we will do what they do," but for the sake of understanding.

In working in a psychiatric hospital as part of her broad experience, "I learned a lot about human suffering," McCall. said, and about anger, hurt and pain.

"You've just got to go out there," she said.

One of her biggest takeaways as she approaches her inauguration is gratitude — "how grateful I am for the welcome I've gotten in the community."

She is looking forward to meeting other people in the business community and civic organizations.

McCall will be inaugurated as the 13th president of The College of Wooster at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28, at the Gault Recreation Center of Scot Center.

A full schedule of events accompanying the inauguration which are now under way is available at wooster.edu.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: College of Wooster president drawn to school by its heritage, diversity