Weinman Era Officially Begins at Marist College

Kevin C. Weinman was inaugurated as the fifth president of Marist on Sept. 23

Kevin Weinman was inaugurated as Marist College’s fifth President on Sept. 23. Photos by Madison Lisowski ‘23.

354 days after stepping into office, Kevin C. Weinman was inaugurated as the fifth President of Marist College.

On Sept. 23, members of each group that constitutes the Marist community came together on the campus green to officially usher in the next era of Marist’s history.

After hearing over an hour’s worth of glowing praise from Marist board members, administrators and his former colleagues, Weinman opened his own speech by quipping that “I’d really like to meet this person someday.”

In a humorous, grateful and motivated address, Weinman thanked those at Marist who allowed him to take the job, including Former President Dennis Murray, who served Marist for nearly 40 years. He thanked his family for their commitment to him and then began telling the story of how he got to where he is today and where he sees Marist’s future heading.

Weinman highlighted two keys to success for Marist moving forward. “First, innovate, and innovate relentlessly. And second, make Marist’s form of education available and accessible to any student who has the talent and drive to succeed here.”

Diversity is easily identifiable as one of Weinman’s top priorities. While Marist strives to be diverse in all aspects, – race, gender and sexuality, geography – one area that Weinman wants to focus on is increasing the college’s socioeconomic diversity.

“We will focus on removing financial barriers to attendance so any student with the drive and talent to succeed can come to Marist,” Weinman said in an email to the Circle.

While the ceremony on the campus green was the crowning moment, the inauguration was a two-day event, showcasing the best work from across the college. 

On Thursday, the Steel Plant building hosted an open house. On display were artisan works from students and faculty, capstone garments from recent fashion graduates and posters for recent capstone research projects.

The River Rooms in the Student Center held posters of projects from students and alumni. The Circle’s own For The Record was on display highlighting the stories told in the 2022 edition.

Seven professors, each from a different academic department, gave “Snap” talks. Each quick TED-style presentation featured a different topic in which the faculty member had expertise in. The topics ranged from visibility of gender at the Olympics, experience of LGBTQ+ students in the classroom and “Ethics Under Pressure,” to name a few.

Dr. Jessica Boscarino, Associate Professor of Political Science, gave her talk on the power of narrative when talking about climate change.

“The Snap talks added to the events in that they allowed us to showcase the interesting and important work being done on campus,” said Boscarino. “I appreciated that many of the subjects covered in the Snap talks dealt with key challenges facing the world today.” Boscarino also highlighted the diversity of departments represented in the talks. “I loved getting to hear about my colleagues’ research. We don’t get to share that with colleagues from other parts of campus often enough.”

Photo by Madison Lisowski ‘23.

Following the Snap talks was an Academic Symposium focusing on how professors in different disciplines are addressing new ways of approaching a diversity of attitudes, equitable methodologies, and inclusive frameworks. The panel consisted of John Bartlett, Fashion Program Director; Dr. Addrain Conyers, Associate Professor & Chair of Criminal Justice; Dr. Steven Garabedian, Associate Professor of History; Dr. Lisa Stephens, Senior Lecturer of Chemistry and was moderated by Dr. Nicholas Marshall, Associate Professor of History.

“I think the symposium was excellent,” said Conyers. “I believe it showed that Marist faculty are in touch with changing times and that we continue to grow and evolve our knowledge and research and how it impacts higher education.”

While the inauguration, in some ways, was just a formality – considering Weinman is within a few days of his first anniversary as President – a palpable sense of excitement could be felt around the campus and among students, faculty and staff.

“President Weinman seems like the man for the job,” said Anthony DiPonio ‘24. “From the work he’s done so far, I think he has a bright future here at Marist.”

“From what I’ve heard about him, he seems to be really personable,” said Ali Banning ‘24. “A lot of presidents at universities, people don’t get to talk to, but I already know a lot of people who’ve been able to talk to him.”

“I’m most looking forward to continued growth,” shared Conyers when asked what he’s looking forward to in the Weinman Era at Marist. “I believe President Weinman has the skillset and the knowledge base to continue that growth.”

Now that all the hullabaloo is out of the way, Weinman is ready to get to work.

“My goal going forward is to respect everything that makes us who we are and made Marist a great college already,” said Weinman, “but think about ways we can respond to the changing landscape of higher education and develop new and innovative strategies for the future.”