The Board of Trustees decided last Friday, April 25, to hire Jack Ohle as the fifteenth president of Gustavus. Ohle will replace current President Jim Peterson, who announced his retirement last fall. Currently President of Wartburg College, Ohle will begin his tenure at Gustavus on July 1. Though he plans to build on the successes of President Peterson, Gusties should expect some changes from the incoming president.
The Board of Trustees made its decision after an earlier search was ended without hiring a president. The Board subsequently began a more confidential search and is pleased with the results. “I welcome Jack Ohle to Gustavus. This is a great day for the College,” Board of Trustees Chair Jim Gale said in a press release. “Jack has all the attributes that we were looking for in our next president. He has strong leadership skills, broad experience in higher education, a strong understanding of what makes Gustavus a special place, and innovative ideas to help move Gustavus forward as a first-class liberal arts institution.”
Ohle will arrive at Gustavus with ten years of experience as president at Wartburg College, an ELCA college in Waverly, IA, as well as over 30 years in other collegiate positions. And, though Ohle bears the nickname of MIAC rival St. Olaf, Ohle’s son graduated from Gustavus. Both Ohle and his wife Kirsten are looking forward to working with their new community. “I think the skills are [at Gustavus] and that undergirds everything; the enthusiasm, the energy and the positive attitude [are all here]. I think you feel that, and when we started this process, I could see a lot of that enthusiasm [in Jack] when he started to learn about things that Gustavus was planning and wanting to do,” said Kirsten Ohle.
Ohle graduated from Ohio Northern University in 1969 with a degree in social work, completed graduate work at Hamma School of Theology and received a higher education administration Master of Arts degree from Bowling Green State University. He also received an honorary degree from Wartburg Theological Seminary. Ohle has served at a number of different academic institutions, including ten years as Vice President for Advancement at Nebraska Wesleyan University.
Ohle later served at Drake University as both Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Senior Vice President for External Affairs for 11 years.
Though Ohle hesitates to say exactly what he has planned for Gustavus until he spends some time in office, he does have one clear goal for the college. “We need to grow the endowment,” Ohle said. “That doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a long process.”
One of the biggest differences students can expect is the role the new president will play on campus. Ohle sees himself as a president who will get students, alumni and others involved in the Gustavus community, much as he has done at Wartburg. “[Gustavus and Wartburg] survive on the support of the constituents we have. [Tuition] is very high, but it doesn’t pay the full bill. You have to have resources to run an institution,” said Ohle.
Gustavus has recently faced criticism from some students, parents and alumni over claims that “Gustavus does not honor its Lutheran tradition” and that “many Gustavus professors teach that the Bible is self-contradictory and false.” Though Ohle emphasizes that the curriculum is, and will remain, the purview of the faculty, he makes it clear that he considers Gustavus a place for such critical study. “A college cannot be a church and a church cannot be a college. We have an obligation as a college to give students a chance to ‘go deep’: to ask the important questions [and] to examine and inquire as to how their education can form their life. We need to be supportive of that as an institution,” Ohle said.
Photo by: Alex Stassen