When Colorado College President L. Song Richardson announced in February that she would be stepping down from her position to return to the University of California Irvine, many were surprised at what appeared to be an abrupt departure.

But Manya Whitaker, who took over as interim president on July 1, said those in Richarsdon’s inner circle were aware that she had begun to feel torn between her responsibilities as a college president and her desire to speak publicly on hot-button social issues.

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“The rationale for (Richardson’s) departure was not a surprise,” said Whitaker, who has served in several leadership capacities during her 13 years at CC. “We were always privy to where Song was in her thought process, because she was constantly having dialogue with all of us. It was the timing that took us somewhat by surprise.”

Whitaker has assumed leadership at CC during a fraught period for higher education. Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are being decried as unnecessary and unfair, students across the U.S. have taken to the streets in protest of the Israel-Hamas war, and public confidence in the value of a college degree is in decline.

Into this maelstrom steps Whitaker, the college’s former executive vice president and chief of staff, who will serve in the interim role for two years.

The reasoning behind the two-year interim period is twofold, Whitaker said.

“There’s a practical reason, and an operational reason,” she explained. “Practically, I’m finishing out Song’s contract term. Operationally, we’ve got a lot of work to do, and to try to hire a president now would force us to pause what we are doing.”

Whitaker and Richardson are both women of color who are passionate about education. But the two women differ in training and approach, Whitaker said.

“She and I are similar in our enthusiasm for the work,” she said. “We both approach things head-on. I started as her chief of staff and executive vice president, and that’s where we clicked really well.

“She’s an attorney. She likes to have a lot of conversation and debate. I’m a developmental educational psychologist, and a researcher by training. I like to quietly take in all the data, synthesize it, make an executive summary, check it with experts, and then make a plan.”

A North Carolina native and Dartmouth College alum who earned a doctoral degree in developmental psychology from Vanderbilt University, Whitaker has taught classes on social and political issues in education. In 2013, she established Blueprint Educational Strategies, an organization that advocates for underserved students and their families.

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While she does have strong feelings about a variety of issues, Whitaker doesn’t feel compelled to express those feelings publicly, she said.

“I don’t feel a natural imperative to speak on things,” she said. “As the president, you can’t do that. Your personal convictions and opinions may conflict with the mission or the values of the institution and the people you represent. I represent 27,000 alums and 2,200 students, plus their families.”

The two-year interim period allows Whitaker to work without the specter of a new leader looming over her. While the college remains committed to being an antiracist institution, she would like to see a renewed focus on academics as CC’s primary objective, she said.

“Some alums feel like our brand has shifted too far astray from our academic mission,” she said.

“And having been here for more than a decade, I can see how they might feel that way. One of the things I want to focus on over the next two years is reminding the community, and ourselves, that we are first and foremost an educational institution.”

Whitaker would also like Colorado College to become a better-known entity, in the Springs and beyond.

“I didn’t know this school existed before I was offered a job here,” she said. “More people need to know about us. We offer a high-quality education. The block plan delivers in ways that other academic models cannot. That’s one of our strategic priorities: to begin to appeal differently to different audiences.”

Among other goals are an increase in alumni engagement, a boost in endowment and a higher six-year graduation rate, Whitaker said.

“We’d like to see about 93%,” she said of CC’s six-year graduation rate. “I think we’re at 88. That’s too low for us. We can do better than that, and we will.

“To be fair, though, we have a fairly small student body, so we’re probably only talking about nine students that we’ve gotta get out of here faster.”

Mental health has been another high priority for the college, Whitaker said.

“We got petitions from students and faculty, and in response to that, we really beefed up our resources,” she said. “Now students have access to telehealth 24/7, where they can choose a counselor or therapist that is in the demographic they want.

“Students are feeling better and doing better — if you take out the drama of Israel-Hamas.”

Like many colleges across the U.S., CC has dealt with student protests concerning the deadly overseas conflict. But the demonstrations were neither large nor especially disruptive, Whitaker said.

“We are such an interpersonal campus,” she said. “It’s really difficult to demonstrate or protest when you know that the words you’re using or the position you’re taking may be harming someone you know and that you care about.

“It was really a small group of students relative to the student body. So we were able to just give people the space and make sure that it didn’t disrupt the operations of the college.”

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Amid the recent controversies swirling around higher education, many Colorado College students are doing great things, Whitaker said.

“There’s a lot of stuff that’s happening at our academic core that we just haven’t talked about, and I want to lift that up,” she said.

“Our kids are crushing it. They’re getting Fulbright fellowships. Ninety-two percent of our student-athletes made their division’s All-Academic teams. Our students are doing incredibly well, and we want to tell that story.”

The Colorado College Board of Trustees won’t begin its search for a permanent president until sometime in 2025. Whitaker said she’s not yet sure if she will add her name to the list of candidates.

“Ask me in a year,” she said.