Editorial: Mahony takes over as Winthrop president

Today Daniel Mahony officially assumes the position of president of Winthrop University. We join Winthrop in welcoming him and his family to this important post and to their new home in Rock Hill.

Mahony will be the university’s 11th president. He will take the reins from Debra Boyd, who has served as interim president for the past year and who now returns to her post as the university’s provost.

That interval has provided Winthrop and the community some breathing space since the departure of President Jamie Comstock Williamson. Williamson was fired last year by Winthrop’s Board of Trustees after allegations that she violated university rules in hiring her husband for a paid position at Winthrop and subsequently lied to the board about her role in the hiring.

Williamson’s short, tumultuous tenure was a grueling trial for the entire Winthrop community. Boyd’s steady leadership over the past year has gone a long way in restoring a sense of order and calm to the university.

We are optimistic that Mahony will build on that groundwork in the months ahead. He arrives at Winthrop with the enthusiastic support of all segments of the Winthrop community, including faculty members who threw their support to him when he was one of three finalists for the presidency.

That widespread support should make his transition to Winthrop easier. Despite Williamson’s brief time as president, Mahony is in a position to be the true successor of Anthony DiGiorgio, who served as Winthrop’s president for 24 years.

Mahony arrives at Winthrop from Kent State University in Ohio, where he served since 2008 as dean of the school’s college of education, health and human services. He has more than 20 years experience working in higher education, including a 13-year stint at the University of Louisville.

He describes himself as a collaborative leader who is an attentive listener. He also prides himself in his ability to remain calm in times of crisis.

We hope he won’t encounter too many moments that could be characterized that way, but it is certain that he and Winthrop will face challenges that Mahony will have to begin addressing immediately. Notably, he will have to devise a plan to increase enrollment to help meet the school’s financial needs.

With decreased funding for higher education from the state, tuition and student fees have become a more crucial source of revenue for Winthrop. At the same time, however, the university needs to convince the state to provide more money so that student costs – which are among the highest of South Carolina’s public universities and which rose again this year – don’t become a drag on student recruitment.

Alumni giving also must be a component of the revenue mix. Mahony will have to play a key role in persuading alums to donate more.

The new president seems fully aware of the challenges he faces. He said recently, while moving into his new home in the president’s house on campus, that an essential part of his job will be spelling out Winthrop’s attributes, which is important both to increasing enrollment and helping lawmakers understand the role that higher education, in general, and Winthrop, in particular, play in the state.

Mahony struck us from the start as a good choice for this job. He appears willing and able to take charge on day one, to meld quickly with the Winthrop culture and to play a vital role as a community leader in Rock Hill.

He, his wife Laura and their children – Gavin, 15, and Elena, 12 – have had a week or so to get acclimated. We hope the transition will be a seamless one and that they will come to love their new home.

They are likely to find a community that will welcome them with open arms.

This story was originally published June 30, 2015 at 7:10 PM with the headline "Editorial: Mahony takes over as Winthrop president."