President Emerita Marcy Named Harvard President-In-Residence

Dominican University of California President Emerita Mary B. Marcy has been named the President-in-Residence at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) beginning fall 2021.

Earlier this year, Marcy announced that after leading Dominican through nearly a decade of transformation and success, she would step down at the conclusion of the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Under President Marcy’s leadership, Dominican has gained visibility as a national leader in independent higher education, and has attracted opportunities to develop new, innovative programs and strategic partnerships.

Each year since 2001, HGSE has selected a university president to serve as its President-in-Residence. Marcy will share the title with Brian Rosenberg, president emeritus of Macalester College.

Marcy will provide HGSE students with insight into leadership in higher education, serving as a presenter, providing reflections on student discussions, and advising on papers and career choices. She also is continuing her relationships with Dominican through ongoing availability as President Emerita. The University’s Board of Trustees conferred the status on Marcy in honor of her distinguished service.

“It is an honor to receive this special appointment from the Harvard Graduate School of Education,” Marcy says. “I look forward to mentoring a new generation of higher education leaders, and to think together about the future. And, it will be a privilege to draw from my own experiences of leading the Dominican campus, a community that has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to student success in college, life, and career.”

“Marcy’s transformational work at Dominican University over the past decade, along with her creative and thoughtful insights about the field of postsecondary education, will benefit our students in the Higher Education Concentration tremendously,” says Senior Lecturer Francesca Purcell, inaugural co-director, with Lecturer Alexis Redding, of the Higher Education (HE) Concentration at HGSE.

Marcy was named Visiting Scholar at the HGSE in fall 2018. The appointment allowed her to share Dominican’s transformation with Harvard faculty and students, expand her research, and develop a manuscript based on her 2017 Change magazine article, “Beyond Mere Survival: Transforming Independent Colleges and Universities.” The resulting book, The Small College Imperative, was published by Stylus in 2020.

Since 2011, under Marcy’s leadership, Dominican has gained national attention for a transformation that is rooted in creative programs, purposeful partnerships, and a commitment to academic excellence. Marcy’s vision led to the creation of the Dominican Experience, which has become a transformative reality for students, as evidenced by dramatic increases in student success, satisfaction, and graduation rates.

Dominican has undergone a significant academic repositioning in recent years, which has resulted in striking improvements in student success; most notably the graduation rate has increased more than 70% in the last 10 years, as the student population has become increasingly diverse. Of the undergraduate student population, 66% identify as ethnically diverse. Nearly a quarter of Dominican students are the first in their family to attend college, and more than 30% are Pell-eligible.

Marcy has developed and shared with the national higher education community her own scholarship that demonstrates how an approach like the Dominican Experience answers many of the most pressing needs of small, private colleges in the United States in this time of fundamental challenges to their existence and purpose.

Her white papers; articles; numerous presentations, seminars and webinars; substantive media appearances; and her book, The Small College Imperative: Models for Sustainable Futures, all make the argument that the Dominican Experience is a model that promotes the particular strengths of small, liberal arts-based institutions to serve the types of diverse students who are becoming the new majority in American colleges and universities. Marcy is regularly quoted in the media related to her research and initiatives, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Times Higher Education, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Ed.