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NiWAi New president selected in unanimous vote JULIANN GUIFFRE erry before," said Casey. Co Editor-in-ChieF The most important things for Casey to learn about, he said, arc who the students are, where they are coming from, and how to make McDaniel a bet- On December 17, 2009, the Board of Trusrees, in a rer college unanimous decision, selected Dr. Roger N. Casey cs "I wanr to be around at events, to be engaged the ninth president of McDaniel College. in the lives of people at the college," he said, adding Casey, who is currently [he Vice President of [hat he particularly likes how the President's office . Academic Affairs and Provost of Rollins College in is ar [he heart of {he college in the srudem cenrer, Florida, will replace current president Joan Develln not cffstre a mile away. In fact, one of his first prl- Coley as of July I, 2010. oriues will be improvement to Decker as well as rhe "Never in my life did Isee this happening," said first year dorms. Casey, "but I came (Q see that! thought I could do Casey and his wife are hugely involved in the good. You have (Q aCCept the mantle of respon~ibil- arts. H<:has been a theatrical producer, director, and lry, and this place really felt right." actor, mostly recently in 2006 in a production of Casey and his wife, Robyn Allers, visited Me- "Devotedly, With Dearest Love: The Letters of Zelda Daniel for the first rime in early November, after the and F. SCOtt Firzgerald." committee decided he was the leading candidate in Allers served as the interim director of the Cor- the large pool. nell Fine Arts Museum at Rollins, and rhey were "We had every detail of these people's Jives laid both extremely pleased to have a reception at the out before us and it was clear," said Mary Lynn Dur- Carroll Arts Center, said Casey, "we will not forget ham, vice chair of the Board of Trustees, "he is so the arts." outstanding so many ways, and fulfilled every single "He and his wife are both very present on our one of our search criteria." campus, and we will miss him. Bur he's ready to pres- A week from then they returned for a public idem. From everything I've heard about McDaniel, visit, including rwo meetings with the faculty, one it will be a great fit," said Duncan. with staff, one with student representatives, and a Another passion of Casey's is srudylng rhc im- dinner with the trustees. He also attended a dinner pact of~Generation X" and "The Millennials.~ He is at the president's house and the annual tree lighr- so arruned to a college students' generation, in fact, 109 ceremony. rhar lr drives him crazy when professors tell students "After that visit, I had emails pouring in from to put their phones away while in class. faculty, saying 'go get himl'" said Durham. "It's the same as telling everyone to pUt their Casey joined Rollins College in 2000 as Dean of pencil and paper away. [ tell everyone to rum (heir Faculty and promoted in 2006 to his current posi- cell phones on and tell people on Facebock what tion. From 1991 to 2000 he was an Associate Dean we're talking about, take a picture, tweet about it, and professor at Birmingham-Southern College in create buzz," he said. Alabama. Casey received his M.A. and PhD in Eng- Casey has his own rwirrer. with which he POStS lish from Florida State University and his BA from quotes he admires, opinions on current issues, and Furman University in his native South Carolina. even references to popular culture (I.e. "This JUStin: "Srudenrs will like [Casey] because he speaks at Paula Abdul will head up "Death Panels" in this fall's your level," said Dr. Lewis Duncan, president of Rot- newest hit on the CDC"). A Sampling of Dr. Casey's Tweets lins College. "When we have our beginning of the "llove Twitter because it's like writing a sonnet. year ceremony, he will often break into a rap song. You're limited to only 140 characters," he said. "Twain: 'Commentators He wants to break down that barrier." According to Durhman, Casey is already talking • dorkness on this subiet1 .... hove already thrown much we sna\\ soon know nolning ~-I'\:~uenet.ation (j_olle~tuq~, grew up wirh joyce Muller about improvem~ m.ili.t.wd;.~iu; in a small (own, and said char his eyes were opened and how we can funh ..r web_based communica