College undergoes change in presidential leadership
Jillian Beaster ’28 | beasterjro@lakeforest.edu | News Editor
Caleb Pope ‘27 | popecse95@lakeforest.edu | Staff Writer
An unexpected email was sent on December 10, 2024, informing staff, students, and faculty of an immediate change in college leadership. Board of Trustees Chairman Bill Lowry announced the transition from former President Jill Baren to Interim President Robert Krebs.
Krebs has served on the Board of Trustees since 1990 and has been elected Chairman twice. During his time in Lake Forest, his admiration for the town and the College has grown, along with his concern for its financial future.
“We have all these wonderful students, faculty, staff, good rankings…I admire what they are, and what a liberal arts education can do,” Krebs said. “The thing that is holding us back is that our endowment is so small, it’s 120 million, and it should be 3,4,5,10 times that. So, we’re going to have a campaign to raise funds for endowment.”
As of May 31, 2024, the endowment fund rests at $123,554,776, though administration and faculty believe this amount will not suffice in the long-term.
Kevin Howley, Vice President of Finance and Institutional Planning, says that the funds directly impact college improvement, scholarship money for students, and other aspects of funding for LFC
“The endowment is established as an investment that produces income for the benefit of the College. Colleges take a “draw” against their endowment each year to fund their operations, generally in the 4.5-5.0% range,” Howley said. “The income from the endowment supplements tuition revenue and contributions so that we can run the operation.”
In the search for a permanent president, Krebs stresses the importance of the ability to represent the College and gain money for its endowment and overall donations.
“One of [the main reasons the endowment is important] is to provide scholarships for students, there are a lot of deserving students who could never be here if it wasn’t for someone to help them, and the other one is to pay our faculty and staff what they deserve,” Krebs said.
Professor James Marquardt mentioned that a college president’s main priority is to increase and solidify donation funds and failing to meet that priority can raise serious issues.
“[President Baren] struggled to get [potential donors] into formal agreements,” Marquardt said.
Krebs echoed this point, emphasizing the imminent need for increased endowment funds.
“Times change when you have different needs…[the new President] needs to be good at that,” Krebs said. “Let’s just say that it wasn’t a good fit [with Baren]…and there was nothing scandalous, there was no malfeasance.”
The administration also places importance on finding a candidate that fits the needs of students, and who knows how to approach initiatives in a certain way to reap the most specific benefits of Lake Forest College.
“The College needs someone who understands liberal arts,” Marquardt said.
“[We’re looking for] someone who can showcase the institution and raise money for it…I think something that is intertwined with this campaign is we need to [determine] what kind of a community we are and what our values are,” Krebs said. “You [have to] build the community [where] you listen, you talk, you have conversations, discourse, but mainly it’s listening and then putting that together in a way that everybody feels like they’re part of a community.”
Isaac Orange, a junior at Lake Forest College, explained his feelings on the transition of presidents and how it was communicated.
“So many emails focus on problems or controversy within the school without offering solutions or clear paths forward,” Orange said. “As long as the position of president is focused on solving issues and not just talk, I believe it is important to the success of the school.”
The search for a new President is underway, though according to an email from Student Government, this process will not accept students as members of the Presidential Search Committee. This, according to the email, is to “ensure confidentiality of the process.” To include some student input, the Board invited Student Government to create a Presidential Search Advisory Committee of student leaders, representing the voice of the student body.
Former President Jill Baren and current Board of Trustees Chairman Bill Lowry did not respond for a comment.