The Board of Trustees of St. Mary's College of Maryland selected Joseph Urgo MA'82 PhD'86 to serve as the next president of the college, Southern Maryland Online reported on Feb. 22.
Urgo is currently the vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Hamilton College. He is also a professor of English, and chaired the English Department at the University of Mississippi before coming to Hamilton, according to the article.
"There was a palpable sense of excitement and celebration as we unanimously elected Dr. Urgo," Molly Mahoney, a trustee and the search committee's chair, told Southern Maryland Online. "We believe he will actively cultivate the intellectual life and vitality of the college."
Urgo will take office on July 1, according to the article.
GWU makes rejection e-mail foul-up
Last month, George Washington University erroneously sent 200 acceptance e-mails to early decision applicants, the Washington Post reported on Feb. 18.
While the university had already released the correct decisions online on Feb. 4, the admission office decided to send out another e-mail to those admitted when snowstorms "really slowed up the delivery of the acceptance packets," Senior Vice President for Student and Academic Services Robert Chernak told the GW Hatchet in a Feb. 16 article.
This second round of e-mails, sent on Feb. 10, incorrectly informed as many as 200 second-round early-decision students that they had been accepted. When admission officers realized the mistake, they sent out an apology e-mail to the falsely notified students, the Hatchet reported.
The university did not correct its "clerical error" for several hours, according to the Washington Post.
Alum will serve as Baylor University's next president
Last month, Baylor University's Board of Regents unanimously chose Kenneth Starr MA'69 to become the university's 14th president, the Lariat reported on Feb. 15. He will replace Interim President David Garland, who was appointed in 2008 after former President John Lilley was fired, according to the article.
Starr currently serves as a professor and dean of the Pepperdine University School of Law.
As solicitor general of the United States, Starr argued 25 cases before the Supreme Court between 1989 and 1993, the Lariat reported.
As an independent counsel, Starr authored the Starr Report, which investigated the Monica Lewinsky scandal and presented evidence for former President Bill Clinton's impeachment, the Lariat reported.
According to the press release, Starr will take office on June 1.
