President Lynn Morton Retires: Bill Christy to be the Interim President
Devin Gildner | May 3, 2022
Special to The Echo
Bill Christy and Lynn Morton.
Change is inevitable and Warren Wilson College (WWC) is no exception. President Lynn Morton announced her retirement on March 30, finishing her career at WWC at the end of the 2022 academic year.
“I’m writing to share the news that I have decided to retire at the end of this academic year,” Morton wrote. “This was a very difficult decision. My time at Warren Wilson College has brought me great joy and professional growth.”
Morton has over 35 years of experience in higher education and spent 25 years at the University of Charlotte. There as vice president, she focused on developing students' careers, institutional advancement, academic excellence, and diversity, inclusion and community engagement initiatives. This experience helped create the Center for Integrated Advising and Careers (CIAC) model used on campus today.
When WWC announced Morton as president on July 1, 2017, she became the first woman president of the college.
To Morton, because of the way WWC integrates academics, work, community and global engagement and co-curricular activities, Warren Wilson is a very special and unique educational environment to her.
“Our students are energetic and engaged, as are our faculty and staff,” Morton said. “Where else can the entire campus come out to help with or watch a cattle move? … What other campus has an annual circus that showcases student talent? And all of that in our beautiful mountain setting. It's amazing.”
One of Morton’s favorite memories on campus was working and conversing with students on Work Day this past March after not being able to in previous years due to the pandemic.
“Where else can everyone gather as we just did a couple of weeks ago on Work Day to be in the community while improving campus?” Morton said. “I've also participated in the cattle move on multiple occasions and I'll treasure that memory.”
Although WWC was and still is a very important aspect of her life, Morton has plans for the next chapter of her life.
“I'm going to take some time to consider what I want to do in this next chapter after working really hard full-time for so many years in higher education,” Morton said. “There are several causes I'm passionate about such as bridging political and religious divides, equity work, public K-12 education and local community causes.”
Things that Morton is proud of in her five years at WWC are growing the enrollment on campus as well as the two scholarship programs: NC Free and Milepost One, which provide greater access for students to attend WWC.
“I think that to have a really vibrant campus with enough diversity, and so you're not with the same people all the time, it's really good to get our student numbers up to a level that's good for social life. Good for academic reasons. And then also good for the college,” Morton said. “In terms of budget. We rely on enrollment for 85% of our expenses. So increasing enrollment is kind of a really important thing to do. So while our overall numbers, particularly in the first year of COVID, when we had about 485 students on campus. I think it's 650 this year, which is still above where we were when I came in.”
As it was mentioned, Morton’s tenure overlapped with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Just like most other colleges, WWC shut down in March of 2020.
“We didn't know how it was transmitted,” Morton said. “We didn't know who was most at risk. All the vibrancy of our campus left, all the employees worked remotely for the most part. We began to experience that sense of bewilderment and isolation, I feel particularly sympathetic to college students and to younger students. Because this is such an incredibly formative part of your life.”
Morton had a decision to make when it came to reopening the college the following year. The decision was to reopen and Morton was proud of the WWC community for doing everything they were supposed to and instructed to do. Everyone needed to adapt, especially the faculty for pivoting to teaching online.
“I think people don't really understand exactly how heroic the faculty was,” Morton said. “Because they had to first of all pivot to all online very quickly right when it started, and then when we reopened, everybody was still unsettled. Now they're teaching in three different modalities. So they're teaching in person, to the students who came back, they're teaching in a hybrid kind of format.”
Morton made quick decisions and gathered information as she sat on the executive committee of the North Carolina independent colleges and universities. As part of that job, Morton was asked to also meet with the Department of Health and Human Services in their higher education outreach in North Carolina. Additionally, the six presidents in western North Carolina area got together quickly to share information and protocols and talk about how to keep people as safe as possible.
While the enrollment went up and COVID-19 was handled as well as possible under Morton, there were some things that Morton wished she could have done during her time as WWC president. One of those things is to increase trust between the Cabinet and students.
“I think that students might be surprised at what motivates our Cabinet, you know, the Cabinet’s motivated by the student experience and by making the world a better place,” Morton said. “And I also think people do not realize how hard people work – But I do think that it is incumbent on the administration to work hard to increase communication and trust, and we have not always done a great job of that.”
One of the things that Morton would like students to understand is that Cabinet members work very hard to make the college a better place that benefits all.
“We don't very often have the luxury of walking away from our email for the weekend. We have to be on all the time,” Morton said. “The jobs that these Cabinet members do are complex, and that they are working really hard, and that they are trying to do the best that they can for the college and for the students and the campus.”
In the same announcement that told of President Morton’s retirement, it announced that Bill Christy who graduated from WWC in 1979, would be taking over as interim president. Christy has been part of the board of trustees since 2010. During his tenure, he hopes to focus on continuing the work that has to be done, listening carefully, and helping prepare Warren Wilson to be the best institution that it can be as well as be a place that the next president will be excited about.
Christy met Morton when she was a candidate for the presidency when Christy was board chair.
“She is an incredibly articulate and passionate advocate for Warren Wilson,” Christy said. “She is relentlessly optimistic and tries to see the best in everyone. I appreciate the work that she has done and the many innovative initiatives that she instituted and the way that she has worked on infusing the concept of responsibility across campus. The entire community owes her a debt of gratitude for her efforts and certainly wishes her well in the future. I will miss her guidance and insights, and luckily I will retain our friendship.”
As WWC says goodbye to President Morton, she would like to give one more message to students.
“I love all my interactions with students, believe it or not, even the ones that are tough,” Morton said. “Because I understand where it's coming from and I respect it. I care about each and every one of you and always have. I know you'll do great things in this world — you already are.”
