Dr. Mark Anarumo’s move into dorms during pandemic draws national media spotlight
2021 brought many challenges and opportunities for the university’s 24th president, Mark Anarumo. His first year started when he took the helm in June 2020, and was defined by the then-in-full-swing COVID-19 pandemic.
Spring 2021 brought a wave of coronavirus infections on campus, which prompted classes to be conducted remotely and students to be quarantined in their rooms for an extended period. Anarumo’s leadership style quickly emerged as he addressed Norwich students’ needs and concerns; his unconventional move into the barracks and dorms to be with students attracted national media attention.
Vaccines enabled an open, in-person campus for fall 2021 and the return of traditions annual and exceptional. On Sept. 22, just before Homecoming, Anarumo was officially inaugurated. In October, Anarumo and his family brought home a new puppy, which students named Sally Rose, the Rook of Woodbury Hall.
The president’s empathetic leadership continued in the fall, as he stood in for football offensive lineman Chase Panza’s mother as a Senior Day escort before a Saturday game at Sabine Field at Haynes Family Stadium, with Sally Rose in tow. Anarumo in November shared his thoughts and insights with Rutgers Business School “Signature Leadership Series: Reflections on Leadership in Combat, Parenting, and Higher Education.” Alumni and friends can meet the president at one of his Inauguration Tour’s many stops.
In June, Anarumo was appointed to two executive committees: the Association of Vermont Independent Colleges and the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States’ executive committee.
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READ MORE IN THIS SERIES:
- Norwich University named several key administrators, including a chief of staff, commandant and provost, to lead its charge
- Alumni hail the return of in-person Homecoming and Family Weekend and the naming of an alumnus as commandant
- Presidential inauguration and symposiums for military writers and military academies lead year’s events calendar
