DANBURY – At a time in this country where many are questioning the importance of a college education at a time when more graduates cannot find jobs, pay down steep student loans or afford to live on their own, newly installed Western Connecticut State University President Jesse Bernal has a message of hope.
“What are universities for? It’s a fair question,” Bernal told those gathered at his inauguration March 27 at the Hagman Concert Hall Visual & Performing Arts Center. “It deserves a real honest answer.
“Here’s mine: When I just turned 18, I bought a one-way ticket to California. I had just enough money for the ticket there. That bus was carrying this young kid from South Texas, who already tried college once and left. Who didn’t have a plan. But who believed because his family taught him to believe that education had the power to change a life.”
He told an audience of nearly 300, which included Gov. Ned Lamont and Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves, that when he steps on the WestConn campus he sees students who are not just choosing a college. “They are choosing to believe that something different is possible,” he said. “That’s what universities are for and that’s what WestConn is for.”
According to a New York Times story Sunday, March 29, the writer Noam Scheiber reported that recent college graduates are having a harder time finding work. From 1990-2018, it was almost unheard of for the unemployment rate of recent college graduates to exceed the country’s overall rate. But that has been the case for five straight years, Scheiber wrote.
That has led to graduates having to take service jobs at Starbucks or Target as they return home to live with their parents as they prepare to repay student loans that can run upwards of $70,000.
Bernal, who comes to Western Connecticut via Grand Valley State University in Michigan, laid out his plan for one of the state’s four regional state universities during his tenure.
“The model for higher education that most of us inherited was designed for a world that no longer exists and in many cases for students that look like that students we have on our campus,” he said. “We’re not those people anymore and, quite honestly, thank goodness for it.
“My job is not to defend a model that leaves too many people out; it’s to become one that leads people where they are, tells them the truth about what is possible and walks with them until they get there.”
Mayor Alves reiterated the need for a strong symbiotic relationship between WestConn and Greater Danbury when it comes to education, jobs and the local economy.
“As I have gotten to know Dr. Bernal in the short time he has been here, he has already articulated a clear vision – a plan to continue moving WestConn forward,” Alves said. “WestConn and the City of Danbury have a storied history going back 120 years, when this institution was founded as Danbury Normal School.
“Over the years, our relationship has continued to develop as WestConn grew with more academic offerings and through it all the university continues to share the same mission of service and of community.”
Gov. Lamont, who helped swear in Bernal during his investiture Friday, specified some of the business relationships that exist between the university and Danbury.
“I remember our conversation (with Bernal) like it was yesterday,” Lamont said. “(He said) this is part of something bigger. We’re going to make sure that Western is part of the broader community. We’re going to have programs as part of Boehringer Ingelheim. We’re going to have programs over at Danbury Hospital. We’re going to make sure that you are taking courses at where jobs are. Make sure that the jobs come to you.”
Grand Valley State University President Philomena Mantella, who has worked with Bernal for five years, called her former colleague’s ascension to his own presidency one that will benefit WestConn in the years to come.
“Students today are navigating rising costs, working family responsibilities, new workforce demands and an uncertain economic future,” she said. “Communities are asking whether higher education is a reliable pathway to mobility and purpose. Employers are looking for graduates who are adaptable, prepared and grounded in ethical leadership.
She called this moment a bold one that needs a leader that WestConn can get behind for “intentional leadership and shared resolve.”
“That’s why President Jesse Bernal is the right leader for the moment,” she added. “I’m speaking not only as a colleague but as someone who has the privilege of working alongside Jesse for five years at Grand Valley State University where he served as vice president and chief of staff.”
Bernal, who has a Ph.D., is the 10th president in WestConn’s history, having replaced the late John Clark who died in January. Earlier in his career, the new WestConn president was chief executive GVSU Public Charter Schools and served in state and system-level roles in California.
He serves on the boards of the Center for the Advancement of Professional Students and the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. He also chairs the REP4 President’s Council.
He earned his Ph.D. in education from the Gervitz Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
“When I think about WestConn, I think about threads,” Bernal said. “Every student who arrives here carries one. Every faculty member, every alum, every donor, every partner, every family member is hoping it will help someone they love. Every university is woven from a thousand threads, a living tapestry of people, ideas and possibilities.”
Past WCSU presidents
John Clark (2015-2022)
James Schmotter (2004-2015)
James Roach (1992-2004)
Stephen Feldman (1981-1992)
Robert Bersi (1975-1981)
Ruth Haas (1946-1975)
Ralph Jenkins (1935-1946)
Lothrop Higgins (1923-1935)
John Perkins (1903-1923)
