Consensus-builder Welch wins award
July 15, 2007
Consensus-builder Welch wins Spirit of the Valley
By Bob Schwarz
Staff writer
The University of Charleston was struggling in 1989 when Ed Welch took over as president.
The school had an $830,000 budget deficit and donations were falling short.
In the 18 years Welch has led the school, enrollment has swelled as a student body that was mostly part-time commuters has evolved into one where nine of 10 students are full time and two of three students live on campus.
During Welch’s tenure, UC added Clay Tower in 1997, giving the campus the first new building in 30 years and providing a new home for the school’s library and science classrooms; converted the old library into the Erma Byrd Gallery of West Virginia Women Artists; brought back football in 2003; opened a pharmacy school and a new classroom building to house it in 2006; tore down three old residence halls and built three new ones; and raised more than $50 million in an ambitious, ongoing capital campaign now in its fourth year.
Board member, Kanawha Circuit Judge Irene Berger, said she sits on many boards. “You discuss things and nothing happens. With Ed, you discuss things and he makes something happen. I think he’s awake at night thinking of ways to make UC better when the rest of us are sleeping.”
Berger first came on the board to finish someone else’s term. During those three years, the board discussed a pharmacy school, a football team, moving the entrance, making changes in the nursing program.
“All of that came to fruition within a short time after I left the board,” Berger said. “He doesn’t sit on those recommendations. He has great insight. He has the respect of the community and that enhances his ability to get things done. He makes sure that UC is part of the community. He has collaborations with the business community, with other small colleges. He makes the best of the resources he has.”
“He’s overseeing one of the few entities in this city that is really growing,” said Charleston Mayor Danny Jones. “That means a lot to the city.”
Because of all he has done for the college, the city and the region, Welch is the winner of the 2007 Spirit of the Valley Award, given annually by the YMCA of Kanawha Valley. The selection committee consisted of Mayor Jones; United Way of Central West Virginia Chairman Jim Sutherland, YMCA of Kanawha Valley Chairman J. Michael Forbes, Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation Chairman Henry Harmon, Charleston Area Alliance Chairman Jack Rossi, and all previous Spirit of the Valley honorees.
Welch will be honored at a noon luncheon Aug. 15 at Embassy Suites. The proceeds go to the YMCA’s youth scholarship fund, except for $15,000 that goes to Welch’s designated charity, UC. Tickets start at $150 for the luncheon, which raised $215,000 last year.
“He’s personable, tremendously intelligent, well-read, has a sense of humor,” said Ken Sullivan, executive director of the West Virginia Humanities Council, for which UC has waived fees when providing a hall for speakers. “He has a real knack for securing the resources that are needed, fundraising, in a word.”
The university was nearly on life support when Welch arrived, said Holmes Morrison, longtime UC board chairman and a board member off and on since the early 1980s. “Ed is a visionary,” Morrison said. “He sees trends coming.”
Morrison said that a college president has to satisfy many constituencies: administrators, professors, students, parents, governing board. “He communicates well. He is a consensus builder.”
Professors complained in the early years about the dismantling of a liberal arts college. Some aired their views in the newspaper. Some took early retirement or left for other jobs.
The university was shifting to outcomes-based learning, giving students learning they and their teachers could measure, Morrison said. “Any change is tough. It was hard for the faculty, hard for everybody.”
The son of a minister, Welch, 63, spent his first 10 years after high school in college. For four years as an undergraduate in Maryland and then three in seminary at Boston University, he prepared himself for a career in the ministry. “I decided there were different ways to be ministerial, and there were different kinds of parishes,” he said.
After seminary, he studied international relations for a year at the London School of Economics and Political Science, then returned to Boston University and earned a Ph.D. in social ethics.
“I really do care about leaving places better than when I found them,” said Welch. “Some of it’s ministerial. Some of it’s the 1960s do-goodism, social activism.”
Her husband works constantly, but when he isn’t working, he likes to work crossword puzzles and play tennis, said Janet Welch, his wife of 30 years. He’s too busy to play much golf. He reads mostly nonfiction. He cooks. “He makes the best fried chicken in the world. He’ll do poached eggs on toast for weekend breakfast or waffles with strawberries.”
He writes well, a skill he honed when he worked in President Lyndon Johnson’s White House, helping to prepare daily news summaries for the president and write the president’s messages to Congress, Mrs. Welch said. “He’s very rational, very orderly. His desk is always very clean. His clothes are always the same way.”
Is he always on? “I see him when he isn’t,” Mrs. Welch said. “He can be very humorous. He loves to tease people. Most people don’t see that side of him.”
To contact staff writer Bob Schwarz, use e-mail or call 348-1249.
Past winners
The following people are past winners of the Spirit of the Valley Award:
1985 — John Wells Sr.
1986 — Sidney Davis
1987 — Bert Bradford, M.D.
1988 — Lawson Hamilton
1989 — James Poindexter
1990 — Ike Smith
1991 — Jim Thomas
1992 — Warren Point, M.D.
1993 — Lyell Clay
1994 — Martha Wehrle
1995 — William Brotherton Jr.
1996 — Angus Peyton
1997 — Tom Potter
1998 — John McClaugherty
1999 — Bertie Cohen
2000 — Thad Epps
2001 — Joe Jefferds Jr.
2002 — Lewis McManus
2003 — John McGee
2004 — Betty Schoenbaum
2005 — John M. Wells Jr. (posthumously)
2006 — Ed Maier
Consensus-builder Welch wins Spirit of the Valley
By Bob Schwarz
Staff writer
The University of Charleston was struggling in 1989 when Ed Welch took over as president.
The school had an $830,000 budget deficit and donations were falling short.
In the 18 years Welch has led the school, enrollment has swelled as a student body that was mostly part-time commuters has evolved into one where nine of 10 students are full time and two of three students live on campus.
During Welch’s tenure, UC added Clay Tower in 1997, giving the campus the first new building in 30 years and providing a new home for the school’s library and science classrooms; converted the old library into the Erma Byrd Gallery of West Virginia Women Artists; brought back football in 2003; opened a pharmacy school and a new classroom building to house it in 2006; tore down three old residence halls and built three new ones; and raised more than $50 million in an ambitious, ongoing capital campaign now in its fourth year.
Board member, Kanawha Circuit Judge Irene Berger, said she sits on many boards. “You discuss things and nothing happens. With Ed, you discuss things and he makes something happen. I think he’s awake at night thinking of ways to make UC better when the rest of us are sleeping.”
Berger first came on the board to finish someone else’s term. During those three years, the board discussed a pharmacy school, a football team, moving the entrance, making changes in the nursing program.
“All of that came to fruition within a short time after I left the board,” Berger said. “He doesn’t sit on those recommendations. He has great insight. He has the respect of the community and that enhances his ability to get things done. He makes sure that UC is part of the community. He has collaborations with the business community, with other small colleges. He makes the best of the resources he has.”
“He’s overseeing one of the few entities in this city that is really growing,” said Charleston Mayor Danny Jones. “That means a lot to the city.”
Because of all he has done for the college, the city and the region, Welch is the winner of the 2007 Spirit of the Valley Award, given annually by the YMCA of Kanawha Valley. The selection committee consisted of Mayor Jones; United Way of Central West Virginia Chairman Jim Sutherland, YMCA of Kanawha Valley Chairman J. Michael Forbes, Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation Chairman Henry Harmon, Charleston Area Alliance Chairman Jack Rossi, and all previous Spirit of the Valley honorees.
Welch will be honored at a noon luncheon Aug. 15 at Embassy Suites. The proceeds go to the YMCA’s youth scholarship fund, except for $15,000 that goes to Welch’s designated charity, UC. Tickets start at $150 for the luncheon, which raised $215,000 last year.
“He’s personable, tremendously intelligent, well-read, has a sense of humor,” said Ken Sullivan, executive director of the West Virginia Humanities Council, for which UC has waived fees when providing a hall for speakers. “He has a real knack for securing the resources that are needed, fundraising, in a word.”
The university was nearly on life support when Welch arrived, said Holmes Morrison, longtime UC board chairman and a board member off and on since the early 1980s. “Ed is a visionary,” Morrison said. “He sees trends coming.”
Morrison said that a college president has to satisfy many constituencies: administrators, professors, students, parents, governing board. “He communicates well. He is a consensus builder.”
Professors complained in the early years about the dismantling of a liberal arts college. Some aired their views in the newspaper. Some took early retirement or left for other jobs.
The university was shifting to outcomes-based learning, giving students learning they and their teachers could measure, Morrison said. “Any change is tough. It was hard for the faculty, hard for everybody.”
The son of a minister, Welch, 63, spent his first 10 years after high school in college. For four years as an undergraduate in Maryland and then three in seminary at Boston University, he prepared himself for a career in the ministry. “I decided there were different ways to be ministerial, and there were different kinds of parishes,” he said.
After seminary, he studied international relations for a year at the London School of Economics and Political Science, then returned to Boston University and earned a Ph.D. in social ethics.
“I really do care about leaving places better than when I found them,” said Welch. “Some of it’s ministerial. Some of it’s the 1960s do-goodism, social activism.”
Her husband works constantly, but when he isn’t working, he likes to work crossword puzzles and play tennis, said Janet Welch, his wife of 30 years. He’s too busy to play much golf. He reads mostly nonfiction. He cooks. “He makes the best fried chicken in the world. He’ll do poached eggs on toast for weekend breakfast or waffles with strawberries.”
He writes well, a skill he honed when he worked in President Lyndon Johnson’s White House, helping to prepare daily news summaries for the president and write the president’s messages to Congress, Mrs. Welch said. “He’s very rational, very orderly. His desk is always very clean. His clothes are always the same way.”
Is he always on? “I see him when he isn’t,” Mrs. Welch said. “He can be very humorous. He loves to tease people. Most people don’t see that side of him.”
To contact staff writer Bob Schwarz, use e-mail or call 348-1249.
Past winners
The following people are past winners of the Spirit of the Valley Award:
1985 — John Wells Sr.
1986 — Sidney Davis
1987 — Bert Bradford, M.D.
1988 — Lawson Hamilton
1989 — James Poindexter
1990 — Ike Smith
1991 — Jim Thomas
1992 — Warren Point, M.D.
1993 — Lyell Clay
1994 — Martha Wehrle
1995 — William Brotherton Jr.
1996 — Angus Peyton
1997 — Tom Potter
1998 — John McClaugherty
1999 — Bertie Cohen
2000 — Thad Epps
2001 — Joe Jefferds Jr.
2002 — Lewis McManus
2003 — John McGee
2004 — Betty Schoenbaum
2005 — John M. Wells Jr. (posthumously)
2006 — Ed Maier