Quotes About President Kent Chabotar
“Kent Chabotar has brought a unique skill set to Guilford College. He has financial acumen and creative vision; he can balance budgets in tough economic times and move Guilford College to the forefront of liberal arts higher education.
Having such an array of abilities is unusual and highly effective. Guilford College and the greater Piedmont Triad community have benefited greatly from his leadership over the last 11 years.”
– Guilford College Trustee Carole Bruce
“Kent has been an excellent president for Guilford College – the finest we’ve had in my 40 years on the Board of Trustees. He will be greatly missed as president, and his shoes will be hard to fill. I’m delighted he is planning on teaching at Guilford after a year’s sabbatical.
“He’s one of the most respected liberal arts college presidents in the United States. He’s highly regarded as an expert in the field of college finances, enough so that he teaches finance to new college presidents at Harvard. He has kept this College in a stable financial position in challenging economic times.
“Kent has been a great contributor to Greensboro and the Triad, raising the college’s profile through his service on various community boards, his speaking engagements, media interviews on higher education and his introductions in front of thousands of people at our Bryan Series programs.”
– Guilford College Board of Trustees Chair Joseph M. Bryan Jr.
“Kent Chabotar has been a beacon of light in helping college presidents, deans and other campus leaders understand the finances of the fragile organizations that colleges truly are. He has also made it possible for state and federal policy officials to grasp the complexities of higher education.
“As vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Council of Independent Colleges and a frequent speaker at CIC’s national conferences, he has suggested new ways for all of us to think about the prudent investments in higher education that our society should be making.”
– Council of Independent Colleges President Richard Ekman
“Kent Chabotar has been a leader whose impact extends well beyond his outstanding success at Guilford. He understands the current challenges confronting higher education and has demonstrated an amazing capacity to manage and lead during a very different environment for all institutions.
“Kent’s capacity to address fiscal issues and to work well with all stakeholders has long served as a model for his peers. And his awareness of a changing set of expectations for governing boards made him a most impressive messenger about collaborative governance in a period of heightened expectations.”
– Association of Governing Boards President Rick Legon
“Kent has provided extraordinary leadership, both as president of Guilford College, and as a board member of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. He chaired the highly regarded Task Force on Financial Responsibility, and is also chair of the NAICU Audit Committee. He has brought to all his work a rare blend of intelligence, humor, expertise and political wisdom.”
– National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities President David Warren
“When the floundering ship neared the rocks, he guided us to calmer waters.”
– Dana Professor of English Carolyn Beard Whitlow, who was clerk of the faculty in 2002
“Among Kent’s greatest strengths as president of Guilford College are his perceptive vision of the future and his deep commitment to strategic planning through a collaborative, community-wide process. The great advances the college has made during Kent’s tenure have been carefully developed and planned, moving all of the constituencies of the College forward together with the common goal of strengthening and enhancing the institution.”
̶ North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities President A. Hope Williams
“Kent has demonstrated a unique understanding of the complex puzzle of planning, finance, management, facilities, and enrollment. His ability to see the relationship between these interlocking pieces, and how action in one sector affects all others, empowered the college to generate new resources where once there had been none.
“All the enhancements to our physical plant, the rise in faculty/staff salaries, and growth in enrollment are due to his leadership. He not only pulled us back from the abyss of financial ruin, but set us on a path of success and a thriving future.
- Professor of Theatre Studies and Director of Study Abroad Jack Zerbe, a two-time clerk of the faculty
