Barbara Vacarr, the embattled president of Goddard College, announced Thursday in a joint statement with the school’s board of trustees that she will step down from her post in December.
“In this challenging time of national economic and enrollment concerns for higher education, I remain focused on the issues paramount to Goddard’s mission,” she said. “However, I have concluded that I must also pay more attention to the personal challenges facing close family members. Therefore, I look forward to working with the board in leaving the college moving ahead. I am grateful for the opportunity to lead such a wonderful institution.”
Vacarr was the subject of a February 2013 cover story in Seven Days, in which staff writer Kathryn Flagg documented the president’s struggle to turn the college around. While some community members praised her efforts to retool the school, others criticized the “corporate mentality” they say she brought to the hippie haven.
In a November 2012 letter sent to Vacarr and Goddard’s board of trustees, Flagg reported, 46 faculty members complained about what they saw as a “pattern of unilateral decision making” at the school.
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JANE JANE JANE, coming back maybe.