Board Chair Madeleine Dassow ’75 statement on Dr. Fred Whitt announced retirement 

August 7, 2024

It is with mixed emotions that I share Dr. Whitt’s decision to retire as president of Lenoir-Rhyne University at the end of the 2024-25 academic year. While I am personally excited for him to be able to spend more time with his beloved children and grandchildren, I am sad that he will be leaving Lenoir-Rhyne, which he has served so faithfully since 2017. It has been truly an honor and a privilege to serve alongside him as chair of the Board of Trustees for the last six years.

Dr. Whitt is a dynamic leader with a passion for educating the whole student and preparing them for a future filled with success. He is compassionate and cares both for the students and the faculty and staff. He loves our cherished university and has given 100 percent of himself toward making LR an outstanding institution.

During his time as president, he led the university to incredible accomplishments, while also guiding  the university through difficult challenges.  He exhibited remarkable leadership by navigating the university through the COVID-19 pandemic, retaining face-to-face classes, athletic activities, and not reducing employee benefits, salaries, or implementing layoffs or furloughs. His  collaborative efforts by establishing a task force and including support from the Catawba County Health Department and local health care providers became a model for others to follow. I remember well Dr. Whitt saying, “The safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty and staff are of utmost importance to our LR community.”

Since that time the university has continued to thrive. This fall we expect to enroll our largest number of students since COVID, along with positive increases in students choosing to live on campus. The completion of the newly renovated Moretz Stadium in 2022 will allow us all to celebrate the stadium’s 100th anniversary this fall. In addition, capital improvements to Isenhour dorm, the Lineberger Building and the Daniel Rhyne Building will contribute to a state-of-the-art atmosphere on campus.

Dr. Whitt’s focus has always been the students. It didn’t matter whether they were musicians, athletes, scientists, nurses or teachers—he celebrated them all. In my six years of working with Dr. Whitt as chair, I always knew to allow extra time to walk from his office to the cafeteria as he had to stop and talk with the students calling each by name. Dr. Whitt has worked tirelessly to make Lenoir-Rhyne affordable for all students while protecting the financial stability of the university. During his time as president, the university implemented a tuition reset, reducing the tuition cost per student from $43,000 to $30,000. He worked collaboratively with community college presidents to implement the Bear Bound initiative that has more than doubled graduates of area community college students transferring to Lenoir-Rhyne. There is now an affordable option for a 2 + 2 seamless pathway that is cheaper for students compared to four years at a North Carolina state university. This creates possibilities that some students didn’t even know existed. US News and ranked LR as a Best Value regional university – the highest ranking in this category for any NC regional university.

Dr. Whitt has worked to enhance the academic profile of Lenoir-Rhyne by establishing the Fritz Honors College, welcoming 68 new fist year honor students to campus this fall. In addition LR students have be awarded a Fullbright, Goldwater and Gilman scholar during his tenure and the university just received a National Science Foundation Grant of $1.2 million, the largest in the history of LR. 

He has completed $65 million of new building and renovation projects that have significally improved the faculty and student experience , and will launch a $90 million comprehensive campaign which will address much-needed renovations of the Rudisill Library, the Cromer Center and Morgan residence hall.

Dr. Whitt plans to continue his work for the university throughout this academic year with the same enthusiasm and passion that he has shown since he began. He is determined to finish strong and to ensure  a smooth transition for the next president of Lenoir-Rhyne.

He has earned the trust and support of the full board and we will miss his warm smile, his passion and enthusiasm, his humility, and his care and concern for everything LR. It has never been about him, but about what he can do to improve and leave LR in a better place than when he began. 

While he gives credit to others for the achievements, he will leave us with our recognition that the success LR has achieved rests squarely on his shoulders. He is truly part of “the magic” that makes LR special.

With deepest regard,

Madeleine Dassow ’75
Chair of the LR Board of Trustees