POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- After 37 years as president of Marist College, Dennis Murray will step down on June 30.
“When I came to Marist, it was a small, local community," Murray said. "Today, we're a complex international institution. I know with the new leader, things will only get better."
Taking his place will be David Yellen, most recently the dean of Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Yellen said he’s excited to get to work.
"I really look forward to meeting and getting to know students, faculty, staff, alumni and figuring out together what the next chapter is going to be for Marist," Yellen said.
Student body president Timos Pietris was on the presidential search committee. He said he believes Yellen will be able to help increase diversity and inclusion on campus because of the work he's done at Loyola.
“Within colleges and universities in the nation, there's a lot of talk about social justice and a lot of talk about how we are including people of different diverse races and cultures," Pietris said, "and I think that's something that he has a lot of experience in."
“We’ve been able to increase the number of students of color," Yellen said. "We've been able to re-engage a lot of alumni of color and really build a really dynamic community."
Yellen said Marist has already made great strides with Murray, and he’s excited to continue that work.
“Colleges always have to keep growing and maturing and changing," Yellen said, "and that's got to be the result of lots of discussions among people who really care about the place."
Yellen officially begins his new job on July 1.