Columbia College’s next president will begin in less than two months on March 1 and he’s looking forward to the job. Dr. Toby Arquette tells 939 the Eagle that the student experience is the most important promise they can make as an institution:
“Meaning that we have to help make a wonderful academic experience, a wonderful co-curricular and extra-curricular experience. But at the end of the day, our hope is that students will come out transformed out of the Columbia (College) education to launch lives of purpose,” he says.
Dr. Arquette is currently serving as vice president at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. He was hired from a field of more than 100 applicants at Columbia College. He tells 939 the Eagle that his his top priority will be listening and learning, when he begins the new job on March 1. He also plans to begin the process of working with faculty, staff, students and the board to co-create the next chapter for Columbia College:
“I think it would be presumptuous of me to assert what I think that should like. I have some ideas but at the end of the day my goal is to empower the community to come together around a shared vision that moves Columbia forward into that next 175 years,” he says.
Columbia College, which was founded in 1851, will celebrate its 175th anniversary in 2026.