NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The college community bid farewell to President Jamie Birge last week as he ended his 10-year tenure at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. 

 

"We've had a front row seat to the transformative decade of leadership that we are celebrating here tonight," said Mohan Boodram, past chair of the board of trustees. "Jamie, under your stewardship, MCLA has cemented its national reputation as a leader in public liberal arts education and in enabling social mobility for its students. You strengthened this community, giving your executive team room to lead, giving our faculty and staff room to innovate, and providing our students with a campus that truly feels like home."

 

Boodram, with Trustees Chair Buffy Lord, and former trustees Tyler Fairbank, Susan Gold, and Denise Marshall, presented the retiring Birge with a rocking chair embellished with the signature MCLA gates. 

 

"Our hope for you is that it's a tangible daily reminder of the impact you've had here, the high esteem in which you are held, and the tremendous gratitude for your leadership at our beloved college during what will forever be known as the Birge era," he said. 

 

A more lasting legacy will be the Birge Equity and Opportunity Fund, seeded with $215,000 from the last push of the $33 million Pathways campaign to support scholarships, athletics, student travel and faculty professional development. 

 

"This fund was created to reflect yours and Lisa's deep and unwavering dedication to equity, inclusion, and belonging at MCLA, to ensure that our students have the support they need to fully participate in campus life and to thrive during their time with us," said Boodram.

 

Birge is retiring on June 30, ending his term as the 12th president of MCLA. A former president of Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire, Birge is originally from Lee. He was selected as the college's 12th president in 2015 out of 178 applicants. Diana L. Rogers-Adkinson, senior vice chancellor for academic and student affairs and chief academic officer for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, was selected recently as his successor. 

 

Birge joked that in his first interview, with the search committee, he'd said, "I don't know why you're interested in me," and it worked so well to get a second interview, he said it again. 

 

"Here we are, 10 years later," he said. "While many contributions at the institution will be credited toward me, it really is their accomplishment, not mine. So, thanks to all of you for your support, your challenge, and the way that we've led together." 

 

Thursday's event in the Amsler Campus Center was attended by current and former staff and faculty, trustees, students, family and community leaders, and Commissioner of Higher Education Noe Ortega and his predecessor Carlos Santiago.

 

Serving as master of ceremonies was Richard Alcombright, mayor when Birge was named president of the college and now a friend, and who turned the celebration into something of a roast, tossing light-hearted jabs everyone's way.

 

Popping on a light-up bowtie, a josh at Birge's trademark neckwear, Alcombright said, to laughter, "the committee wanted me to simply recognize and toast your accomplishments for the next 30 minutes or so, but speaking with others, well, it was kind of quickly realized that there aren't enough accomplishments to fill up our event."

 

That was, of course, belied by the series of speakers introduced who spoke to Birge's friendship and loyalty, perseverance and integrity, his curiosity and passion for education, and his accomplishments as president. 

 

Gina Puc, formerly dean of enrollment management and community relations, and now at what Alcombright called that "other school down the street," said the number of attendees was a testament to Birge's leadership.

 

He'd maintained the college's top 10 U.S. News ranking, brought back ice hockey, doubled the college's reserves, launched its four-year nursing and radiologic technology degrees, ensured 60 students from the closed Southern Vermont College could continue at MCLA, steered MCLA through the pandemic and increased enrollment in the following difficult years. 

 

"You created a space where your entire team could challenge ideas, probably most too often yours, and because we always knew you had our backs," Puc said. "You empowered us, and you carried the heavy, all too often invisible, burdens of the presidency, so that we could do the work that needed to be done every day for our students, faculty, and staff peers."

 

State Sen. Paul Mark and state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, representing the Berkshire delegation, brought a citation from Gov. Maura Healey in honor of his 30 years of dedication to higher education.

 

"In Massachusetts, we've always chosen education, and so whenever you talk about that, and when I think about what you've contributed to that, especially in these moments, I think it's incredibly amazing the work you've done," said Mark, highlighting some of the challenges and Birge's commitment equity and diversity. "That you've kept this institution going and strong, and that it's going to be here ... for another 126 years, in no small part thanks to your work here."

 

And five students, via video, also sent their congratulations, and thanked him for his interest in their college experiences — from pushing a shopping cart to help them move into dorms, working in his office, advising them on their future paths. 

 

"You have been a great impact in my life, and I can only imagine the countless lives that you've also impacted in your time at MCLA," said Jeremiah Figueroa. "Congratulations on a well-deserved, a well-earned retirement."

 

Ron Hammond worked with both Birge and his wife, Lisa, at Plymouth State University as residence hall staff and rejoined him decades later at Franklin Pierce. 

 

He recalled his friend's actions during tense contract negotiations to connect with staff as colleagues, his passion for liberal arts education instilled by Jesuit teachings, and how he met his wife. 

 

"I would bet sadly Jamie's one major failing as a chief executive is he has a complete lack of arrogance. It's linear. He leads with humility and has a deep faith in others," said Hammond. "I know you're asking yourself, but I asked myself for years, how did he get this far? His single weapon is that he has a second shield. ... For more than 40 years, she has been his second shield, his confidant, his true partner in life. She's there, and she allows Jamie to soldier on with their challenges at school."

 

Lisa Birge herself, with their three daughters Caitlin Bickel, Margaret Nelson and Siobhan Birge by her side, said, "Well, Dr. Birge, the time has come for you to start thinking about you. ... I feel profoundly blessed to have been standing by you for this journey, Jamie, watching your career flourish with your leadership and the everlasting impact that you have had on places."

 

The couple were celebrating their 39th wedding anniversary on Saturday, and she recalled all the places they'd lived in that time and the many friends they'd made over the years. 

 

"This is the longest that we've ever been in one place, and it's certainly the longest position that you've ever held," she said. "MCLA has been incredibly good to us. It's a very special community, yet we know that this is the exact right time for us to leave."

 

Birge encouraged the attendees to take a snip of ivies set out in vases next to cards — with bowtie stickers — for leaving personal notes. 

 

"Every year at baccalaureate, students had an opportunity to share the cutting up of ivy with someone from the campus that had made an impact on their lives, someone who had a positive impact on their lives," she said. "Tonight, Jamie and I thought that it would be nice if you would like to grab an ivy clipping."