Alicia Meehan, Campus Carrier deputy news editor
President Sandeep Mazumder appointed Jonathan Huggins, the college chaplain and leader of the Mount Berry Chapel, into a position on his cabinet in September, during his sixteenth year as Chaplain for Berry.
According to Huggins, during the tenure of his predecessor, Dale McConkey, former President Steve Briggs originally removed the role from the cabinet. Huggins said that during McConkey’s nine years, Briggs’ administration felt that the work in the cabinet did not correspond with the job of the Chaplain.
“They felt that the majority of the cabinet’s work was not necessarily relevant to the chaplain, [who was] overseeing other areas of the college like the Bonner program and the Berry College Volunteer Services,” Huggins said.
Huggins said that the elevation of his position to the cabinet comes as an opportunity to bring spiritual life at Berry into administrative decisions. According to Huggins, a seat in the cabinet brings the voice of religious activity into the decision-making process.
“Hundreds of students are involved in [religious life], so it’s a relevant part of campus life,” Huggins said. “So, you need to have a specific person to count on to reflect that constituency.”
Mazumder said he reintroduced the chaplain to his cabinet for two reasons. He said the Chaplain can add the Christian perspective that Berry was founded on and historically, Berry’s chaplain has been on the cabinet.
“It’s in our mission statement that we’re a school founded on Christian principles,” Mazumder said. “I think that lends itself to the chaplain being on the president’s cabinet. For most of Berry’s history, the chaplain has been on the cabinet, so I was trying to restore that historical part of the leadership team.”
Huggins has only attended two cabinet meetings since his appointment so far. He said that they consist mostly of logistics and making a five-year plan for the college, which does not align with his job description.
Like every department head, he plans to bring input that includes the thoughts of spiritual and religious life on campus.
“I’m making proposals about how we can do our lectures better; how can we do our concerts and other programs better?” Huggins said.
Huggins said that he wants to implement plans to reach more students, which would require some fundraising. Huggins does not plan to dip into tuition money but instead wants to gather funds from donations. He did not mention where he would raise funds from.
Mazumder has been supportive of listening to the plans that each cabinet member has for their own groups, according to Huggins. He said that the president is continuing the work of the previous administration while also listening to the plans that his cabinet brings to the table.
“The president is very supportive of what [the department heads] are trying to do, but he also isn’t coming in with any heavy-handed or big ideas that would try to radically change the direction of the school,” Huggins said.