Trustees elect VP Junker to suceed Arnelle

The University's Board of Trustees welcomed a new board president at their meeting Friday after former Board President H. Jesse Arnelle choose not to run for another term.

Former Vice President of the Board Edward Junker, a trustee since 1986, was elected president and Trustee Edward Hintz, who has been on the board since 1994, was elected the new vice president. Both ran unopposed.

Arnelle said his decision was influenced by changes in his career that will not allow him the time to fulfill the duties of the board president.

"When I accepted the chair of the board of trustees, I said words could not express my gratitude," Arnelle said. "Words are not adequate today."

In his last report to the trustees as president, Arnelle reflected on the changes at the University during University President Graham Spanier's administration. Among his proudest memories was the merger between the University and the Dickinson School of Law, which went into effect July 1.

"When I entered Dickinson in the Fall of 1969, I could have never imagined that I would play such a role in the merger (of these two institutions)," said Arnelle, a 1969 University graduate and a 1973 Dickinson graduate.

Several trustees and Spanier thanked Arnelle, who will remain a trustee, for his work and expressed optimism about Junker and Hintz's abilities.

Arnelle also said he was hopeful about Junker's election. Arnelle and Junker have known each other and worked together for years as colleagues and friends.

"Since my mother passed away three years ago, Jess is the last living person to call me Teddy," Junker said in his acceptance speech.

Junker's goals include improving the academic excellence of the University, supporting the upcoming capital campaign -- a push for donations to the University -- and simply letting Spanier's administration do its job.

"The most important role of the trustees is to hire the president," Junker said at a news conference, "and then quickly get out of his way."

Maintaining the diverse viewpoints on the board is one of Hintz's goals, he said.