It took only a few minutes for Lawrence Ward ’92 (BUS) and Andrea Chapdelaine ’91 MA, ’93 Ph.D. to develop a friendship over, of all things, the construction of Gampel Pavilion.
As Huskies in the late ’80s to early ’90s, they didn’t know each other, but both lived close to the stadium and watched it being built prior to its 1990 grand opening. Chapdelaine describes watching construction workers eat lunch through the windows of her dorm. Ward vividly recalls chanting U-C-O-N-N with Big Red during the inaugural basketball game — when the UConn men beat St. John’s 72–58.
“In those days you could walk into the games without a ticket,” Chapdelaine says, moving on to Memorial Stadium memories. “My friends and I always went to the football games — to be seen,” says Ward, laughing.
In a fateful twist, these two higher education leaders returned to Connecticut to start new jobs last July. Ward left Babson College in Massachusetts to become president of the University of Hartford; Chapdelaine left the presidency of Hood College in Maryland to lead Connecticut College.
Although they’d been introduced once at an event, this virtual interview is the first chance they’ve had to get to know each other, sharing their views of higher education from the top and the ways they try to balance tremendous responsibilities with some serious fun.
Q: What drew you to Connecticut? Was it more than the job?
Chapdelaine: I was in my ninth year as president at Hood and was committed to several more. But I had taught at Trinity in the past, and I loved the similarities at Connecticut College, and also the distinctions. I felt I could do well here, and coming to Connecticut was a bonus. I’m only about an hour from my hometown of Chicopee, Massachusetts, and my husband is from that area too. It’s really nice to be close to family again.
Ward: There is something special about coming home. My family lived in Hartford since the 1940s. My father escaped the Klan in deep Georgia, and Hartford became his landing place. So for me, it is powerful to come back to the place that was a refuge for my father. The city provided refuge and new beginnings for both of my parents. My mother came to Hartford as a young girl after her father died. My grandmother worked for the Hartford Electric Company here as a chambermaid. I had some of my grandmother’s HELCO service pins made into cufflinks and wore them at my inauguration.
