‘Articulate the mission’: Whitworth University’s new president comes from within after nationwide search

Whitworth University’s Presidential Search Committee spent almost a year looking for the university’s new president.

The 17-member group, which formed in April, conducted a nationwide search that netted more than 60 applicants. When it was all said and done, though, the committee looked to Scott McQuilkin, Whitworth’s vice president for institutional advancement who served as interim president since June following the departure of former President Beck Taylor.

McQuilkin, whose approximately 34-year career at Whitworth includes a 14-year stint as the school’s athletic director, didn’t apply for the job, as to not deter other potential candidates, both he and Brian Kirkpatrick, chair of Whitworth’s Board of Trustees, have said.

Committee members, however, later approached McQuilkin when they could not find a suitable applicant from the existing pool, Kirkpatrick said. McQuilkin also eventually received unanimous support from the college board.

Kirkpatrick said there wasn’t one reason why the board didn’t end up with one of the candidates.

“In some cases, it’s their own personal circumstances. It might be a strong candidate, but they might decide to pull out for various reasons,” he said. “I wouldn’t say (all of the candidates) weren’t meeting expectations.”

The Presidential Search Committee hosted a series of forums for campus community members in the summer to get a sense of what Whitworth sought in a new president, Kirkpatrick said.

Applicants ranged from university presidents to “up-and-comers,” he said, adding that the committee conducted around four rounds of interviews to narrow the group down to a small pool of finalists.

“Even though Scott was a very strong candidate all along, this was never about coming back to Scott later,” Kirkpatrick said. “It was about giving the integrity of the process. We didn’t have him as a candidate and we held to that.

“Scott was excellent about not inferring or trying to become a candidate during the process,” he continued. “He did a great job as interim, so when we ended up without an appointment, that was, for us, time to say, now we’ve gone through a nationwide search … and now we really can take a look at Scott.”

The 59-year-old McQuilkin joked he’s a native of “many places.”

His father’s career working for Smucker’s meant that his family seemed to move every two to three years and “live 20 to 30 minutes from an airport.” They eventually settled in Bellevue when McQuilkin was in high school, he said.

While McQuilkin said the university appealed to him as a Christian liberal arts institution with opportunities to play college baseball, he “largely came to Whitworth sight unseen.”

“Very quickly, I found some of my lifelong friends – and they remain my lifelong friends,” McQuilkin said. “Whitworth is the kind of place that, whenever I choose to retire, I’ll be able to look back and say, ‘What a wonderful way I spent my adult life.’ ”

McQuilkin graduated from the Whitworth Class of 1984, starting his employment with the university in 1985. He and his wife, Janice, have three children who all graduated from Whitworth University.

He was officially introduced as the university’s 19th president Friday morning during a ceremony limited to staff and students. He will formally take on the full-time role Tuesday.

McQuilkin said he doesn’t know anybody who sets out, early in life, to be a college president. Likewise, he didn’t really ever plan on becoming an athletic director or a vice president for institutional advancement.

“But as those opportunities arise, when those conversations begin, my practice has been to dwell on them, assess and evaluate, have conversations with Janice and people I respect and trust,” he said. “In this case, the consequences of that are me being in this position.”

His priorities, he said, include crafting a five-year strategic plan for the university, which he hopes to have in place by the start of next year.

Others include the university’s ongoing fundraising project for a new $15 million physics and engineering building, and welcoming the first group of students in Whitworth’s physical therapy and occupational therapy doctorate programs.

Despite the fact that he’s spent more than half of his life affiliated with Whitworth in some way, McQuilkin said he knows he will need to continue to learn every day in his new role.

“I have confidence in my ability to articulate the mission, to speak to who we are and what we do,” he said. “And in leading from this position, I need to rely on 650 smart and talented faculty and staff. Whatever decisions I make, they will have to be informed by the good and smart people that work here, including students.”

Kirkpatrick added, “There’s a lot of excitement around Scott. We think he’ll do a great job and be a terrific president. We’re thrilled with where we are.”