Fox has first day at helm of SLU

CANTON — Of the many boxed-up items that William L. Fox brought to the office Wednesday on his first day as president of St. Lawrence University, one book stood out — the Shakespeare collection that he had as an undergraduate at the college and has carried with him ever since.

"It's come full circle," Mr. Fox said. "I've played back in my mind many times over the last couple of days my first hour here as a 17-year-old. It has been a sentimental journey."

The 1975 graduate has been busy unpacking and getting acquainted at MacAllaster House, St. Lawrence's presidential residence, since Monday. He quietly took the helm of the college Wednesday.

"I'm in the process of swimming in a sea of cardboard and I'm beginning to see shore," Mr. Fox said. "This is about as 'first day' as it gets."

Before he left his job as president of Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo., Mr. Fox spread hundreds of books on the floor of his office there and told professors to take whatever they wanted.

It's hard to lighten the load when moving on, he said.

"When you leave, there's an art to it. You want to leave gracefully," Mr. Fox said. "But there are always unfinished projects, unfinished dreams."

As SLU's 18th president, Mr. Fox plans to spend his first days back on campus talking to faculty, staff, alumni and students about how they see the college.

"The main part of my work is to ask questions and to be asked questions," he said. "A lot of people say a college president is like a CEO. I'm just a teacher who happens to be college president."

Mr. Fox said his top concern is finding the best way to get St. Lawrence through the economic slowdown.

He follows Daniel F. Sullivan, who retired Tuesday after serving for 13 years as SLU president.

"I would say I was chief among Dan's admirers before our friendship took on the terms of successor and predecessor. He has been an inspiration to me," Mr. Fox said.

Mr. Sullivan and his wife, Ann H., have moved to their new residence on Higley Flow in Colton, college spokeswoman Mac-reena A. Doyle said. They soon will head to their summer home in Chautauqua.

"Some people have said, with the best of intent, that I can just pick up where Dan left off. No, I have to start just where Dan started — the beginning," Mr. Fox said. "There are lines of continuity that connect presidencies, and I am deeply grateful to Dan and Ann for that. But I've got to face a new day, and so does St. Lawrence."

Mr. Fox graduated with a bachelor's degree in history from SLU and went on to earn a master of divinity degree from Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., in 1978 and a doctorate in American religious history from George Washington University, Washington, D.C., in 1989.

An ordained minister, he is affiliated with both the United Church of Christ and the Unitarian Universalist Association.

SLU is planning an inauguration for Mr. Fox, which will take place in October.