By Lindsay Perry
Earlier this summer, William Peace University announced that Dr. Brian C. Ralph, the former Vice President for Enrollment Management at Queens University of Charlotte, was named the Peace’s 11th president.
Since his arrival, Dr. Ralph has had the opportunity to meet with several students, faculty and staff, and even some alumni. He said his transition has been very busy but that he made the right decision joining the Peace community.
Sophomore Patrick Ralph, in particular, has provided some comic relief during his first couple of weeks — with many students and faculty assuming they are related.
“Coming to a new place will always be stressful, but being able to laugh about something as simple as a last name can take a lot of it away,” Patrick Ralph said.
Along with it being Dr. Ralph’s first year at WPU, we also have our very first co-ed William Peace University class graduating this year. This is a very special year to a lot of the seniors and Dr. Ralph said that he is honored to be here to celebrate our first co-ed class.
“I’m excited that I get to be a part of history here at Peace,” said senior Nate Strother, a member of the first co-ed class. “It’s been great getting to see all of the changes happening around campus including Dr. Ralph coming in this year as our new president.”
Dr. Ralph is also learning about some of the rich WPU traditions including Fall Cocktail, bubbling the fountain, Red Rose Ball and throwing roses in the fountain after graduation. He said he is excited to learn about all of the Peace traditions and to experience them first hand.
Dr. Ralph said it was an absolute honor to be a part of the history at Peace and to start a new chapter.
“If you look at Peace as a story, as a narrative, every chapter is really important,” said Ralph. “There are different characters in each of the chapters…but the fact of the matter is this next chapter that we’re writing only exist because other chapters existed before it and it’s exciting to be a part of that story.”