Jefferson Kirby ‘84 will begin his two-year term as chair of Lafayette College’s Board of Trustees on July 1. (Photo courtesy of Lafayette Communications)
Lafayette College’s Board of Trustees will see a new face at its helm beginning this summer.
Trustees unanimously elected Jefferson Kirby ‘84 as chairman in May, closing out the eight-year tenure of his predecessor and classmate Bob Sell ‘84. Kirby is set to serve a two-year term starting July 1.
The Kirby name is no stranger to College Hill. Kirby is a third-generation legacy alumnus, and his wife and two children also attended Lafayette.
His family’s foundation, of which Kirby is also a board member, has donated millions of dollars to the college, culminating in gifts such as the construction of the Kirby Hall of Civil Rights, Kirby House residence hall and the Allan P. Kirby Sports Center, as well as the creation of professorship and coaching endowments.
“I can’t say that Lafayette is more deserving or more meritorious than another school, but it’s my school,” Kirby said. “That’s why I support it.”
During his time as a student at Lafayette, Kirby served as president of Student Government and went on to receive the George Wharton Pepper Prize, an honor awarded to the graduating senior most representative of the “Lafayette ideal.”
Kirby has more than 20 years of experience as a trustee, serving from 1996 to 2012 before rejoining the board in 2018. He is currently a co-chief investment officer at Broadfield Capital, a New Jersey-based investment firm he founded in 2003.
“My experience, even going back to being Student Government president, gave me an appreciation for process, and I’m pretty process-oriented,” Kirby said.
Describing himself as a “better listener” than talker, Kirby said the role of the board is not to “manage the institution” but to be a “resource to monitor.”
“We want to be hands-off as much as possible,” he added.
Sell, who was elected chairman in 2018 and has served as a trustee since 2006, said his decision to step down as chairman was “just good governance.” Of the five chairs who preceded Sell, none served longer than 10 years, according to college records. Sell will serve on the board for another two years.
Sell said his biggest accomplishment as chairman was improving the diversity of the board, specifically pointing to an increase in non-Lafayette alum trustees and trustees with PhD degrees.
“We couldn’t be in better shape,” Sell said. He also praised Kirby for his past leadership on the board and years of commitment to the college.
Under Sell’s leadership, the board navigated obstacles ranging from a global pandemic and a presidential transition at the college to a historic no-confidence vote and pointed accusations from faculty members that college President Nicole Hurd excluded the faculty from decision-making and “violated shared governance principles.”
“I’ll let others characterize, ‘were we successful or not in navigating all of that?’” Sell said.
“There were moments of imperfection at the board level, at the administrative level and at the faculty level,” Kirby said, adding that “the board has complete confidence in the president and wishes to move forward in a very collaborative fashion” with administration and faculty.
Kirby mentioned the board’s involvement in planning the early stages of a new capital campaign as a key goal of his term. He also emphasized the importance of ensuring the college’s financial sustainability, which he said would require a financial model that would be less reliant on the endowment and more flexible with other sources of revenue.
“Jeff and Karen Kirby, as alumni, parents of alumni, and leaders in our community have made Lafayette stronger and I am very excited for their vision and commitment as we enter a third century of excellence together,” Hurd wrote in an email.
Kirby was the only nominee officially appointed by the board’s nominating committee, according to Wynne Whitman ‘86, who chaired the committee. She clarified that all active trustees were considered for nomination and that a range of factors, including “experience, availability, engagement and knowledge,” were considered when appointing Kirby.
“Lafayette has challenges, as does all of higher education, and we are well-positioned to deal with those challenges better than most,” Kirby said. “I suspect there will be bumps in the road from time to time, but I’m looking forward to a cohesive team to see us through those periods.”