[media-credit name=”Carlos Magana, Staff” align=”alignright” width=”218″][/media-credit]In her first days on campus, Interim Superintendent Denise Whittaker said she felt as though the college was accepting her with trust she had not yet earned. True enough, most of the Southwestern College opened their arms readily to the woman who spoke plainly, with sleeves rolled up. SWC employees were so wounded and scared that they were ready to embrace any glimmer of hope they could find and cling to it.

During her welcome reception Whittaker met members of the college community, including several very new students. While her introductory speech told those listening a little about herself, the question still remained: who is Denise Whittaker?

The first thing the college learned about Whittaker is that she is the kind of person who gets straight to work. From Day One she was running and setting the pace for the college. There was a swamp of problems to wade through and Whittaker did not hesitate, tackling accreditation, shared consultation reform, policy issues on campus as well as myriad personnel issues and financial obstacles. She proved she is a problem-solver.

Not once did she waver. Not once did she show signs of stopping. Unlike her predecessor, she came in early and stayed in late. Even as the college was hit with last-minute accreditation problems and an overwhelming budget crisis, Whittaker met problems head-on. Her example inspired the faculty, staff, administration and student body to do the same. SWC learned that Whittaker was bold.

Faculty and staff aired contentious issues, like freedom of speech violations and shared consultation abuses. Then Whittaker proved that she was a good listener. Providing calm, sensible leadership, she encouraged the college to muscle through its problems.

Whittaker met problems with grace. She proved that she could work for the college rather than for herself. Her powerful and calming presence embedded rays of hope in the cracks and crannies of the campus and the college saw that she was responsible.

Her careless, though unintentional, plagiarism in her September 11 memorial e-mail was a sloppy moment, but she handled the aftermath with humility, owning up to her faux pas rather than blaming someone else. So she verified that she is a humble person.

Eleanor Roosevelt said, “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.”

Whittaker is preparing to leave, and though the college community will miss her terribly, it is not afraid like they were when she first arrived. We do not cling to her because she inspired us to trust ourselves. She is a great leader.

Whittaker still sees those once-new students on campus. She addresses them with the tender, “my, you’ve grown” tone of voice and asks how their year has gone. And that is when SWC realized that Denise Whittaker is the genuine article. Atop her many admirable qualities, she cares for people. She poured herself, all that she is, into a college she knew she would have to leave in a year. How unselfish. How noble. How humbling.

She had it from the beginning, but in one year Whittaker earned unalterable, unconditional trust from this college.