Dr. Daniel Myers officially became part of the Misericordia University community when he was inaugurated April 22 as the university’s 15^th president.

Dr. Myers, a prominent figure in the world of academia, earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from The Ohio State University and a Master’s Degree in Student Affairs from the University of Wisconsin.

He established his mark long before coming to Misericordia as he served 17 years at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana under many titles, including Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Letters, as well as chair of the sociology department. He would go on to direct Faculty Development at the Kroc Institute founded by those at Notre Dame, and found his own Center for the Study of Social Movements within the Notre Dame community.

When asked about his decision to come to Misericordia University, Dr. Myers described a research project he had conducted.

“I was writing a book about graduation rates at universities across the country and they vary,” he said.

He was curious as to why that was and found in his research a huge factor in deciding the graduation rates of different universities were privilege markers -an abundance of wealth or a good high school education. He had searched for a school that wasn’t riding the “privilege wave” and came up with a strategic ranking system that would measure a university’s graduation rates across those with or without these markers. Misericordia University landed in second place of universities across the country.

“We have the second best graduation rate over and above what you would predict from what the student body is bringing from the table, 21 points above average,” Dr. Myers said.

He would later go on to interview members of those top 10 schools and found a welcoming community here at Misericordia.

Dr. Myers has also established his vision for the future of Misericordia, admitting the challenge of small schools to recruit students from a dwindling overall high school class.

To combat this, he plans to “be creative” in offering new programs across the university to meet the market, strategies which would include his TikTok account at @presdanmyersmu, for which he is currently accepting ideas for videos within reason.

Attracting more students to higher education, especially here at Misericordia, would be a real opportunity for the community to grow and further integrate the four charisms of the university into the global community, Dr. Myers said.

The inaugural ceremony was held in Lemmond Theater and was followed by an after party in the Wells Fargo Amphitheater, involving an ice cream truck and a live performance by Dr. Myers’ classical rock band, Quest.

He views the inaugural celebrations as a time for the community to “reflect on where it’s going, what it’s doing, and celebrate the good things.”