Westminster community leaders had an opportunity to meet and welcome McDaniel president-elect Dr. Roger N. Casey and his wife, Robyn Allers at a reception held Wednesday, Jan. 27, at the Carroll Arts Council.

Casey, 48, was selected in December by the McDaniel Board of Trustees to serve as the 142-year-old college’s ninth president, succeeding President Joan Develin Coley as of July 1, 2010.

Coley has served as McDaniel’s president for 10 years.

Casey currently serves as vice president of academic affairs and provost of Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla.

He was chosen to lead the college during a national search conducted by a presidential search committee, led by Mary Lynn Durham, a 1970 graduate of the college.

In a letter addressed to the McDaniel community on the college’s Web site, Casey said, “With labor and love, I will do my best to live up to the expectations of those who have given me the chance to be the organizational leader of a community that champions the tradition of liberal arts education.”

“The sense of community that undergirds it, is what first drew me to ‘the Hill,’ ” he wrote in his letter.

Casey is a South Carolina native who graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Furman University in 1983 and went on to earn both a master’s  and a Ph.D. in English from Florida State University, according to the McDaniel site.

Allers was in her element at the arts council reception. She currently serves as the interim director of Cornell Fine Arts Museum at Rollins.

At the reception, Casey, who has studied and traveled in more than 60 countries, noted that he was also at home in the Tevis Gallery at the Arts Council. Behind him as he shared brief remarks was the art of a number of artists who grew-up in other parts of the world, but now make Maryland their home.

Information from McDaniel notes that Casey has been a theatrical producer, director and actor — most recently in 2006 portraying F. Scott Fitzgerald in a Winter Park production of “Devotedly, With Dearest Love: The Letters of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald.”

Martin Hill, chairman of the Board of Trustess, noted that, “Each of the eight previous presidents at McDaniel have found it easy to feel at home in Westminster.

“I am certain this will be the first of many opportunities to meet and get to know Roger and Robyn.”

Allers remarked that she and her husband were impressed with the sense of community and history, and the friendliness of the students and the Westminster community.

Commissioners Mike Zimmer and Dean Minnich joined with county chief of staff, Steve Powell to meet the new president as well.

Minnich, who had noted that Allers is also a writer, expressed that he was eager to get to know the president-elect and his wife.

Also on hand were Westminster Mayor Kevin Utz, along with council members Damian Halstad, Tony Chiavacci, Dr. Robert Wack, and Greg Pecoraro.

Halstad, also a writer, nodded in approval as Audrey Cimino, the executive director of the Community Foundation of Carroll County, and also an actress, singer and fan of the theatre, looked on.

“We’ve always had a great relationship with the college and we’re looking forward to continuing that relationship with Dr. Casey,” said Halstad.

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