St. Mary's College of Maryland president stepping down next year

Last month, Tuajuanda Jordan sat at a small conference table in her office on the campus of St. Mary’s College of Maryland campus and pondered the question of why she decided to step down as president at the end of the coming school year?

“I think it’s time,” she says. “When I look at what’s happened to the college, it has been on a positive trajectory for the last several years. I think it’s in a good place for a new leader to come in with a different vision and different kind of energy and take it to that next level.”

“This is a culmination of 11 years of service to St. Mary’s College of Maryland and the students that have attended the institution, so we are both in some ways saddened because she is such a pleasure to work with,” said Susan Dyer, outgoing chair of the college's trustees, who was replaced by John Bell on May 31. “On the other hand, we are just thrilled to celebrate her retirement.”

At a state of the college presentation before the St. Mary's County commissioners in February, Jordan shared that fall 2023 tuition was lower than it was in a decade ago, and has been frozen since 2019. Enrollment has increased each year for at least the past five years and currently stands at about 1,700.

“People see us, they see we are a tremendous value and that we offer an excellent education,” Jordan said, “and that’s not going to change.”

The college was also ranked fourth (2024 Most Affordable Gem Colleges for the Middle Class), fifth (Best National Public Liberal Arts College) and 11th (2023 Princeton Review Best Schools for Making an Impact) on recent lists.

“Years ago when I came to the college I recognized its potential and I did not understand why people would say we were a hidden gem,” she said. “My goal was that we had to be the model of higher education, and so I would say we had to be the college of choice, bar none. I would say we are well on our way to doing that.”

Jordan helped implement the Taking the Learning through Exceptional and Applied Discovery program in 2017, a comprehensive campaign to support an experiential liberal arts education.

She wants her final goal, the college’s accreditation and reaffirmation in March 2025, to be “smooth sailing.”

She said she pulled the college through the COVID-19 pandemic without having to let any employees go, and added that 70% of students returned to campus in fall 2020.

Jordan said that “while we were going through it, we didn’t realize how far it was until you got on the other side and it took a long time to get to the other side.”

Rough beginnings

But it hasn’t been all smooth sailing since she was installed as the college’s seventh president in 2014.

“When I first got here, people didn’t know me from Eve; some of them were not pleased I was the president of this institution,” Jordan said. “Right after the election there were some things on the local online community forum and some of the things that were written — some of our students told me about it and had our students absolutely fearful of the community. And [it took a while] just getting everybody to trust each other.”

At the end of her first year, a faculty leader voiced his opinions.

“[He said], 'You know one of the things that is wrong with you?' And I thought, ‘This is going to be interesting,’” she said. “He said, ‘You’re too direct.’ And I told him, ‘Then you know what’s on my mind so you don’t have to guess about it.’"

Jordan continued, "It took people a while to get used to my style, but I don’t like hinting. It takes too much energy. Why let you wander around in darkness in the forest when I can shine a light on you and we can figure out a way to get there?”

Next steps

Dyer said a national search is underway to find Jordan’s successor.

“Oh my goodness, she has had an unprecedented impact on this college,” Dyer said. “She has worked so hard to have St. Mary’s College be the preeminent institution of choice. When you look around at that beautiful campus located in St. Mary’s City you see Anne Arundel Hall, The Nancy R. & Norton T. Dodge Performing Arts Center, Jamie L. Roberts Stadium and the Commemorative to Enslaved Peoples of Southern Maryland, the campus is stunningly beautiful and a tremendous physical environment for our students to learn and grow. Her fingerprints are all over it in the best way possible.”

Jordan said she plans to take some time off and “then figure it out,” was asked how she wanted to be remembered.

“That I really tried to lead by example and embody the 'St. Mary’s Way' and always put the students first,” she said. “I consider it a privilege to be in the position I am. I think the college is in the best place it’s been in a very long time, and I feel like I’m in a good place.”