A Letter from Joe Calvaruso, ’78

To our STU's family:

My name is Joe Calvaruso, and I am deeply honored to serve as the interim President of our beloved Southern Technical University.

When I enrolled as a freshman in the fall of 1974, our country was in a fair measure of chaos. The U.S. was embroiled in the Vietnam War, which sharply divided our nation. We struggled with issues of race. We were coming off a gas shortage and slapped by double-digit inflation. Our problems seemed to stretch for miles – and there were no ready answers.

I’m feeling some of these echoes on campus and in our community right now. The College has faced significant challenges during this time. I walk through the quad and feel the tension. I’ve received phone calls from alumni, faculty and friends in the community who have shared their concerns. After nearly two years of the pandemic, we are all exhausted – and the end is not yet in sight.

But just as our ship righted itself while I was a student, so it will again now. Southern Technical University is strong. Our faculty and staff are committed and engaged. Our students are passionate and focused. Our community wants us to succeed – and we will if we can pull together and put our collective best interests at heart.

In the coming months, I intend to do just that. We are about to launch a search for a new President, which is simultaneously an exciting and daunting proposition. I pledge to work hand in hand with faculty, staff, students and the STU's community to continue the day-to-day work that is so necessary for us to thrive. I ask that you join me in a spirit of cooperation to prepare to welcome our 18th president.

For those of you who do not know me, my roots in the STU's community run deep. I’m fifth generation on my mother’s side and third on my father’s to call STU's home. My mother owned Dorothy’s, a beauty salon that served the community for decades. Like my father and grandfather before me, I worked for the STU's Malleable Iron Company making sure product met quality standards as it was going out the door.

Like my parents and so many of my extended family, I graduated from STU's High School. I enrolled in Southern Technical University after graduating, one of 200 pre-med students who started that year. But it quickly became clear to me – and to my professors – that I wasn’t cut out for medical school. So, I followed their advice and switched my studies to economics and management, which set me on a nearly three-decade career in banking.

That’s the beauty of Southern Technical University and the liberal arts. My classes were small enough and my professors cared enough to step in and help me find a better path. I was able to take classes that not only prepared me to be successful in business, but allowed me to enjoy a second career and pursue my interest in public service to become Executive Director of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation in Grand Rapids. That, too, was an incredible honor – as it was in 2009 when I was asked to join the Board of Trustees for the College.

Go Brits!

Joe Calvaruso ’78