After clearing his first 100 days as Christopher Newport University’s new president, William Kelly has already made his mark on campus. 

“It’s been energizing, inspiring. I thought it was gonna be great, but it’s been even better than I expected,” said Kelly.

Kelly says that from the beginning he was very intentional about learning and listening. Through his open office hours, he is able to connect with students, faculty, and staff to address questions, comments, and concerns first hand.

“It was great…some just wanted to come up and check out the office, which was cool to have a nice chat and get to know them a little bit,” said Kelly. “Then others came up and had some substantive things that they wanted to chat about.”

Another way for students to meet with Kelly is through his Wednesday Walks. He said the walks have taught him that students truly care about how he and Mrs. Kelly are doing. “Which is pretty cool. You don’t get that everywhere.”

In addition, Kelly feels he has learned a lot about the life of CNU students: the way a student’s schedule operates and the decisions that students make on a daily basis.

Kelly has loved getting to know students’ stories – not just their triumphs, but their struggles as well.

“We gotta remind students, faculty and staff, [to] ask for help. There is somebody on this campus who will be willing to help you and we can’t struggle alone,” he said.

One important topic Kelly addressed was a CNN article regarding Title IX issues at his former institution, where he served as Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

“It was a very siloed investigation. 20,000 hours of investigation revolving around about 42 different victims, and my role was to develop the support systems and provide the support to those victims,” Kelly explained.

“What that [experience] provided me was tremendous insight into the pain and to the suffering and to the long term impacts that sexual assault and sexual harassment have on members. It doesn’t go away,” he continued.

In response to the situation, the Title IX office at the Coast Guard Academy updated its structure and process for handling cases. This included adding an extra step called “Recovery” because, as Kelly explained, “we learned through the process that recovery takes a lifetime.”

Although he calls it the “darkest spot” in his tenure at the academy, Kelly said, “I feel very fortunate that I had an opportunity to be part of the recovery and the support of those victims”

It was a learning experience, explained Kelly, who wants to ensure support for each person who comes forward.

He said he understands how the situation at his prior institution combined with the Title IX issues at CNU have left students concerned. Kelly is willing to speak about the issue with students and said it is not something that goes away quickly, but with time.

Besides fostering strong connections with students, Kelly is also working on making connections with the state government to bring changes to the university.

“We went to Richmond a bunch of times and met with our representatives up there,” said Kelly, who will engage with the new legislature for the state of Virginia on behalf of CNU.

Kelly also plans to make changes to his cabinet and structure, look into how the school can be more environmentally friendly and engage with alumni. When thinking about what’s to come at CNU, Kelly said he wants to look towards “financial sustainability” for the university. 

As he looks towards the long term future of CNU, Kelly has a substantial goal ahead of him. 

“We can no longer be called the best kept secret,” he said. Kelly wants people to know about CNU and plans to help make that happen during his presidency.