BRCC names new president

The face of the man at the helm of Blue Ridge Community College in the fall will be a familiar one.

The school Monday named John Downey to replace James Perkins, who is retiring after 20 years on the job.

“I’m just fortunate that I have this opportunity to serve in a community that has given so much to me and my family,” Downey, 47, of Harrisonburg, said.

Blue Ridge’s vice president of instruction and student services for the past four years, Downey will become the new president effective Aug. 3. He has worked at the college for 17 years and becomes the fifth president in school history.

“This is a college community that I think is looking to kind of build on the legacy of Jim Perkins,” said Glenn DuBois, chancellor of the Virginia Community College System.

DuBois said his goal was to present the college’s local board with three qualified candidates and create a difficult choice. An average of just two in 10 internal candidates nationwide wind up getting the job, he said.

“It really was a question of the best fit, and John has those kinds of attributes and the skills,” DuBois said. “I think he’s going to be an outstanding president.”

DuBois said the search team wasn’t necessarily looking to fill from within, but the nationwide search determined that the best fit for Perkins’ successor was already on the Weyers Cave campus.

Downey will “hit the ground running from day one,” DuBois said.

More than 90 people were considered.

“You look for these opportunities to keep this kind of talent in our system,” DuBois said. “I think it’s great when you hire from within.”

Downey said he believes his knowledge of the college and the community was key to his selection.

Still, DuBois said, Downey’s position at Blue Ridge didn’t give him an advantage over the other two finalists — Doreen Lawson, vice president of student affairs at Holyoke Community College in western Massachusetts, and Kathryn Anne Barbour, vice president for academic services at Chesapeake College in Maryland.

Downey, who talked to Perkins Monday after the announcement, said he looks forward to relying on the outgoing president as a resource in the future.

“He’s always been wonderfully supportive of my work, and a great mentor and a great friend to me,” Downey said. “I am just really appreciative to be able to talk to him and be able to count on him in the future for guidance. I feel so fortunate to call myself a friend.”

Perkins has overseen unprecedented growth in the facilities and enrollment of Blue Ridge. The college has added the Plecker Workforce Center, a fine arts center as well as guaranteed admission agreements for Blue Ridge graduates with about two dozen Virginia colleges and universities.

DuBois said the other two finalists would have the opportunity to become college presidents soon.

“Our college is truly privileged,” Blue Ridge local board Chairwoman Kathy Whitten said in a news release. “A lot of really talented people were interested in becoming the next president of Blue Ridge Community College. I believe we selected the best of the best. John has done outstanding work during his time at BRCC and we expect that to continue.”

Downey said he is fortunate to become a president of a community college that he loves in a community that he loves.

“Over the years, I have worked with terrific people throughout the Valley on behalf of BRCC,” Downey said. “I’m excited to continue that.”