Mr. Colorado College
President Worner's Death Caps Prodigious Half-Century Involvement with CC
By SETH BROWN and TODD WILSON
loyd E. "Lew" Worner, 78, whose years as dean and president solidified Colorado College's place among the leading liberal arts colleges in the nation, died Dec. 5 in Colorado Springs after a long illness.
Worner's 18-year tenure as president from 1963-81 - second in the college's history only to William F. Slocum's 29 years - was preceded by eight years as dean of the college and nine as a professor of history and government. As the ninth president of Colorado College, he presided over the development and implementation of the college's signature Block Plan.
"Lew Worner was the inspiration behind a very significant chapter in the life of Colorado College," said current President Kathryn Mohrman. "His association with our college leaves us stronger and prouder, but the sense of loss we feel is even greater."
The first alumnus president of the college, Worner began his presidency with the unanimous support of faculty, the Board of Trustees, the National Alumni Association and the presidential selection committee - an auspicious beginning to a period at Colorado College that his successor, former President Gresham Riley, said "will be recorded as the brightest of them all."
As a leader, Worner has been described as pluralistic, open-minded, understanding and compassionate. As a president, his achievements are unparalleled. When he assumed the presidency, the college had fewer than 1,400 students and an endowment of $9.1 million. When he stepped down, college enrollment had grown to 1,850 students and the endowment had increased five-fold to $45 million.
President Worner encouraged a faculty proposal which led to the college's innovative Block Plan for intensive study. Now in its 26th year, the Block Plan's one-course-at-a-time format distinguishes Colorado College and adds to its competitiveness as a national liberal arts institution.
"I think he'll be remembered for establishing a tone of collegiality and high morale on campus that allowed for the successful implementation of the Block Plan," said long-time colleague Neale Reinitz, professor emeritus of English who joined the faculty in 1953. "He was terrific with people, and he communicated very well with students, faculty and administration.
"One remarkable quality he had was his sensitivity to both the faculty and trustees, a rare quality in a college president," Reinitz said.
Worner's first few years in office saw the completion of Schlessman Pool and Honnen Ice Rink, followed by construction of five major buildings: Boettcher Health Center, Mathias Hall, Armstrong Hall, Packard Hall and the El Pomar Sports Center. Significant property acquisitions and preventive maintenance and renovations on Tutt Library, Palmer Hall, Bemis Hall and Cutler Hall also rank high among his many accomplishments.
Chief among the grants to the college during his presidency was a $7.5 million gift from the late David Packard.
These achievements are perhaps even more impressive considering the adversity and turbulence of the nearly two decades his presidency spanned. During the student protests of the '60s, Worner succeeded in maintaining the college's integrity while keeping communication lines open.
"While he didn't stifle protest, he didn't let the college go to pieces like many places did during the Vietnam protests," Reinitz said. "In that sense, and in not overexpanding the college, he kept things on an even keel."
When the late Russell Tutt, then chair of the trustees, learned of Worner's plans to retire, he commented: "The fact that the college stands today in the healthy condition that it does is due in very large measure to his wisdom, skill and dedication."
Worner's prodigious half-century involvement with Colorado College began when he arrived as a student in 1940. He quickly demonstrated his capacity as a leader, assuming the student body presidency as a senior. After earning his B.A. in 1942, he pursued graduate studies at Princeton University and then completed his doctoral work in American history at the University of Missouri at Columbia in 1946.
He returned to Colorado College almost immediately, accepting a position as an instructor of history. From there, Worner ascended through the ranks to assistant professor in 1947, associate professor in 1950 and professor in 1955. When new president Louis Benezet found Worner serving as acting dean of the college, he quickly made the appointment permanent. Worner later succeeded Benezet when the latter became president of the Claremont College group.
During his years as a faculty member, Worner devised and saw implemented the first honor code system for student conduct to be adapted in the Rocky Mountain West. The system creates an atmosphere of mutual trust in which students are given disciplinary freedoms in exchange for the promise that they act "on their honor."
Worner also launched, in cooperation with two of his colleagues, the immensely popular "Freedom and Authority" seminar, which became one of the defining characteristics of the liberal arts experience at Colorado College. "Freedom and Authority" - still taught today - attained such a following that alumni of the course hold reunions. A great supporter of athletics at the college, he also found the time to coach golf.
Throughout his career, Worner has been a major figure in higher education. He was a member of the executive committee of the American Association of Academic Deans and of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools Commission on Colleges; an advisor to the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges; a member of the board of directors of the Association of American Colleges, and Associated Colleges of the Midwest; a member of the Presidents' Advisory Council of the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University; and a member of the council for the Institute of International Education.
An active participant in the civic life of Colorado Springs, he was a founding member of the Pikes Peak United Way and president of the Colorado Springs Chapter of the American Red Cross. He was also a member of the Winter Night Club, the Community Planning and Research Council of Colorado Springs, the military affairs committee of the Chamber of Commerce, the board of Citizens' Goals for Colorado Springs and a trustee of the Western Museum of Mining and Industry, Fountain Valley School, and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.
"Colorado College has always been the college I have wanted to work for, and Colorado Springs the community I have wanted to live in," Worner said during his presidency.
His commitment to education was recognized in 1985 when he received one of three first-ever Bonfils-Stanton awards. Awarded by the Denver-based Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, the $10,000 prize honors citizens "of truly outstanding accomplishment whose works have enriched lives, alleviated suffering and encouraged further education and research to benefit humanity."
The college gave Worner an honorary degree in 1981 - adding to a list of honorary degrees from the University of Missouri, the University of Northern Colorado, and Washington and Lee University - and again honored him in 1987 with the dedication of the Lloyd Edson Worner Campus Center.
Worner is survived by his wife, Mary Haden Worner of Colorado Springs; daughters Mary Susan Worner of Colorado Springs and Linda Lou Worner of Oak Park, Ill.; and two grandchildren, Joseph Allen Bair and Mary Lew Bair, both of Colorado Springs.
The Colorado College Board of Trustees observed a moment of silence in tribute to Worner during its December meeting.
"Lew Worner presided over a great formative period in the life of CC," said William Hochman, dean of the Summer Session and a professor of history who came to the college in 1955 to fill the position vacated when Worner became dean. "He had an enduring, shaping influence on those privileged to work with him. It is hard for me to grasp that this strong and upright man is dead. A momentous time in our lives has ended."
Seth Brown, media relations paraprofessional, and Todd Wilson, associate director of College Relations, compiled this report.
