Loeschke Advocates Transformation At Towson U. And With Its Students

Maravene Loeschke, a former student, faculty member, and administrator at Towson University, was formally inaugurated Friday afternoon as the university's 13^th president before an audience of visiting dignitaries, colleagues and students.

"I know of no greater honor in life than to be given the opportunity to return and give back to the institution that has given me everything I ever needed to carry out my life's mission," Loeschke said. "I am forever in Towson's debt for my liberal arts education and theater major, but ceremonies such as these are not about any single individual… This is not my inauguration. This is our inauguration."

A member of the university's class of 1969, Loeschke climbed the ladder at Towson and was dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications when she left in 2002 for the position of provost at Wilkes University and later, president of Mansfield University.

During her remarks, Loeschke highlighted eight points in the university's strategic plan she said will turn Towson into "one of the major institutions on the national roll call for academic transformation and excellence in higher education" by the school's 150^th anniversary in 2016.