The entire Menlo College community sends its best wishes to Grande Lum, who has accepted a posting as a Senior Partner with the Rebuild Congress Initiative (RCI). His final day at Menlo College will be June 30, 2022.
“It is with reluctance that I accepted Provost Lum’s resignation. Grande has provided critical leadership to many areas of the College, while also serving as a key member of the senior leadership team. He has been essential to the progress our College has realized since he joined Menlo College in June 2018. I will miss the extent to which I have enjoyed his counsel and partnership these last four years, though I can understand, and I fundamentally support his desire to create bridges across political party lines at such a critical juncture in our nation’s history,” said Menlo College President Steven Weiner.
Going forward, Lum’s considerable talents will be dedicated to furthering RCI’s mission. As he shared in a recent LinkedIn post, “Our society desperately needs those who can work through differences and find common ground. While we have made additional steps in this overarching journey, there is much more still to be done.” Lum’s initial areas of focus will include engaging leading Black pastors on strengthening democracy, and engaging key leaders to address election violence and social media’s effects on polarization.
Lum credits his renewed resolve to move democracy forward to Menlo College students: “Just as I challenged Menlo students to make an impact on the world, Menlo students have reciprocated and galvanized me to re-enter this fray, to do what I can, in service of our democracy. … I will profoundly miss seeing student faces light up when they convey to me what they have figured out in the classroom, in their sport, or their post-graduation plans.”
Lum also commented, “When I started at Menlo, I was eager to help students explore, discover, and grow. That desire came to fruition, and my time here has been more gratifying than I could have ever hoped. What I was unprepared for, though, was how fundamentally I would be changed. I leave altered by the caring, devotion, and commitment I have seen from colleagues. I leave humbled by the sacrifice, curiosity, and gratitude I have seen from students. They all have my deepest appreciation and thanks. … Menlo has been and will continue to be a special place, inhabited by special people.”
Read Lum’s entire message here.
Among his many contributions to Menlo College, Provost Lum was central to the appointments of Dean of the School of Business Mouwafac Sidaoui and Dean of Arts and Sciences Melissa Michelson. According to President Weiner, “Both deans are proving to be exceptionally adept in fulfilling even the most ambitious of our hopes for their respective roles. Their success gives me the confidence to predict that we will be able to look to them to help guide our academic programs as, together with faculty, we consider the structure of the leadership of academic affairs going forward. In the interim, both deans will report directly to me.”
“Further, the recent promotion of Laura Koo, PhD to Chief Advancement Officer, and the appointments of Devin Carr as our new Dean of Student Affairs, and Alexis Lopez as our Senior Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, will ensure that the Menlo College community continues to make important progress,” said Weiner. “Along with the continued leadership of Angela Schmiede, VP of Student Success and Strategic Planning, as well as Keith Spataro, VP of Enrollment Management and Athletics, Menlo College is positioned to go from strength to strength.”
“The first person from Menlo I spoke to was Steven Weiner, Menlo’s president. Steven’s burning passion for the school and his unwavering commitment to student excellence was striking. As I met students, faculty, and staff, what became crystal clear was how seemingly every member of the Menlo community was passionate about the College. … While I will no longer be a staff member, I am reassured by the amazing faculty and staff here who will continue to enact its core mission to serve and engage our students so well,” said Lum.
Menlo College was established in 1927. It is a small, private, non-profit, four-year, accredited, residential college located in Atherton, California. Menlo College’s location in Silicon Valley, one of the world’s most entrepreneurial and innovative geographical areas, has enabled the college to create a valuable market niche for its students locally — as well as globally. Menlo College cultivates in its students the skills, integrity, and passion to make meaningful contributions in an innovation economy.
