‘Gratitude that swells in my soul and spirit’

CEDAR RAPIDS — At a chaotic moment in history that shuttered campuses across the globe and upended the higher education experience for millions, David Hayes in January 2021 stepped in as interim president of Cedar Rapids’ 171-year-old Coe College.

Nearly two years later — having steered the college through a pandemic, derecho cleanup and racial tensions — Hayes on a fall Friday afternoon that coated the campus with foliage accenting the school’s gold and crimson colors officially was inaugurated as Coe’s 16th president.

“This gratitude that swells in my soul and spirit is shaped and stoked by the fact that I, as a Kohawk, find myself on the stage in Sinclair Auditorium accepting the presidency of Coe College,” Hayes said Friday. “It is distinct and bewildering.”

Nearly three decades before those inaugural comments, Hayes — in prognostic fashion — was elected student body president of Coe, from which he graduated magna cum laude in 1993.

“I was 18 years old when I first sat in this historic building, beginning what is now a lifelong journey at Coe,” he said Friday. “I first stood at this podium in 1992 … as then student body president.”

Not only did Hayes graduate from the private college he now leads, he was raised in the Cedar Rapids community it calls home — making him relatively distinctive among college presidents today in how deeply rooted he is in his institution.

Over the years, Hayes has served Coe as a professor, board member, legal adviser and most recently vice president for advancement — helping to increase Coe’s annual fundraising by, in part, directing a campaign that secured nearly $15 million in external support for facility projects.

During his remarks Friday, Hayes acknowledged the challenges Coe — like many other colleges — finds itself navigating.

“This is a disruptive time in our society, with huge challenges and uncertainties in all our systems,” he said. “Political, social, economics, technology and yes in education — perhaps most significantly in education.”

Every day presents what could be perceived as “unscalable hurdles,” he said.

“From falling test scores at all levels to dislodged plans caused by the pandemic to political battles around education and so forth,” Hayes said. “In fact, many question the value of the whole enterprise. But not me. For I know exactly what the value of Coe is. And it will endure.”

Coe College, he said, offers students rigorous courses and degrees; academic programs of distinction; expanded extracurricular activities; opportunities to enhance life skills; and a clear path to personal and professional development.

Hayes told The Gazette before his inauguration Friday the campus is pursuing community partnerships to continue expanding career opportunities and pathways for students — recently opening Coe’s new David and Janice McInally Center for Health & Society, for example, which is poised for collaboration with the neighboring Medical Quarter district.

But he also stressed the intangible mission of the Coe experience that shaped his pursuit of a graduate degree — and a college presidency. He also shared how Coe helped keep him afloat during personal loss.

“The day I came home from my sophomore year at Coe, I lost my father,” he said. “He was my hero. … And a half dozen faculty members came to my father’s visitation, sought me out and asked me if I needed anything. They told me I'd be OK, and they said it in such a way that in my bones for the first time I thought that it might.”

Months later, back on campus, Hayes bumped into the academic dean — who had no reason to know him.

“Instead he stopped me, asked if I was all right and did the college need to do anything to help me,” he said. “And then he counseled me that I would think of my father every day for the rest of my life, and that's just fine. To embrace it and understand that these are the thoughts and memories of how we bridge hardship and go forward.”

Hayes said he has big expectations for the students, faculty and staff on his campus — and strategic plans to ensure it continues thriving and propels the city, Corridor and state to vitality.

But he also urged the import of sustaining Coe as the kind of community that shaped his life.

“At a time when so many seek an environment where they feel valued and a sense of belonging, we need to work with intention to assure that my Coe experience is never the exception, but it's instead so intensely woven into the very fabric of this place — our shared DNA — that every single student feels nurtured, welcomed, and valued,” he said.

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