Zoe Seymore
Contributing Writer
When I heard the news of Sarah Bolton leaving Wooster to go to another school, I felt a mix of emotions. While I am truly happy for this new beginning for President Bolton, and the many opportunities it will bring, I am also very sad to lose such an important figure to Wooster’s campus. Though I have only known President Bolton for three years, half of them being virtual, I have genuinely enjoyed seeing her leadership at Wooster, and I know she will bring the same amount of joy, laughter and enthusiasm to her new campus. You will never find anyone with more Wooster plaid and a bigger smile on her face walking around Wooster’s campus.
In March of 2021, when Coco Liu ’21 and I co-organized the March for Asian Lives, we reached out to President Bolton, as well as many others who work for the school to help us plan and make sure everyone would be safe, and immediately she was supportive of our initiative. Seeing President Bolton come to the arch and take a candle made me feel that our cause mattered, and that what we were doing was important to the College and surrounding community. Later that week, she attended our Teams debriefing meeting to talk about the march, as well as sending me and Coco a personal email about the March, making my voice feel heard as an Asian American on Wooster’s campus.
A majority of my college experience has been heavily affected by COVID. With the uncertainties of the virus, it was always relieving to have one thing that was constant: President Bolton’s emails and leadership in handling the virus on our campus. In my opinion, President Bolton has handled the pandemic in the best way possible. We have had very minimal spread considering we live in a city with a low vaccination rate and a high positivity rate. I have felt very safe attending college during a pandemic, thanks to Bolton and the rest of the COVID task force.
I will always carry the memories of seeing and speaking with her on campus, starting with the time I made her a Wooster plaid mask and she posted about it on her social media. Not only that, but she wished me happy birthday on my 21st birthday on my mom’s Instagram. I have never met anyone who makes more of an effort to get to know each and every student on this campus than President Bolton. I have been shaped and inspired by her leadership and I hope to someday be the kind of leader she is: one filled with care and compassion for everyone she meets. While I know she will excel in her new position, I wish she was able to stay at Wooster for a few more years. The unexpectedness of this decision was definitely hard to adapt to, however, I wish President Bolton the best in her new endeavors at Whitman. I am thankful for her wonderful years of service, and I know that she will touch every new person she meets at Whitman and beyond.