Students, staff welcome new Siena College president

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Dr. Charles Seifert is no stranger to Siena College—he's been a professor there for decades. But when he stepped out of Siena Hall Thursday morning, hundreds were waiting to welcome their new leader.

It was a big surprise for Seifert, who thought he was just holding a press conference. He said that level of community support is par for the course at Siena. "It's intoxicating," remarked Seifert. "The support that people feel. And I think that's really impactful, because when students come to visit Siena, they feel it too."

"You have friends in so, so many departments," added rising senior, Simon Meisel. He told NEWS10 Seifert brings a perspective he's never seen before.

"Everybody has their own two cents to add," noted Meisel. "And I'm interested to see how the interdisciplinary college can be run interdisciplinarily."

And coming out of a global pandemic, Seifert has some big plans for pushing the college forward. "We're always looking at what we can do in order to push the envelope," he stated. "To think outside the box, and all of those other things. But we really do pay attention to that, and we work really hard to make sure that we have some of those best practices."

Seifert was promoted back in December. His inauguration is set for September 21.