“Love is a strong emotion,” he would answer.
But celebrating one year in his role, Ward says he’s fallen in love with the UHart community. “I love that this job requires the best that I have to offer—my skill, my energy, my experience, my thought leadership, my engagement. I love that it’s in a place where I grew up. I love that our students are so remarkably diverse and so compellingly interesting. I love the dedication of our faculty. I love the commitment of our staff. I love the stories of our alumni. And I love the fact that people have embraced that this is a ‘we moment.’”
From the beginning of his tenure on July 1, 2024, Ward has challenged the University to reimagine excellence—to “turn things on their side” and look at them from a different angle—and he’s sought to embody that in ways big and small.
In an email last September to the campus community, for example, Ward encouraged everyone to greet each other with their heads up and eyes open, rather than being absorbed by their electronic devices as so many of us are.
“A student told me at the senior barbecue [in May] how much he appreciated that email,” Ward says. “I’ve definitely seen a shift in the number of students who are looking up and acknowledging each other.”
Ward says those one-on-one interactions have been highlights of his first year. “At Midnight Breakfast, I sat down and spent 15 minutes or so talking with members of the softball team, and then when we saw each other on stage at Commencement, it was a very warm greeting. Those opportunities to be around our students, to see them in their natural habitat, have really stood out for me.”
Ward has sought to unite the University around what he calls his “critical few objectives”—among them, investing in the fundamental infrastructure that helps students succeed by helping them feel like they matter.
“We’ve invested in some critical areas,” he says. “We’re putting new roofs on the student housing complexes. We’ve replaced boilers and HVAC systems. We’re attacking our first big parking lot with a repaving effort. They’re not glamorous things, but they’re things that impact student experience and have needed to happen for a long time.”
And, Ward says, the University is investing in its human infrastructure: its faculty and staff. "If we’ve got to bet on something, bet on people,” he says. “Bet on an investment in our University of Hartford culture. That becomes the foundation, the platform from which we then head confidently into year two.”
Recognizing that the University’s culture doesn’t end with graduation, Ward has traveled the country, spending time with UHart alumni. “I hear from them about the transformative experience that they had at the University of Hartford, how their experience helped shape and form who they are today. The impact a faculty member or a classmate had on their career, on the trajectory of their life.”
And his message to alumni? “They matter. There is no such thing as a great but disconnected university. The University of Hartford can't reach new levels of distinction and accomplishment without being connected to our alumni.”
Ward has also been reaching out to the Greater Hartford community to strengthen UHart’s partnerships with industry, government, and other educational institutions. Those partnerships will be key in Ward’s second year, when he says his focus will be on creating a strategic plan for the University and preparing for a major fundraising campaign.
The outreach has already started to bear fruit. In March, more than a dozen Connecticut state agencies visited UHart to recruit students—the first time the State of Connecticut has held a career event on a college campus. And in April, NASA chose the UHart campus to host an all-day event showcasing how Connecticut industry can be involved in the space program.
The bottom line, Ward says, is: “Who’s talking about the University of Hartford when we’re not in the room? We need to be in the mouths of folks in a positive way when they're looking for a partner. I want them to think of the University of Hartford and pick up the phone, because they know someone's going to answer and we're going to co-create.”
Ward’s desire for the University to play a role in the future of the Greater Hartford area is a personal one. He grew up in Vernon and has deep family roots in the area tracing back to the 1940s. As a result, his first year as UHart president has been suffused with a sense of homecoming.
“I was raised here. My extended family lives throughout this city, in this region. I’ve reconnected with friends I haven’t seen since high school. To be embraced in this leadership role, in a geography that is so important to me—I could not have designed a better experience.”
Q&A with President Lawrence P. Ward
Just walking on campus and engaging with our community members. A friendly nod, just looking into our students’ eyes and acknowledging their presence on campus. I hope they get the sense that I am a very student-centric leader. Those interactions for me are always very special, even when they may be brief.
I’m not sure we can call it a tradition yet, but I loved the senior barbecue. I loved playing cornhole with graduating students and just engaging and spending time with them. That might become my new favorite tradition.
Gengras Student Union food court. I like the variety there. I should probably be eating more salads, you know? My guilty pleasure is fried food. I have trouble steering clear of French fries and wings—I just love it. So, I tend to eat a little better at GSU than in the Commons.
Washington, D.C., just because I spent more than 20 years of my life there. I started my career there. I met my wife there. My kids were born there. It was really cool to be back there and meet alumni that spanned the generations from UHart.
I love the BSU Fashion Show. It’s incredible. “Fashion show” doesn’t even really do it justice. It’s a major production. That was very cool.
I have two: the GSU lobby and the Hursey Center. In GSU, there are always people coming and going. It just feels like the epicenter of the campus community. Hursey is always teeming with students that are working on incredible and impactful projects and lessons. It represents, for me, the power of a University of Hartford education.
Can I have two? Gregory Porter has a song called “Faith in Love.” I absolutely feel like I have faith in this institution, faith in our direction, and faith in myself. So I love that. And then, Eric B. and Rakim, “I Ain’t No Joke.”