Guilford College’s trustees appointed acting President Jean Parvin Bordewich to a two-year term after she led efforts to raise about $6 million from donors, averting the potential loss of academic accreditation for the 188-year-old Quaker college in Greensboro.
After commuting from Washington, D.C., to Guilford as acting president since January, Bordewich and her husband, Fergus M. Bordewich, are moving to Greensboro, the college said in a statement last week. Trustees tasked her “to continue stabilizing (Guilford’s) finances, pursue continued accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, advance a reimagined curriculum, and pursue other initiatives addressing the challenges facing small liberal arts colleges.”
Bordewich takes charge as Guilford’s 11th president after she mobilized staff and alumni to raise $1 million more than the $5 million in unrestricted cash required by the accreditor. Next, to nail down its accreditation, the college needs to show by December a balanced budget for the fiscal year that started July 1.
“She’s displayed such a positive aura facing a lot of challenges,” board Chair Dan Mosca said in the statement. “Others have seen that and are drawn to her. They want to help the college succeed.”
Trustees praised Bordewich for helping Guilford reorganize its operations, trim expenses and boost revenue. Aside from fundraising, she led efforts to double the number of alumni donors, exceeding the goal of 1,800 by 400 donors by the end of June.
Bordewich became board chair in May 2024 and stepped in as acting president eight months later. The fourth generation of her family to attend Guilford, Bordewich went there for two years before earning a bachelor’s degree in classics from Brown University and an MBA from George Washington University. As a Guilford student, she was a Dana Scholar, Richardson Fellow and reporter for The Guilfordian newspaper.
In Washington, Bordewich held various government jobs, such as staff director of the U.S. Senate Rules Committee and the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, overseeing the 2013 Obama-Biden inauguration. She also helped launch the U.S. Democracy Program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and worked as a business executive in New York City.
“I never imagined this culmination of my education, professional career and volunteer service,” she said. “But it’s full circle for me.”
Guilford College had 1,208 students in the fall of 2023 and a total of 75 full-time and 58 part-time faculty members. Tuition and fees for last year were $41,140, and about $57,000 for those living on campus. Average grants and scholarships were $33,106.
