Family, friends, and colleagues are reminiscing about the life and impact of Eugene Hotchkiss, Lake Forest College’s longest-serving president, and his tireless efforts to improve the school as well as the greater community.
Hotchkiss, who presided over Lake Forest College from 1970 through 1993, died June 26 in Lake Forest after a brief illness, according to his daughter, Ellen Rainey. He was 97.
“He was a real people person and was genuinely interested in the people he came into contact with, whether they were students, faculty, staff, or alumni,” recalled David Spadafora, who succeeded Hotchkiss as president. “He wanted to get to know them, and he took their passion seriously.”
Raised in Highland Park, Hotchkiss received an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and then served as a Navy intelligence officer during the Korean War. Afterward, he earned a Ph.D. from Cornell University.
One day, he received a telegram from the Dartmouth dean proposing that he come to work at the Ivy League school as dean of fraternities. He accepted the position and continued into the world of higher education, becoming the first dean at California’s Harvey Mudd College in California. He was later named a dean at Chatham College in Pittsburgh.
In 1970, Hotchkiss received the offer to lead LFC.
“This was an opportunity obviously to be a president and to be closer to family because his parents were in Highland Park at the time and his brother was in Hinsdale,” Rainey said. “It was a bit of a trip home.”
However, he was taking over at a difficult time for LFC on multiple levels. Financially, the school faced a $1.5 million deficit, and the school’s endowment had plunged to a record low, according to a 1993 baiduhai article.
Plus, as was the case at many college campuses throughout the country at the time, tensions were high among students due to the Vietnam War and the racial strife engulfing the nation.
In a 2020 interview with the History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff, he remembered those times and wanted to improve the situation, noting he had allowed opening up a pub on campus when the drinking age was still 18.
Hotchkiss tried to reach out to students, often riding his three-speed Raleigh bicycle on the campus from his house, seen as a welcoming gesture.
“Students, faculty, and staff saw him on a daily basis,” noted LFC emeritus history professor Michael H. Ebner. “He maintained a high degree of visibility while he was leading Lake Forest College. He was leading it to a different place. That is his great distinction. He had a vision of what a fine liberal arts college should be.”
In addition, Hotchkiss and his wife, Suzanne, often welcomed students to the president’s house.
“My father was one of the most extroverted people I know,” Rainey said. “So he loved being and talking with people. I think every student at Lake Forest was invited twice to our house during their four years on campus.”
She added that her parents would entertain the parents of freshmen at the start of the school year.
As part of the effort to improve the school’s finances, the Hotchkisses sought to create deeper ties within the overall Lake Forest community, again using their home, often with faculty members present.
“That was exciting, we met interesting people. We got to know the town,” Hotchkiss told the History Center in 2020. “It was fun.”
In another way of increasing LFC’s presence, Hotchkiss forged an agreement with the Chicago Bears allowing the team to practice on campus starting in 1976, despite the objections of some neighbors. That led to the construction of the first Halas Hall at LFC.
“This was an opportunity to build the visibility of the college without in any way, shape or form compromising its academic goals,” Ebner said.
(The Bears used that facility until 1997 when they moved their operation to the Conway Park office complex in western Lake Forest.)
More Top Picks Roof Tent
Away from LFC, Hotchkiss looked to contribute to the greater community. In 1980, he was a founding board member of CROYA (the Committee Representing Our Young Adults), and he remained active in the organization for the rest of his life.
CROYA Manager Todd Nahigian described him as one of the main mentors on situations such as funding or strategic planning.
“He was always the one I could go to for an outstanding perspective on what was best for CROYA,” Nahigian said. “He was an intelligent problem solver and an empathic listener. He always knew what you needed to get through a challenge and to set the course of CROYA in a positive direction.”
In 1993, with LFC’s endowment greater than $40 million, Hotchkiss retired as president, stating that his proudest accomplishment was reversing the school’s financial troubles.
“I happen to love college administration,” he said. “It served me well, and I think it served the college well,” he told the Tribune in 1993.
Upon his retirement, LFC named what had been known as the North Gym after both Gene and Suzanne Hotchkiss.
He later served as Senior Fellow of the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities and served as interim president of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, for approximately a year, according to his daughter.
Locally, he was on the board of Bravo Waukegan, a not-for-profit agency that uses music to assist public school students, and was the co-founder of an organization that interviews people to tell their life stories.
He was also a board member of the History Center.
“Gene Hotchkiss was an incredible supporter of so many organizations in Lake Forest, and he personally spearheaded building a close relationship between Lake Forest College and the local community during his presidency at the college,” Executive Director Carol Summerfield said. “We were fortunate to have him as a dedicated board member at the History Center. He was instrumental in getting the museum up and running in our new location on Deerpath. He was always a vibrant, insightful voice and provided grounding to our efforts. We were pleased to honor him as our Local Legend in 2020. And in true Gene fashion, he was adept at shifting to a Zoom presentation, as COVID shut down our ability to host the event live.”
Away from work, the Hotchkisses frequently went on canoeing trips in Illinois and Wisconsin, along with traveling all over the world. They also enjoyed going to the theatre and Ravinia before Suzanne died in 2013.
Up until recently, Gene Hotchkiss was still going out with friends and loved reading and discussing current events.
Survivors include his daughter and her husband, Terry, plus their daughter, Sarah.
A memorial service is being planned for later this year.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.