When David Munson was announced as the president of RIT back in 2017, the campus looked very different. MAGIC was finishing construction. Saunders College of Business looked like any other academic building. Wallace’s lighting was a lot more yellow, and both the ESL Cybersecurity Institute and the SHED had yet to get off the ground. In addition to all of these construction projects, Munson’s tenure oversaw the beginning of development on the new performing arts building, the Tiger Stadium and the research building.
Needless to say, Munson’s time at RIT is noted by the construction that dotted the campus, and the buildings that went up over the past 8 years. Reflecting on Munson’s potential legacy as the construction president, Susan Puglia, from the Board of Trustees, had this to say at the “Reflections and the Future” chat with Munson on May 6.
“[Munson] has had such a tremendous impact on the changing face of the campus,” Puglia said.
During his tenure, Munson also sought to reinvigorate the performing arts programs at RIT. The changes included the promotion of the performing arts scholarship program, the addition of the Sklarsky Glass Box Theater and Munson Music Loft in the SHED, and the expansion of the performing arts course offerings within the College of Liberal Arts.
“[Performing arts scholars] come in with higher GPAs, they have higher GPAs, they have higher graduation rates, and they’re more likely to stay here because they have their affinity groups,” Munson said, justifying the importance of the performing arts at RIT.
Munson’s commitment has not been without controversy, prompting complaints from students over the past few years. Some students have insisted that the funding used for performing arts-related infrastructure could be better used elsewhere. Many of the performing arts faculty are also adjuncts, and this has led to high turnover within the program, with many favorite professors staying only for a few years.
While it may seem like a distant nightmare now, Munson also led RIT through the COVID-19 pandemic, taking the campus virtual in March of 2020 and overseeing the return to classes — and normalcy — in the following semesters.
As discussed prominently in the 2023 mental health edition of Reporter, Munson’s tenure saw the growing importance of mental health on college campuses and in the broader community. Some students and faculty felt that the president was not doing enough to meet the needs of the campus.
While Munson prepares to hand the reins of RIT over to Bill Sanders to enter retirement with Nancy, he hopes that the students remember him as someone who left a positive impact on the RIT community.
In his own words: “A lot of the things I’ve worked on, I hope, are foundational and set the stage for great things. I hope I’ll be remembered as student-centered, as the students are very important to Nancy and me.”
