Institutional leadership often focuses on beginnings: launching programs, growing enrollment, casting vision, and building for the future. The Rev. Colleen R. Derr, Ed.D., has learned that faithful leadership also includes endings.
Derr, now executive vice president and chief academic officer at Mount Vernon Nazarene University and a member of In Trust Center’s Board of Directors, previously led Eastern Nazarene College (ENC) through the dignified closure of its 125-year legacy in 2024. It was, she says, a calling she resisted.
“I put up every barrier I could possibly think of because I didn’t want [ENC] to go,” Derr says. “I knew how hard a place and a situation it was going to be.” Still, she sensed she was being called because “somebody needed to fight for [the college].”
That fight ultimately became an effort to close it with dignity, care and faithfulness. Derr shared with In Trust her experience and lessons learned for leaders navigating institutional distress, mission fulfillment and the painful work of “ending well.”
Know the Real Runway
Derr arrived at ENC knowing the college faced financial challenges, but she believed there might be enough time to attempt a turnaround. A mentor advised her that she needed a two-year runway. By the time she arrived, that had nearly disappeared.
“I realized, ‘Oh no, wait a minute, we don’t have a runway at all,’” she recalls. Derr emphasizes that institutional distress rarely emerges overnight and is often the result of decades of institutional decisions, sacrifices and delayed realities. For ENC, this meant budget deficits, enrollment shortfalls, deferred maintenance and years of accumulated financial strain.
That is why, she believes, leaders and boards must regularly assess and understand true fiscal health. “We look at an operating budget and need to ask, ‘Is it red or black at the end?’ And that’s only part of the story,” she says. “Cash, property, people, projections, and long-term trends all matter.”
Has the Mission Has Been Fulfilled?
For faith-based institutions, mission is often the deepest source of identity and the hardest thing to release. Derr believes leaders must ask not only whether an institution is still on mission, but also whether that mission has been fulfilled in a particular form.
In assessing the school’s future, Derr wrestled with a series of difficult questions: “Have we fulfilled our mission? Have we fulfilled the mission in this location and in this way that we were called to serve?”
For ENC, Derr discovered the answer did not erase 125 years of impact. Instead, it allowed leaders to honor that legacy. Since 1919, the college had shaped generations of students, churches and communities. Closure did not mean the mission had failed. “That was something to celebrate,” Derr says.
Persist Faithfully, Prepare Honestly
During her first year, Derr and her team pursued every viable option. They opened unused dorm space in partnership with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, launched nontraditional programs, reorganized operations, raised money, and hired key leaders. “We couldn’t throw in the towel immediately,” she says. “These people had hope, and we couldn’t not try. We had to try.”
At the same time, the board began preparing for other possibilities, including merger and dissolution. Derr describes the tension as pursuing “Plan A” while preparing for “Plan B.”
By June 2024, the indicators were clear. “Everything that we said we had to hit, we missed,” she says. “And that was our answer.”
Remember That Institutions Are About People
One of Derr’s most moving encounters came after the decision to close, when she visited a longtime professor in his 90s who had spent his life investing in ENC. She dreaded telling him the news.
His response reframed the moment. “He said, ‘I never invested in a place. I invested in people,’” Derr recalls. That insight became a guiding reminder. The mission was never merely to preserve buildings or a campus; it was to equip and send people into the world to bear witness to Christ’s love, truth, and grace. “That investment continues long after the place closes,” Derr says. “Our mission isn’t to preserve buildings or preserve an institution. Our mission is the building of the kingdom through people.”
Build the Right Team
Closing a school is complex, costly, and emotionally exhausting. Derr says leaders should not try to carry the burden alone.
She sought counsel from experienced higher education leaders, worked closely with the accreditor and state officials, hired attorneys with experience in school closures, brought in communications support, and leaned on her board chair.
“Success in closing requires an incredible team around you,” she says. “Recognize, ‘This is what I lack in knowledge, in wisdom, in patience. I need to be surrounded by people who can help me carry this.’”
Be Resilient
Closure brings grief, anger and criticism. Derr was advised to get off social media once the decision became clear.
“People act out of character when they’re hurt and they’re angry,” she says. “As the leader, you’re the tip of the spear.”
That criticism may feel personal, but Derr learned to distinguish between the role and the person. The president had to make painful decisions. Derr, the person, had to remain spiritually grounded enough to keep leading.
“I had to be OK with them not being OK,” she says.
See Closure as Hospice Ministry
Derr compares closing ENC to hospice ministry: difficult, sacred, and deeply human. “For ENC, we were called to hospice ministry,” she says.
“There is beauty in honoring the past, caring as much as you can for your people, trying to preserve as much of the legacy as you possibly can, and, in all of it, honoring the Lord’s name to be glorified.”
Derr stresses that closing well does not remove the pain. People will grieve. Some will be angry. Some questions will remain unanswered for a time. But Derr’s story shows that endings can still be faithful.
“We fought for the mission,” Derr says. “There is beauty in honoring the past, caring for people, and preserving as much of the legacy as possible.
“But you have to say to yourself, ‘Lord, give me the grace to stay the course.’ Have the personal resilience and grit that are critical to be a leader.”
Listen to the podcast “Finishing faithfully” click here
