Recently, the Saint Anselm community was informed that they would be saying goodbye to one of their senior administrators at the end of the year. In an email earlier this month, President Steven DiSalvo announced that Dr. Harry Dumay, Senior Vice President for Finance, and Chief Financial Officer for the college would be ending his time at Saint Anselm in July. Dumay will instead begin his new career as president of Elms College in Chicopee, Mass.

Dumay has been the CFO at Saint Anselm College for five years. In addition to managing the school’s fiscal health, he was also a key part of the process to begin work on the new student center, which is due to be done some time next year.

According to Dumay, he first became aware of the opportunity at Elm’s College around Thanksgiving. At that time he was notified about the opportunity by a search firm by the name of R.H. Perry and Associates. The firm at the time was aiding Saint Anselm in the search for a new Chief Diversity Officer when they informed Dumay that Elms College, another client of theirs, was looking for a new president.

“I had been thinking about it [becoming a president] for a little while,” Dumay said. “I started this year, in the summer, attending a program for presidential vocation discernment. As part of that I started to think more seriously whether I wanted to seek a presidency.”

Dumay will officially be inaugurated as the president of Elms College next fall. Elms College, also known as The College of Our Lady of the Elms, is a small private Catholic school located near Springfield, Mass. Founded in 1928, the school is also a liberal arts college like Saint Anselm.

As Dumay is preparing for Elms College, Saint Anselm is also starting the process of finding a new Chief Financial Officer. Before Dumay, Abbot Mark, then Father Mark had been the CFO for 33 years. However, President DiSalvo said that this CFO will be chosen like Dumay was, through a national search.

“We’ve begun to talk to search firms,” DiSalvo said. “We will get a job description into regular national publications, we are currently in the process of finding people. I think that it is a very desirable position for somebody.”

DiSalvo said that through years of working together he and Dumay have formed a close working relationship and friendship. He said that he is excited for Dumay’s future career, but is also sad to see him go.

“It is a wonderful opportunity for Harry Dumay, but a big loss for Saint Anselm College,” DiSalvo said. “He is an expert in finance, a strong leader, and a very good person. And I think that’s what made him such a good candidate for Elms College. We definitely need more Harry Dumay’s running colleges.”

DiSalvo also commended Dumay on his continual rise in life. Dumay was born and raised in Haiti, and came to the United States for school after receiving a prestigious scholarship. According to Dumay, he was only one of forty individuals to have received the scholarship.

“I definitely have a deeper appreciation for Dumay and his success,” DiSalvo said. “It is the ultimate U.S. success story.”

Not one to focus on himself, Dumay said he is instead focused on making sure that the rest of the year at Saint Anselm runs smoothly.

“We’re currently in the middle of the budget process for the whole college,” Dumay said. “We want to set the fiscal 2018 budget so I’m working with the budget office and the rest of the college. The student center is one of my big projects here. So over the next few months I want to look over that project to make sure it remains on schedule and on budget.”

After the school year has come to a close, Dumay said he is looking forward to his new position at Elm’s College, where his goal is to lead the faculty and possibly create a stronger financial footing for the school.

Five years at Saint Anselm has given Dumay a lot of fond memories, and he says leaving at the end of the year will be very bittersweet.

“There’s definitely a good sense of community on this campus,” Dumay said. “President DiSalvo has been a great mentor, I have a great working relationship with all my colleagues. My team here is fantastic, and we’ve been able to do some really great things for the college over the last five years.”

Dumay said that Saint Anselm helped him when considering schools. The similarities between here and Elms College make him confident that he will be happy with his new surroundings.

And as DiSalvo said in his email, “May God bless the Dumays, as they will always remain part of our Anselmian family.”