President Richard Brodhead has named Assistant Dean Craig Kocher as acting dean of the Duke Chapel, temporarily replacing William Willimon, who was elected bishop by the Southeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church July 15 after serving as the beloved dean of the Chapel for 20 years.
Kocher, who also serves as director of religious life, had already been filling in for Willimon during the dean’s sabbatical in the spring and was the obvious choice for the job, Brodhead said. “We knew [Kocher] would do a good job because he was doing a good job already,” the president affirmed. Craig is a person of great integrity who is extremely respectful of others. He is a very good preacher [and is] someone with a very clear vision of the role of the Chapel.”
Until a full-time replacement is found, Kocher will assume responsibility for leading the Chapel’s worship services and for directing more than 25 religious groups on campus. In addition, Kocher will continue his duties as assistant dean, a position he has held since July 2003. Those duties include counseling students, organizing discussion groups and leading student mission trips during fall and spring break.
Kocher admitted that he was “a little bit overwhelmed by both the appointment and the responsibility” of his new position. He added, however, that he felt “grateful and excited, appreciative and humbled by it all.”
During his tenure as head of the Chapel, Kocher does not plan to make any drastic changes. Instead, he described his job as that of “a steward [who will] make sure things continue to run smoothly.” He said his main goal is to ensure that the Chapel is in great shape for the new, full-time minister.
Meanwhile Brodhead also appointed an 11-member search committee led by Rev. Charles Smith and consisting of University administrators, alumni and current students to look for a full-time dean of the Chapel. “I expect we’ll have a full-time appointment in the spring,” Brodhead said.
Kocher is not on the search committee, but hopes to serve the committee as an “outside consultant.” As for the full-time role as dean of the Chapel, Kocher has no plans to apply for the job. “I love the job I’ve got. I’m not going to actively seek the position at all,” he said. “I’ll trust the search committee to do what is in the best interest of Duke Chapel.”
For the time being, many community members are delighted to have Kocher in charge of Duke’s most historically and physically distinguishing symbol.
Kristine Harrington, a first-year student in the Divinity School, agreed. “I have very high opinions of Craig,” she said. “He’s the reason I’m at Duke Divinity School.”
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