Students’ perceptions of Thomas Gamble, Ph.D, were varied, as well as their reactions to the announcement of his retirement.

Nick Latta, Mercyhurst Student Government President, spoke highly of Gamble. “He’s done a lot for the school for his tenure,” he said. “He’s done a lot of change.”

Even in the negative aspects of Gamble’s presidency, Latta found some positive. He spoke of the university’s response to the warning from the Middle States Commission for Higher Education for failing to completely meet the commission’s accreditation standards. “When [the Commission] came through last spring, we were awarded six letters of commendation,” he said. “We may have been in a warning situation at first, but he helped pull us into a situation where we’re above the rest of the curve.”

Other students’ reactions to Gamble were more lukewarm. Kirsten Mueller, a senior, said the resignation didn’t come as a surprise. “Mercyhurst has gone through so many changes over the last few years, so this isn’t necessarily something that shocks me.”

Becky Malaga, a senior, called the resignation “sudden.” “You send an email at 8 am, then you announce you’re retiring at 10 am.” The situation happened so quickly that she “thought it might have been a sex scandal.”
Anna Wills, a senior, was “happy to be part of his time here.” However, she also stated that she didn’t interact much with Gamble himself.

Gauging the opinions of the student body was difficult as many people questioned said they didn’t have an opinion on the matter. The reaction of Jacob Ochs, a senior, may then effectively stand for a great number of the students: “Meh. I don’t really care about bureaucratic politics. It doesn’t really affect me.”