Following a four-year term in which he led the university through what a press release describes as “incredibly challenging times,” the president of Thorneloe University, Rev. Dr. John Gibaut, is retiring.
“The board is incredibly grateful for his tireless dedication and invaluable leadership,” said a April 16 press release from Thorneloe’s board of governors.
Thorneloe said Stacy Sathaseevan has been appointed the university's interim president, effective June 1.
Raised in Holtyre, Ont., Sathaseevan moved to Sudbury in 2001 to pursue her post-secondary education at Laurentian University. She completed her B.A. Honours in 2005 in addition to B.Ed. in 2009, specializing in junior intermediate education. She is finalizing the requirements for her Master’s in Interdisciplinary Humanities in order to to convocate in June.
In 2012, Sathaseevan started her employment at Laurentian University as an Adult Liaison Co-ordinator. Since 2016, she has been working with the Faculty of Graduate Studies as an Information Officer, helping students receive funding at the local, provincial, and national levels, as well as providing them with professional development opportunities, and welcoming them through orientation and other community building events.
For the past two years, Sathaseevan has also served as the Dean of Residence at Thorneloe University, where she strives to ensure a happy, healthy and safe residence life for all members of the residence community.
“This transition marks a new chapter for our university,” said board chair Brian Koivu, in a press release.
“Ms. Sathaseevan is deeply committed to continuing the legacy that Rev. Dr. Gibaut has established, while also bringing fresh perspectives and ideas to further our mission. We look forward to the growth of our School of Theology and the continued success of our residence.”
Thorneloe University is one of three educational institutions that were formerly federated with Laurentian University, providing courses counting toward Laurentian degrees.
However, that all changed in 2021, when Laurentian severed the federation agreement with Thorneloe as well as with Huntington University and the University of Sudbury that went back to the university’s founding.
Gibaut started his tenure at Thorneloe in June 2019, not long before the COVID-19 pandemic and then Laurentian’s insolvency.
But the troubles started for Thorneloe even before these disruptive events.
Gibaut told Sudbury.com in 2023 he arrived on campus under “odd circumstances.”
Laurentian changed the funding model for how it passed provincial money onto the federated universities, resulting in a financial crunch at Thorneloe, and the necessity to make what Gibaut describes as a “very painful” decision.
In May 2020, Thorneloe cut its theatre arts and motion picture arts programs.
It would be a foreshadowing of what was to come, as following Laurentian’s 2021 disclaimer of the federation agreement, Thorneloe discontinued most of its remaining programs, including women’s, gender and sexuality studies and ancient studies.
Gibaut said when he arrived at Thorneloe in 2019, there were about 40 full- and part-time employees at the institution, with 2,700 students studying there per year.
After the layoffs in 2020 and 2021, as of 2023, Thorneloe had four full-time and three part-time employees, and just 65 students.
Thorneloe’s remaining students are studying theology.
The Anglican church-affiliated Thorneloe offers certificates for Anglican layreaders, as well as diplomas and bachelor’s degrees in theology. These programs are conferred directly by Thorneloe, so were unaffected by Laurentian’s actions.
Thorneloe’s current sources of income are its theology program, its 58-student residence and rentals of its theatre to community groups, Gibaut said last year.
