By Jane Collins ’18

After two years as Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Lafayette, Michael Kiser is stepping down from his position and joining the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). CASE is an organization that Kiser said he has been involved with for years. He will assume the same job title at CASE as he held at Lafayette.

According to their website, CASE is “a professional association serving educational institutions and the advancement professionals who work on their behalf in alumni relations, communications, development, marketing and allied areas.”

As a first generation college student, Kiser said working for an organization like CASE means a lot to him.

Although leaving Lafayette was a difficult decision, Kiser said that he feels that CASE is the next step of his career.

“I would not have left Lafayette for another [academic] institution,” Kiser said. “This feels like where my career has led me.”

President Alison Byerly said she and others at the college will miss the unique approach Kiser brought to communications.

“I know that lots of different divisions appreciated having him come in and say, ‘We’d like to partner with you in helping you get your message out. Here are the ways in which you could be helpful to us by thinking about what you’re trying to accomplish. What problem are you trying to solve?’” she said.

“I think that the problem-solving approach that he brought to communications is something that many people will miss,” she added.

In a campus-wide email, Byerly wrote that Kiser’s approach to communications resulted in “effective and creative coverage of major college events such as the 150 th  Lafayette-Lehigh game and the launch of the Capital Campaign.”

“Michael has contributed a lot during his time here,” Byerly said. “He’s brought a very thoughtful approach to communications and a real focus on identifying the audience and the message and worrying less about the medium.”

Kiser described his experience at Lafayette as “really, really incredible,” and said that the 150 th rivalry with Lehigh was one of his favorite Lafayette memories.

Byerly also said she remembered that moment.

“When we were in New York City at Yankee Stadium, for the 150 th , standing down on the field, and his being tremendously excited to be there, because that had been an enormous communication challenge,” she said.

“There had been lots of advertising, lots of videos to be made, things to be done and it all just turned into such a fabulous day,” she added. “I think it was a moment that he felt very happy to be part of what was an enormously important undertaking for the college.”

The second highlight Kiser pointed out was the board retreat that happened a few months ago.

“Everyone just really came together to support this new move for the college—making the college bigger, becoming need blind,” he said. “It’s rare for that to happen, for everyone to agree on the same direction.”

Kiser said that he is proud of his time at Lafayette and feels that the past year has been the start of a big turning point for the school.

“People will look back on this time as when things really changed,” Kiser said.