Kutztown University inaugurates Philip Cavalier as 13th president

There’s a big weekend ahead at Kutztown University. 

While Philip Cavalier began his tenure as the 13th president of the school last July, his inauguration will be held this weekend. The official ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. on Friday, but the celebration will take place throughout the weekend with numerous events. 

Cavalier came to Kutztown after serving as the provost and senior vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Tennessee at Martin, a regional public university with more than 7,000 students in northwest Tennessee.  

His tenure included five months as interim chancellor in 2023. During his seven years at the university, he led the creation of UTM’s 2025-30 strategic plan and two strategic enrollment plans and developed or enhanced eight academic programs aligned with student interests and local workforce needs.  

He also played a key role in boosting student retention and graduation rates, managed the university’s largest budget, and forged new partnerships with community colleges and regional employers, including a major collaboration with Ford Motor Co. 

Before joining UT Martin, Cavalier held several faculty and senior leadership roles in higher education, including provost at Lyon College, provost and dean of the college at Eureka College, and dean of general education at Catawba College. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Kyiv International University and Kyiv Slavonic University in Ukraine and a tenured faculty member in English at Catawba College. 

Cavalier holds a doctorate in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo, a master’s degree in English from Northeastern University, Boston, Mass., and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Swarthmore College.