Dear Coastal Carolina University Community,

It is with mixed emotion that I announce Dr. Daniel J. Ennis, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, has accepted the presidency at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi.

Provost Ennis has given almost 24 years of dedicated service to the Coastal Carolina University community and while he will be greatly missed, I am confident you will join me in congratulating Dan, Jen, and their daughters on this singular accomplishment. On a personal note, I will miss Dan as both a friend and colleague. However, as I enter this stage in my own career, I take enormous satisfaction in the fact that within the past three years, several vice presidents I served with at my prior institutions have now assumed presidencies in Utah, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Bahrain. With President Ennis beginning his tenure in Mississippi on June 1, 2023, Dan becomes vice president number five to become a president and I have every confidence he will do superb work.

Under Dan’s leadership, academic affairs successfully navigated through the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and redeveloped distance learning protocols to ensure students still received top-notch education. There are so many notable accolades to highlight throughout his time at CCU, and we will have the opportunity to fully celebrate before he leaves for the Magnolia State.

Dr. Ennis is a well-respected leader, colleague, professor, and friend to many at CCU. Please join me in wishing him and his family happiness and success in all their future pursuits.

We will announce interim plans for the leadership of Academic Affairs in the very near future.

Kind regards,

Michael T. Benson   

President and Professor of History