On a leafy campus dotted with centuries-old red brick buildings in the heart of the state’s capital, St. John’s College has been a champion of bucking the latest trend in higher education.

The tiny liberal arts college in Annapolis quaintly calls its professors “tutors” who guide small groups of undergraduates through vigorous examinations of the so-called Great Books of literature, science and more.

Today, however, that cloistered world could be reaching a major turning point.

The third-oldest college in the nation this spring suddenly said goodbye to its president, Nora Demleitner, an outsider who lasted less than four years. Enrollment has fallen for two years. A budget crunch last year prompted the college to lay off four employees — 5% of the overall staff — and dip more into its $332 million endowment to cover a projected $10 million deficit.

One proposed solution to the tumult? A rebranding of sorts.

Interim President Suzy Paalman, a longtime St. John’s tutor and dean, is floating the idea of changing the name of the degrees awarded to graduates to align better with the wants and needs of potential employers.

“We’re looking at changing that to something that people might find on the new search engines better, so we can expand our profile,” Paalman said.

Several St. John’s faculty members interviewed recently said the college shouldn’t abandon its unique approach to a liberal arts education and embrace the latest trends such as artificial intelligence while trying to grow its student ranks.

“The higher education landscape is pretty bleak, really apart from St. John’s,” said Zena Hitz, an alum who has taught at the college for 10 years. “We’re sticking with the importance of books and learning rather than the instability of AI.”

In the meantime, the college faces a leadership vacuum.

Demleitner’s departure was announced by the college’s board of trustees in a brief email June 2 to the campus community with little fanfare, prompting online chatter from alumni speculating about the cause. A college spokesperson declined to comment on the departure.

The former president completed a $300 million fundraising campaign and helped convince state lawmakers to protect scholarship funds for St. John’s students. When Demleitner’s appointment as the college’s first female president was announced in 2021, members of the search committee noted they believed she would help the college grow its enrollment, which was, at the time, at “historic highs.”

But substantial growth has always been a challenge because St. John’s has a unique way of doing things, usually drawing a limited pool of applicants. For those who express interest, the odds are good: More than half of applicants usually get in, according to recent university admission numbers.

Students are required to take four years of most subjects, including English, math and music. Its Great Books program, which the college has followed since 1937, requires students to read original text that underpins those subjects and then discuss in a group setting everything from Archimedes to James Baldwin. The professors teach all subjects rather than focusing on just their discipline.

“The simple message of St. John’s is that these books have been foundational to the human experience and to understanding for hundreds of years, and if they were good then, they’re good now,” said Reagan Bottomley, a senior at the college. “I don’t have AI tell me what to say in class moment by moment. I have to be able to participate by myself.”

But that approach doesn’t appeal to all students, many of whom want to study something they deem more practical. The tide in higher education seems to be shifting from studying books and toward graduating with degrees in “career readiness fields,” something Gov. Wes Moore has encouraged.

St. John’s isn’t bending to that shift, a stance that could hurt its bottom line.

Last fall, St. John’s enrolled 473 students, a smaller first-year class than university officials hoped for, and with fewer domestic applications compared to the previous year, according to a Board of Visitors and Governors meeting report in February.

A June board report also raised concerns about its future international students, who may be less likely to attend college in the United States amid restrictions imposed by the Trump administration.

The college made news in 2018 for decreasing tuition from $55,000 to $35,000. Beginning this fall, the college committed to covering tuition for all U.S. students from families earning $75,000 or less.

Despite the declining enrollment, St. John’s faculty members say they think the college should stick to its mission instead of adapting to the times in an effort to attract more students. Without the Great Books program, argued Rebecca Goldner, an 11-year faculty member, “St. John’s wouldn’t be what we are.”

“Students come to St. John’s because they want a radical education,” Goldner said. “We’re committed to this. We’re not swayed by the turmoil that’s out there right now.”

The college recently withdrew a larger take from its endowment to fill a $10 million budget hole, but its interim president defended the move as fiscally prudent.

“It’s something we decided we needed to do to keep our budget balanced,” Paalman said. “It’s something we weren’t real happy to have to do.”

In a sign of growth that could improve finances, Paalman pointed to the college’s Graduate Institute, which has doubled in size in recent years. More than 100 students are enrolled in the program, attracting students of all ages.

At one recent graduate course on history, a group of about a dozen students sat around a large rectangular wooden table with views of the Annapolis campus quad. Each one opened their bags and produced a heavy book, setting it on the table with a loud, echoing thump.

It was Plutarch’s “Lives of Caesar and Cato,” many of the editions marked with handwritten annotations and colorful Post-it notes. Unlike most college classrooms today, this one was screen-free.

Paalman said this is the kind of learning environment she has pledged to preserve.

“There really are not many places in the country like St. John’s,” she said. “That’s why we’re essential.”

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.