Danielle HarmsWartburg College has hired an educator with ties to Denver, Colo., and the college to serve as its first director of outreach and project development for Wartburg West.

Danielle Harms comes to the Wartburg West program from the English Language Academy at the University of Colorado Denver where she taught English to international students and helped engage them in learning through community and cultural activities. She begins her duties at Wartburg today.

In her new role, she will be responsible for strengthening the longstanding program’s current partnerships and identifying and developing new partnerships in Denver and the surrounding area. She also will work with current Wartburg West staff to increase mission-based programming for students.

“Denver is such a vibrant community, and there are so many possibilities for Wartburg West to grow within it,” Harms said. “I am excited to explore these avenues for building a strong foundation that allows Wartburg West to thrive in Denver.”

Her duties also will include work with Denver-area alumni and friends of the college to support student recruitment, alumni outreach and donor development efforts.

“Wartburg’s presence in Denver will be an important part of the future of the college. Hiring Danielle is an important step in realizing that vision,” said Wartburg President Darrel Colson.

Daniel Kittle, vice president for student life and dean of students, said filling this position was the culmination of more than three years of study and discernment that engaged a variety of constituents and helped the vision for the program and its place in the college gain even more momentum.

“In the past, the success of Wartburg West has been predicated upon getting current students in Waverly to spend a semester in Denver,” Kittle said. “While that still remains important, and primarily the work of the program director, Bonita Bock, and Jo Dorrance, the college’s internship coordinator and Wartburg West liaison, the vision has broadened to embrace an emerging goal: to identify and realize opportunities in Denver that can more broadly enrich Wartburg College. We want to see how our presence in Denver can bolster enrollment, alumni engagement and revenue.”

Harms said Wartburg’s commitment to invest in Denver impressed her during the interview process.

“As the higher education landscape changes, and private, liberal arts schools have to wrangle with new challenges, not all schools have shown such forward thinking or creative problem solving,” she said. “It’s the kind of innovative approach that will continue to distinguish Wartburg from its peers.”

Harms, who earned a bachelor’s degree in English and political science from Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn., understands the Wartburg mission well. She grew up in Wisconsin but was surrounded by Wartburg orange.

“I cannot remember a holiday in Waverly when we didn’t pass around the The Trumpet (the college newspaper) or visit Old Main, where my grandfather, Ray Harms, was a professor in the religion department,” she said. Her father and his brothers are all Knights, and her grandmother, Gracia Harms, remains involved with the college.

“Wartburg was the backdrop for much of my childhood, and I’m thrilled to officially join the Wartburg family.”

Harms also earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing, nonfiction from George Mason University, Fairfax, Va. Prior to her work in Denver, she was an assistant professor of English and composition at George Mason and English teacher in Hungary and South Korea. She also served as the editor-in-chief of the Phoebe Journal of Literature and Art.

“While I learned from each of those experiences, I’ve always looked for a way back to the kind of liberal arts ideals I found so empowering,” she said. “I’m passionate about promoting liberal arts education, and ensuring that more people can access its many benefits, especially those underrepresented in higher education. Denver is a wonderful place to pursue this goal and Wartburg is wise to invest in it.”