WORCESTER, Mass. - The new College of the Holy Cross president says he plans to hit the ground running once he's on campus later this summer.

Vincent Rougeau is the college's 33rd president and the first who is not a priest or a member of the clergy.

He is also the first black president in the college’s history.

Rougeau said one of his main priorities will be guiding the school back from the coronavirus pandemic and responding to both new challenges and opportunities it has created.

"We'll be reopening after a long time away. That’s the first time in anyone’s lifetime memory that that kind of thing has happened so there will probably be a lot of things i can’t even anticipate that we'll do together to understand how our community will function in the new normal that will come after the pandemic starts to ease," Rougeau said.

Rougeau is currently the dean of Boston College Law School, and was chosen after a nationwide search to replace Rev. Philip Boroughs.

He will start his role as Holy Cross president on July 1. 

Image courtesy: College of the Holy Cross