Reprinted from Eastern Connecticut State University - INSIDE EASTERN
Alumna Sharale Mathis ’98 appointed community college president
Written by Ed Osborn
Published on October 01, 2025
An Eastern Connecticut State University alumna is busy making her mark as a campus leader at Connecticut State Community College. Sharale (Walker) Mathis ’98 is the new campus president at the Capital and Tunxis community college campuses.
Mathis is a Hartford native and the product of Hartford Public High School. After her high school graduation in 1994, she started college at Howard University in Washington, D.C., determined to become an OB/GYN doctor. After a year, the financial cost of attending Howard made her pause her college plans.
Unsure of what to do, she spoke with two friends, one who was attending the University of Connecticut and one attending Eastern. “I felt that UCONN was too big,” says Mathis. “That summer I visited Eastern and walked the campus — it had a good feel about it. My friend also encouraged me. It was the best decision I ever made. I was supposed to be at Eastern.”
Why a degree in Biology? Reflecting her interest in medicine, Mathis always liked the sciences and even considered mathematics as a major until she encountered statistics. Her decision to take a biology degree was reinforced by the support and reception she received. “In my interactions with the biology faculty, they were all very helpful. They were interested in me as a developing scientist and treated me as a valued individual student.”
In her junior year, Mathis became pregnant with her son — right in the middle of a semester with some of the most difficult lab classes — and initially thought she would have to drop out. “I spoke with Professors Alan Wright, Charles Booth, and Yaw Nsiah, and gave each of them my speech on why I felt I couldn’t continue. Each of them told me they saw no reason for me to drop out. They were basically saying, ‘We will do whatever we have to do to help you complete your degree.’ They took care of me and I didn’t miss a single semester.”
After she got pregnant, her friends and roommates also stepped up to help, babysitting while she was in class, or offering quiet space to nap during the day. “It took the Eastern village to ensure that I graduated! My memories of my time at Eastern are some of my proudest moments.”
After graduating from Eastern, Mathis worked for four years at a biotech company before spending three years at UCONN Medical Center studying asthma under Drs. Roger Thrall and Carol Wu.
In 2006, Mathis joined Manchester Community College, working as the program coordinator for a National Science Foundation grant to support first-generation and underrepresented students pursuing STEM careers. She then served as an adjunct professor in biology before a promotion to a full-time teaching position in biology. More progressive promotions followed — as department chair, and interim division director of what became the STEM division.
Mathis then took a job for two years as the dean of academic and student affairs at Middlesex Community College before being recruited to serve in a leadership role at Holyoke Community College in Massachusetts as the vice president for academic and student affairs. She worked there for four years under President Christina Royal, implementing a “One Team” framework to improve outreach, enrollment, retention and support services. “And it was Dr. Royal, in her new role as the interim president of the Connecticut State Community College, who hired me to work on the Capital and Tunxis campuses,” says Mathis now.
Mathis earned her Master of Health Sciences degree in biomedical sciences from Quinnipiac University and her doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Hartford. She serves on several state and national boards, including the American Association of Community Colleges’ Commission on Institutional Infrastructure and Transformation, the National Council on Black American Affairs-Northeast Region, and the EAB Community College Research Advisory Council.
What does she tell her students today? “I am very transparent about my story. I tell them my mother was an unwed teenager when she had me at age 15. I tell them I share the same background with many of them. I tell them that their journey is their own. We come from all walks of life and each person must focus on their own path. I tell them not to compare themselves to others. What matters about their own story is completing it, finding the support they need to succeed in life. Working at their own pace, focusing on fulfilling their own dream. Perhaps in the process, they can inspire someone else coming up behind them.
“I am proud and inspired that I am the first woman to be the president at Capital,” she concludes, “and the first person of color to lead Tunxis.
“In reflecting on my life — the twists and turns — I believe my life experiences have armed me to be able to serve in this role. I hope this job will give me the tools to address some of the barriers that prevent too many students from achieving success.”