President of Brightpoint Community College will resign

Ted Raspiller, president of Brightpoint Community College in Chesterfield, will resign in February.

Having led the school for almost a decade, Raspiller is leaving for a job at Virginia529, the state’s college savings plan.

He called his time at Brightpoint “some of the most rewarding years of my career.”

Previously a president at a Texas junior college, Raspiller was hired by Brightpoint in 2013 when its name was John Tyler Community College.

In 2020, the school took the first step toward changing its name, a cause Raspiller championed.

“It is no longer enough to talk about our college’s commitment to equity,” he said at the time. “We must take responsibility and enact change to ensure that commitment is a reality for our employees, students and community.”

The school’s new name came in 2021.

Enrollment at Virginia’s community colleges has dropped significantly during the past decade, but Brightpoint’s has remained relatively steady. The college, with campuses in Chester and Midlothian, has about 9,000 students — about 1,000 fewer than when Raspiller was hired.

Raspiller said he’ll continue working with community colleges in his new role as director of access and affordability for Virginia529.

In January, Sharon Morrissey, interim chancellor of the Virginia Community College System, will name an interim president.

The community college system is also in the process of hiring a permanent chancellor, and either Morrissey or the new chancellor will choose the next president for Brightpoint. The search process is expected to take six to eight months, a spokesperson for the Virginia Community College System said.