MIDDLEBURY — In some ways, Ian Baucom’s journey to Middlebury College began in South Africa.

The new college president was born in the U.S. but lived in South Africa until he was 14, where his parents were missionaries and ran adult literacy programs for mine workers during the Apartheid era. It was there that Baucom saw firsthand the power of education, particularly in a struggle for democracy.

“That was from the students in Soweto in 1976 to the work of universities in South Africa to my parents working with mine workers,” he told the Independent. “That has had an impact on me, and that’s really what anchored this tie that I have in my head between education and democracy.”

Baucom, 58, noted his childhood also showed him that no transition into democracy is ever complete, as democracy itself is never complete.

“South Africa is not a complete democracy any more than anywhere else in the world, but it is a radically changed place,” he said.

“I think to many people, not everyone fortunately, but to many people the end of Apartheid seemed unimaginable,” Baucom continued. “South Africa is lucky that there were people who never believed that, who always believed that the end would come … and it ended, and it ended because of people who struggled — civic leaders, union leaders, religious leaders, educational leaders, political leaders.”

Witnessing the end of Apartheid has given Baucom a “profound sense of historical optimism,” even amidst the challenges faced today by higher education and many other sectors of American life.

“History can change,” he said.

Baucom shared those and other takeaways from his childhood with community members at Middlebury College’s Wilson Hall this past spring. In that initial institution-wide address, Baucom previewed some of the work he’s now begun in his new role as college president (see story on Page 1A).

Baucom, who earned a PhD. in English and Master’s degree in African Studies at Yale, also highlighted how he and his family would seek to join their lives with members of the college community, a transition they began making earlier this summer. It’s an effort Baucom’s family has made at universities he’s previously worked at, living in a house on the University of Virginia’s central lawn and staying in a first-year dormitory for three years at Duke University.

Baucom’s wife, Wendy, is a writer. They have five adult children and a teenage son, who made the move to Vermont with them. In his March address Baucom said he and his family would come to be a part of the college community on days both sweet and challenging, filled with spring air or snow.

“On all those days, Wendy and I and our family are coming to join this family and join our lives with you, which takes me back to gratitude,” he said. “Thank you for welcoming us. Thank you for adopting us. Thank you for allowing us to share this place. Thank you for the gift of this new home.”