Donica Thomas Varner. Courtesy photo.

School's in for Donica Thomas Varner, who has been named general counsel of Oberlin College.

Varner, who has served as interim GC since last June, will officially step into the role of general counsel, vice president and secretary.

“Donica is tremendously talented and hard-working, and she has already made her mark on Oberlin College as a valued colleague and an important addition to the leadership team,” said Oberlin president Carmen Twillie Ambar in a March 29 press release announcing the hire.

Varner has served in the interim role since Sandhya Subramanian announced she would be leaving after the 2016-2017 school year to become GC at Dartmouth College. Subramanian had served as the Oberlin, Ohio, college's top lawyer since 2008.

“The last nine months have given me the opportunity to engage directly with trustees, faculty, students, staff, administrators and alumni and experience their passion for Oberlin,” Varner said in the announcement of her permanent hire. “As a result, I have an understanding of how we can work together to safeguard campus treasures that promote creativity, exploration and inclusive excellence, such as the College of Arts and Sciences, the Conservatory of Music, the campus libraries and Allen Memorial Art Museum.”

She continued, “Oberlin College is well-positioned to continue to distinguish itself as a pre-eminent liberal arts residential community of scholars, learners, artists and social entrepreneurs.”

Varner did not respond for additional comment about her hire.

This is not Varner's first position in a university legal department. Prior to joining Oberlin, she most recently served as assistant general counsel at the University of Michigan for 15 years and as assistant GC at Wayne State University in Detroit for nearly three years.

Before going in-house, she was an associate with Lewis & Munday and Clark Hill, formerly Clark, Klein & Beaumont.