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Just last week, Craven Williams expressed confidence that storm-battered Greensboro College will weather this time of financial turmoil.

Now it will have to do so with someone else at the helm. The Board of Trustees announced Williams' retirement Tuesday.

Did the charismatic captain abandon ship, or was he washed overboard? Either conclusion is plausible.

Certainly, Williams' 16-year tenure at Greensboro College was long and eventful. He's by far the longest-serving among the current presidents and chancellors of four-year colleges and universities in the Triad. Next is Guilford College President Kent Chabotar, on the job for seven years.

Since 1993, Williams has become a leader in the Greensboro community, not just on his campus. Some of the organizations he's helped guide include The Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, the Greensboro Symphony and the Greensboro Sports Council -- an array reflecting his broad talents and interests.

He's pushed for growth at Greensboro College, sometimes harder than critics would like. Most contentious was his plan to create a sports park on the grounds of the old J.C. Price School -- a move fiercely opposed by many in the Warnersville community. Even a pledge to establish a museum and to set aside scholarships for neighborhood students failed to ease the conflict. With the college's present financial difficulties, this project may be remembered as a Williams legacy that never happened.

Other improvements have accrued to Williams' credit. The college purchased and converted a former YMCA into its Reynolds Center with 75,000 square feet of space for student activities and recreation. It added football, updated technology, expanded honors programs and international study.

But the recession has all but swamped the college, forcing faculty salary cuts of 20 percent, eroding the endowment and building waves of debt. Williams, drawing scorn from some for his high salary, was put on the defensive, years of strong fundraising efforts all but forgotten.

Now there's an "interim leadership team" to carry on until a permanent successor is named. Keeping the ship afloat is the first priority, but somehow a sense of stability also must be maintained. A new academic year is only a few weeks away, and rising high school seniors will begin to narrow their college choices soon.

Greensboro College remains an important asset in its namesake city. Its challenges aren't unique during the worst economic conditions in decades, but it needs help. It will take strong hands to put this outstanding institution on a safe course.