Danny Dorsel did not take the most direct route to become a high school principal and yet the former consultant for Price Waterhouse Cooper was in the office last Monday when school started at Our Lady of Mercy. Dorsel majored in mechanical engineeering at the University of South Carolina and went to Virginia Tech to study environemental engineering in graduate school. Then one day, several years ago, he decided he needed to satisfy himself spiritually. His long term goal was to work with the Catholic Church and children, so Dorsel became a teacher and a coach at a Catholic school in Hilton Head, S.C. After two years there, he moved to Columbia, S.C. and taught and coached at Cardinal Newman, as well as creating a development office, specializing in public relations, fundraising and alumni relations, before serving as an interim principal for a year. Now, Dorsel finds himself at Our Lady of Mercy, an opportunity that he is excited to have.

“I like the energy of this school,” said Dorsel. “This is the most talented staff I’ve ever worked with, the school has a culutral diversity that is impressive and I get the true feeling of Christ being at this school.”

Our Lady of Mercy is still a small school. The student/teacher ratio is one teacher for every eight students. One of Dorsel’s challenges will be to attract more students without sacrficing the spiritual identity and academic integrity of the school. To do so, Dorsel feels the school needs to have more of a presence at its feeder schools, Our Lady of Victory and St. John the Evangelist, both from its students and members of the adminstration.

One other thing that Dorsel is trying to do is introduce the community to the school, many of whom have never seen the facility and what it has to offer. There are tons of elective classes that are available for students, including dance,, Faith in Fiction, Socratic Logic and Anatomy among others.

Dorsel, whose father was a college professor, was heavy into athletics growing up and became more focused and a “good stundent” in high school. A self-described “cradle Catholic,” with four siblings, Dorsel is big on the same values that his family placed importance on, spirituality and academics. He has found both of thsese things in Our Lady of Mercy and now his job is to take the helm and lead the way for the school.

Our Lady of Mercy has made a bit of name for itself in athletics with a state champion track team and a corss country team that is in contention for a title as well. Our Lady of Mercy is also the home of the Taize Choir, which has done a professional recording and traveled to France. Dorsel touts all of these accomplishments and sees many more great things for the school on the horizon. He also wants to stress to members of the community that one needn’t be Catholic to atend the school.

“Four things make us a catholic school, “ Dorsel said. “We have nice and friendly people, strong academics, good discipline and a prayerful community.” The students who attend the school must complete 120 hours of community service by graduation and Dorsel sees this as one of the things that helps the student body build school spirit and a sense of community.

Dorsel’s goal for the school is to have 500 students, which is what the school can hold, within the next five years. His on-going goals are to keep the academics strong, have more involvement from the families of the students and to make the school an increasingly more spiritual place.

“Eventually, I’d like this school to serve as a model for Catholic schools,’ Dorsel said. “I believe in this school already and I’ve only been here for seven weeks.”

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