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President's Report

December 7, 2008

To the Hamilton College Campus Community,

In a column in last week's Spectator, I noted that Hamilton's student body has become more diverse in the past several years. I am proud of what has been accomplished, especially through the efforts of our office of admission and financial aid, to make us a better and more interesting campus. I noted too that living in a diverse community poses challenges. It is not always comfortable to adjust to living with people who have different life experiences, socioeconomic outlook, and the like. But through such interaction we grow in understanding as individuals and as a community.

Before us is an exciting future. The imperative is to shape a community that makes all its members welcome – indeed, that celebrates Hamilton's many voices.

Such considerations are not new; they have been on our collective and individual minds for years. Several committees and task forces have addressed the cultural concerns that relate to living in a diverse community and appreciating – indeed, valuing – difference. Various recommendations – often overlapping, but sometimes contradictory – have been made. This is neither surprising nor unique, for each generation thinks through such matters for itself, bringing to bear its own experiences and felt imperatives. And in the life of a four-year college, generations are short.

But as I review the goals formulated in recent years, I am struck by the progress we have made in many areas. I will first report here on the College's response to some of the major recommendations of the Diversity Strategic Plan of November 2004 – a document that took explicitly into consideration the insights of the April 2001 report of the Diversity Task Force.

The 2004 Plan foregrounded the following goals relative to student recruitment:

• Develop a comprehensive diversity recruitment plan that includes marketing, publications and Admission Office travel components

• Provide an attractive and personalized campus-visit experience for all potential students

• Assess admission and financial aid programs and policies

• Evaluate student experiences of, and the College's relationship with, Posse and HEOP, in particular, as well as other programs designed to increase diversity

We have worked especially hard in these areas. Student recruitment has, as I mentioned above, been a central focus. The campus visit, in particular, is a hallmark of the Hamilton admission process: by many accounts, we do it better than anyone. Posse and HEOP have been recently reviewed, our relationship with Posse has been better defined, and Dean Urgo has unified the oversight of these programs (along with that of the ACCESS Project).

I will not go through the rest of the Plan point by point, but will mention some of the areas in which progress can be observed.

With regard to students already on campus, the Plan suggested, among other things, that we

"dedicate sufficient resources to implement diversity strategies," "designate first-year residence halls," "develop an alumni mentoring program for students of color," "implement living/learning opportunities for students beginning in the first year," "centralize student group office and meeting spaces in ways that reflect and promote inclusivity," "encourage and facilitate more co-programming between student organizations" and "provide adequate spaces for all student cultural organizations."

We can report action in each of those areas. When the Mellon Foundation invited me to apply during my first eighteen months of office for a $50,000 grant to support an initiative of major importance to me, I identified diversity. More recently, a pilot project was undertaken in Wertimer House to explore the feasibility of a dedicated living and learning environment for first-year students, and our alumni office started a mentoring program for students of color. In fact, our first "multicultural weekend" took place during Fallcoming 2007. In the short term, we are improving the space in ALCC, while space for the growing number of student organizations is a central objective of the Emerson Hall renovation project.

In the area of faculty and staff development, the Plan recommended that we increase "individual skills through training and other development efforts." Booklets produced by CHAS (Consortium on High Achievement and Success) and funded by Hamilton College were used throughout 2006-07 as the basis for discussions about campus diversity issues. Over 20 departments held meetings with a faculty facilitator to discuss the CHAS booklet about student experiences. The Plan recommended too that we conduct open-area and open-rank searches for faculty hires – which we routinely do. Finally, I should mention that within months of taking office, Dean Urgo announced a search for a new dedicated position: an assistant dean for diversity. That search resulted in the appointment of Professor Steven Yao.

The Campus Planning Committee (CPC) has for the last two and a half years focused on the overall student experience, and for the past year and a half on opportunities associated with predicted national demographic changes. It has discussed, in particular, campus inclusiveness. The CPC issued an interim report in June 2007, recognizing the need for "a campus culture that is welcoming to multicultural students." The interviews, discussions, research and data collection that have informed the committee's report have been vital to our understanding of our current situation and to our ability to shape a vision of the future.

The interim CPC report also noted the need for more financial aid and for possible reallocation of existing resources, along with an increase in name recognition outside the Northeast. It further suggested that we find ways to assure that prospective students understand the opportunities and challenges they will face at Hamilton. An increase in financial aid has become a focal point for our admission office and a major trustee concern; it is a goal of our current capital campaign and likely will be even more prominent in the next campaign. Our recent decision to eliminate merit scholarships allows us to apply an additional million dollars a year to need-based financial aid. Our office of admission and financial aid has simultaneously redoubled efforts to give prospective students an accurate idea of the Hamilton climate (both meteorological and cultural!).

The 2004 Diversity Strategic Plan, the spring 2007 interim report of the Campus Planning Committee and the article from the November 30th Spectator may be accessed from my Web site (www.hamilton.edu/college/president/).

By no means do I wish to suggest that everything is done – far from it. But it is clear that in the initiatives we are now undertaking and which I described in my Spectator column (including Web site re-evaluation, equity scorecard, orientation, etc.), we are building on recommendations and accomplishments of past years.

So while we acknowledge our collective efforts to weigh carefully and act responsibly on recommendations that have been made, we still have a way to go. We must emphasize even more determinedly our respect for difference and our commitment to civility. It is with the idea of civility that I shall close. From the same Latin root as words like "city" and "citizen," "civility" refers to the interpersonal behaviors required for a community to maintain solidarity and to function smoothly. It allows people both to assert their individuality and to disagree respectfully and productively with others.

Continued efforts will help ensure that we at Hamilton go forward as a diverse community and a civil one.

Sincerely yours,

Joan Hinde Stewart