President Wippman’s Writings & Remarks

June 2023 Board of Trustees Meeting and Reunion Weekend Update

June 13, 2023

Tags Board Meeting Updates

Dear Members of the Hamilton Community,

The Board of Trustees gathered on campus over the weekend for the annual June board meeting and joined approximately 1,200 alumni to celebrate Reunions.

On Friday morning, June 9, Vice Presidents Monica Inzer, Melissa Richards, Sean Bennett, and Lori Dennison presented updates on their respective divisions. That afternoon, trustees attended plenary sessions on Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), architectural planning for the Digital Gateway, and campus master planning.

The Committee on Academic Affairs met to review a report on diversity in faculty hiring and to consider revisions to the Faculty Handbook, which the full board approved the next morning. The committees on Investments and Buildings, Grounds, and Equipment (BG&E) and the subcommittee on Compensation also met.

The formal business meeting of the board took place on Saturday, June 10. I summarized some highlights of the past year, which included reaching the $400 million Because Hamilton campaign goal, strong faculty and staff hiring, and outstanding enrollment outcomes. I also shared my perspective on some of the national issues affecting higher education, including political challenges to DEI practices and programming, attacks on tenure and academic freedom, a new round of Title IX changes expected in October, the pending Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, and the impact of inflation.

The board approved a series of resolutions, beginning with ratification of the degrees awarded to the Class of 2023 at Commencement on May 21. The unspent distributions of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity Membership Development Fund will be moved to the Delta Upsilon Fraternity Scholarship Fund effective July 1. David Rivera, visiting assistant professor in government, was promoted to associate professor by special appointment.

Trustees thanked Mark Fedorcik ’95, John Hadity ’83, and Sharon Walker ’90, who are completing their four-year terms as alumni trustees effective June 30.

I’m grateful to all who helped welcome our alumni back to College Hill for Reunion Weekend.

The next board meeting will be held October 6-7 on campus. In the meantime, I hope everyone has an enjoyable and relaxing summer.

David