President Wippman’s Writings & Remarks

June 2024 Board of Trustee Meeting

June 11, 2024

Tags Board Meeting Updates

Dear Members of the Hamilton Community,

The Board of Trustees met over the weekend in conjunction with Reunion Weekend, which attracted more than 1000 alumni back to Clinton. I’m grateful to all those who welcomed and attended to our guests, especially our colleagues in Advancement.

On Friday morning, trustees approved revisions to the Faculty Handbook and heard a summary of the annual Affirmative Action report at the Committee on Academic Affairs meeting; heard an update on enrollment at the Committee on Admission meeting, which included an introduction and short presentation from incoming Vice President of Enrollment Management and Dean of Admission John McLaughlin; reviewed progress on the Innovation Center from KVA Architects and received a financial update from Vice President for Administration and Finance Karen Leach in a combined meeting of the Committee on Buildings, Grounds, & Equipment and the Committee on Budget & Finance.

Following lunch, members of the Committee on Student Affairs participated in a question-and-answer session about the changing needs of students with Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Chris Card, Associate Dean of Students for Student Life Travis Hill, and Assistant Dean for Student Engagement, Orientation, and First-Year Programs Tessa Chefalo. Attendees at the Committee on Advancement heard from Vice President Lori Dennison ’87, P’16 about the installation of a new information management system and progress on this year’s Hamilton Fund, which is on track to reach its fiscal year-end goals. The afternoon concluded with a series of mini seminars in which members of the faculty discussed how they are incorporating AI into their teaching. I’m grateful to Natalie Nannas (biology), Anna Huff (digital arts), Mireille Koukjian (Arabic), and Heather Kropp (environmental studies) for sharing their expertise with our trustees, as well as Ben Salzman '14 for demonstrating some features of the LITS makerspace.

At their formal meeting Saturday morning, trustees ratified many resolutions, including the awarding of degrees to the Class of 2024; updated Trustee Bylaws; a resolution to borrow, as needed, for approved capital spending projects and the Innovation Center; and the promotions to full professor for Mark Cryer (theatre), Robert Knight (art), Michelle LeMasurier (mathematics and statistics), and Nigel Westmaas (Africana studies). Please join me in congratulating them.

Trustees also thanked Betsy Bacot ’84, Aditya Bhasin ’94, and Dan Rifkin ’88, P’23 whose four-year terms as alumni trustees will conclude on June 30. And in a fitting and generous gesture, board members established an endowed scholarship in honor of Monica Inzer and bestowed on her the title of vice president for enrollment emerita.

I’m thankful for the support, encouragement, and guidance trustees have provided me during my eight years as Hamilton’s president, and I’m equally grateful to our faculty and staff for your generous encouragement and assistance as we worked to provide our students with one of the best educations anywhere. It has been an enormous privilege and the greatest honor of my career to serve as Hamilton’s president.

David