President Wippman’s Writings & Remarks

Relationships

July 1, 2021

Tags View from College Hill

We are proud, and more than a little relieved, to have successfully completed the 2020-21 academic year. You have no doubt read of the hard work and many sacrifices made to provide our students with the best education and the richest campus experience possible in the midst of a pandemic. From blended learning to Food Truck Fridays, Hamilton reinvented virtually every aspect of its operations. We succeeded in ways that far exceeded most people’s most optimistic predictions, but in a world of masks and physical distancing, inevitably much was lost.

Perhaps most important, we could not fully replicate the dense network of close, personal relationships that are the essence of a Hamilton education. The richness of a lively class discussion; the intimacy of a one-on-one conversation between a professor and a student over coffee; the sense of discovery that comes while working intensely with others in a lab, a studio, or on stage; the excitement and challenge of athletic competition; and the chance encounters that happen all over campus — none of the connections forged in these and many other campus settings happen as meaningfully or as effectively over Zoom or when masks and physical distancing create barriers to the usual warmth of campus interactions.

The importance relationships play at Hamilton was illustrated by the alumni response to the May issue of the online Hamilton Headlines, which included short profiles of the 14 faculty members who retired over the past two academic years. They taught on College Hill for a combined 524 years and touched the lives of thousands of students. And those students, now alumni, remembered. More than 6,400 of you read that story, and many reached out directly to former teachers, mentors, and friends to offer congratulations, best wishes, and appreciation. We know the relationships you have with your former professors endure, so this issue of Hamilton profiles 10 faculty members who retired years earlier, and includes an introductory essay by newly retired Professor of Sociology Dan Chambliss.

On a personal note, I, too, missed the in-person interactions that have enriched my Hamilton experiences with students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumni. Meeting with Hamilton graduates at reunions and around the country and hearing their stories of transformation and success have been highlights of my five years as president, and I’m looking forward to renewing old acquaintances and making new ones in the coming year.

As we eagerly anticipate the coming academic year, our faculty and staff are excited to be getting back to doing what they do so well — creating relationships that change lives and endure for decades.