Public Statements

New Semester, New Decade, New Opportunities

January 15, 2020

Dear Hamilton Students and Parents,

I have just returned to a snow-free campus from a week visiting alumni in California. One of the alumni I visited, a former economics major, is now president of a biotech start-up working on treatments for arthritis, hair loss, and cancer. An alumna I met, a creative writing and religious studies double major at Hamilton, is the president of a leading NBA playoff contender. And a third alumnus, also a religious studies major, runs a popular brewery. All credit their success to the liberal arts education they received at Hamilton – something our most recent graduates are beginning to experience.

While most of their 2019 classmates have started careers or graduate education, a significant number of recent graduates began nationally competitive fellowships and assistantships, including Fulbright Assistantships, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, a Watson Fellowship, a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Fellowship, and two FAO Schwarz Fellowships in Social Impact. Two additional members of the Class of 2019 received Bristol Fellowships, one is serving in the Peace Corps, and 11 joined Teach for America.

A number of current students also received major awards to support their interests and research. These include a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship and a Coccia Foundation Scholarship for study in Italy. An additional five students received word in November that they were the recipients of U.S. Department of State-sponsored Gilman Scholarships to study abroad during the spring semester.

As our California alumni and Class of 2019 graduates make clear, a liberal arts education, whatever the major, prepares students for any career.

The talents of our students were also displayed last fall on stage, in the community, and on the playing field. For the second time in three years, every fall sports team eligible for postseason play qualified for conference tournaments, and the winter teams are also enjoying considerable success. Individually, a volleyball player was selected for her sport’s All-America team, and a men’s basketball player, last season’s NESCAC Player of the Year, was named a preseason All-American.

Exceptional students require experienced and accomplished teachers and mentors to cultivate their skills and abilities, and Hamilton’s professors are as gifted as they are committed to the education of their students. In addition to the outstanding professors who have been teaching on College Hill for many years, we welcomed nine wonderful new tenure-track professors to replace recent retirees who have been an integral part of our community for decades. It is difficult to lose such legendary teachers, but new professors offer opportunities to refresh our pedagogy and broaden our curricular offerings in new and emerging fields.

One such field, for which our faculty recently approved a minor, is statistics. The new minor will address a growing need and expectation for digitally fluent graduates and a corresponding student demand for courses in statistics, data science, probability, and stochastic processes. Hamilton now offers 57 areas of study, including 43 concentrations.

Examples of our faculty’s expertise and capacity are too numerous to mention individually, but you can find news about the work of our faculty on our website. You can also find information about new grants, conference presentations, expert commentary in the media, and coverage about critically acclaimed new books, such as Maurice Isserman’s study of the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division, which included former Professor of Geology Don Potter, who died several years ago after a distinguished teaching career on College Hill.

In addition to grants received by our faculty, Hamilton recently secured significant grant funding to create a digital commons in the Burke Library, to support an interdisciplinary arts and technology program, to fund programs sponsored by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center, and to enhance campus safety.

We marked several important anniversaries in the fall, including the 50th anniversary of the Washington, D.C., program, the 35th anniversary of La Vanguardia’s founding, the 25th anniversary of Hamilton’s EMT program becoming a New York State EMS agency, and the 50th anniversary conference of the Higher Education Opportunity Program, at which Hamilton’s Director of Opportunity Programs Phyllis Breland ’80 received a lifetime achievement award.

We are also observing throughout 2019-20 the 10th anniversary of the Hamilton’s decision to become need-blind in admission, a testament to our commitment to access and opportunity for all students, regardless of their family’s financial circumstances. We’re grateful to so many in our community who made gifts for financial aid during Because Hamilton Day, when more than $3 million was contributed by 3,658 alumni, parents, students and friends. A video featuring several of our students was produced last fall to mark the 10th anniversary of the need-blind decision.

Increasing funding for student scholarship aid is a top priority for the Because Hamilton campaign. The development of an integrated advising system that builds a team approach to student advising is another focus for the College. ALEX, which stands for Advise, Learn, and EXperience, blends the strategic plan’s call for an emphasis on integrated advising with its ambition to develop further opportunities for experiential learning. The goal is to give students, from the very start of their time on College Hill, the support to explore and develop the skills that will equip them for success on campus and after graduation. We are making considerable progress on this initiative, and you will be hearing more about it in the coming months.

Finally, as we look toward the new semester, I’m pleased to call your attention to three discussions scheduled as part of the Common Ground program. The first, organized together with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, will focus on affirmative action in light of recent legal challenges to admission practices at Harvard and the University of North Carolina and will take place on January 29 in the Chapel. We also have programs scheduled for February 11 on the pros and cons of impeachment and March 12 on the causes, consequences, and policy choices associated with income inequality. Common Ground is a forum for speakers to discuss contemporary issues and model respectful dialogue from different perspectives. More details will be shared soon, but I encourage students to add these dates to their calendars.

For those returning to campus in the coming days, please travel safely, and best wishes to all for a productive and enlightening new year.

David