We've just wrapped up the twelfth and final Listening Tour event for the year, in the theatre of the lovely Oxford Hotel in downtown Denver. Established in 1891, the Oxford is the oldest hotel in Denver and provided a welcoming setting for another engaging evening with friends old and new.
What a terrific year this has been for me hearing from alumni, parents, and friends of the College throughout the country -- as well as in London. Last night's conversation was infused with the same high energy, passion, thoughtfulness, and commitment to the College that I have now come to expect from our extended Swarthmore family.
We covered much ground in our conversation including the College's unyielding commitment to need blind admissions; the number of engineering students we're enrolling; the effectiveness of our pre-med and pre-law programs; our commitment to creating diverse classes; and some perceptions (and misperceptions) about the College's "image."
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I want to take this opportunity, in my final blog post from the road this year, to thank our good friends in Denver and the many hundreds of alumni, friends, and family of the College who have participated in the Listening Tour events. They have taught me so well this year about their values, perspectives, experiences, and philosophies. What I learned from each of you who so willingly and generously have contributed your time and thoughts now serves as a kind of collective compass point for the College as we navigate our future direction together.
Next year we will begin a strategic direction-setting exercise on behalf of Swarthmore and I am confident my conversations with you on the Listening Tour will help inform and guide our decisions about the College's future priorities. I see this Listening Tour as the beginning of a long conversation we’re going to be having over many years. If I didn’t meet you during this year's events, I’m hopeful that we will have a chance to intersect on future trips. I will continue to look to you for your best thinking -- along with that of our dynamic on-campus community -- about how best to protect the College's most dearly held values, preserve and enhance our intellectual strength, and move confidently forward as a leader in American higher education.
What a treat it was for me to host the first international Listening Tour event in London earlier this week. I had the opportunity not only to meet some of our alumni, family, and friends but also several current students including one who was visiting for spring break and four who are studying abroad this semester. The Swarthmore community hasn't had many opportunities to come together in England; it was wonderful to see how quickly and completely everyone became engaged. I hope that we will continue to strengthen our connections to the members of our international community in the coming years.
One of our alumni pointed out that the term "college" is not well understood in the UK. For British families, this denotes something less than the university education one receives at Oxford or Cambridge. So some broad education about the intrinsic value of a liberal arts degree seems crucial. Another alum suggested that we find a way to express that a liberal arts education is a natural extension of the British way of educating high school students.
I'm writing from Florida where Tuesday night we enjoyed an intimate and quite lively event in Miami. This week I will also have the opportunity to travel to Naples and Sarasota. I was in Palm Beach earlier this week. Our Florida alums and parents are a great group. I'm struck, again, by how frequently we hear the same themes recur in our Listening Tour events, no matter which part of the country we're in — A need for greater visibility for the College. Preserving our commitment to intellectual rigor and exploration. Achieving the right balance between classroom, core learning and preparation for life and careers. We talked about each of these in Miami, as we have elsewhere.
We also talked about our admissions process, and in particular, our campus visits. Campus visits are crucial in the decision making process when prospective students are weighing each school very carefully. Our student guides serve as influential ambassadors on behalf of the college and we work hard to give them the appropriate training they need to provide the best possible experience for our visitors. We aim to give our prospective students clear insight into what life at Swarthmore will be like, how they might fit in and how they will be challenged. I know that Jim Bock '90, our dean of admissions, takes our campus visit program very seriously, and I will share with him the comments and suggestions I heard from our alumni and parents in Miami.
Also related to the admissions process, we talked about the importance of helping newly admitted students connect with others from their high school or area who already attend or, are planning to attend, Swarthmore. We want to begin building community even before students arrive at Swarthmore. It's a tremendous step from high school to college and we can facilitate those connections, whether they are geographic, or through shared affinities, such as sports or performing arts. We are also building community "online" — before students arrive — with an active electronic web of resources that are available to our matriculants. We will continue to strengthen these community-building resources and remain flexible about the ways in which our students most want and need to communicate with one another before orientation.
The historic storms that have been plaguing the Atlantic coast did not deter our intrepid alumni from venturing out on a soggy Tuesday evening to gather at the Carter Center in Atlanta for the latest stop on our Listening Tour. Surrounded by lovely artwork, alumni, parents, and friends of the College engaged in lively and intimate conversation bound together by a shared commitment and love for Swarthmore.
I mentioned a few of our faculty in my opening remarks. Historian Pieter Judson, Class of '78, is a member of our faculty who has been honored recently. Pieter recently received an NEH Fellowship, has been appointed to the American Academy of Berlin for the spring semester, and to top it all off, in the same week it was announced that the government of Austria is honoring him for a book he wrote about the country. Charles Keleman of the Computer Science Department has just been named among the top educators in computer science in America. One of our visiting faculty members from Germany, Hans Ludemann is a jazz virtuoso who specializes in and blends the jazz cultures of Germany, America, and Africa, and he’s been putting his skills to work on campus in very creative and imaginative ways.
The 2010 Listening Tour events kicked off in true California style at the Creative Artists Agency in LA Tuesday night. About 75 West Coast alums joined us for a lively evening of great conversation and thought-provoking questions. I met so many engaging alumni during the pre-event reception where the discussion was energetic and infused with a love and regard for the College that invariably inspires me.
The atmosphere was electric at the beautiful, old Hudson Theatre on Broadway Wednesday night. More than 200 alumni, parents, and friends of the College engaged in lively conversation, introduced thought-provoking questions and observations, and delighted in one another's company.
It was another great evening spent with new friends and many long-time supporters of the College. Our conversation in Boston covered much ground, including need-blind admissions and the admissions process more broadly, consensus--decision-making, the beauty of our physical campus, class size, interdisciplinary programs, and our ongoing work in and commitment to the City of Chester.
Another alumnus asked how we are motivating faculty to undertake interdisciplinary work and to model it because this is clearly the future direction of higher education. Our support for and growth in interdisciplinary offerings has vastly expanded and enriched our curriculum in recent years. Approximately 35 percent of our students major in the interdisciplinary fields of engineering, psychology, and the sciences. Our faculty recently approved new guidelines for faculty appointments suggesting that the contribution to interdisciplinary studies be a factor in all new appointments. Although not a requirement, it will be a strong consideration.
Rainy weather didn't dampen the spirits of the alumni, parents, and friends who joined us for the most recent Listening Tour event in Chicago on Monday evening. Instead, a warm sense of community enveloped the room, inspiring all to share stories of what has made Swarthmore special to them.
Of course, underpinning all of the fun and social engagement lies a deep, enduring tradition of intellectual rigor at the College. I've encountered it in conversations with students enthusiastic about their honors seminar discussions and seen it in the faces of faculty members who light up when asked about the experience of teaching at this fine institution.
Just back from a whirlwind trip to California, with two back-to-back Listening Tour events in San Francisco and Palo Alto. I had a further opportunity to meet many members of the Swarthmore family, and, again, I came away impressed with the breadth and depth of passion our alumni feel towards the College. I met some alumni who thrive in education, nonprofits, or the arts. Others excel in business, law, and finance. Younger, older, some still finding their way; others well established and all, to a person, fondly reflecting on their time at Swarthmore and the path it set them on. All determined to help us set the right future course for the College.
What a great night spent with alumni, parents, and friends of the College at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington D.C.! Nearly 200 of us gathered to talk about a number of issues of shared interest, including the College's potential leadership role in higher education; the search for a new dean of students; how the current economic climate is affecting our budget choices; the different ways our alumni can be engaged; and the importance of inclusivity and diversity in our mission.
On the question of whether we can and should play a national leadership role in higher education--my immediate and enthusiastic response is: yes! As stewards and beneficiaries of one of the finest undergraduate educational institutions in the country, we have an obligation to contribute to the broader national discussion about the nature of education, its intrinsic value, and the role that liberal arts colleges can, and must play, in helping forge a more just society.
Everyone I met last night serves as an ambassador for the College in ways both great and small, but each meaningful. For those who ask what they can do to help support the College and promote its values, I offer this--if you were granted a degree from this very special place, then let others know that this is where your greatest learning about life occurred; that this was where you set your foundation; and where you willingly devote some of your resources now. Tell your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers, your children that this was the place that set you on your life's course. And what splendid lives so many of you are leading. It was humbling and energizing to be in the company of so many smart, creative, committed individuals last night. What a wondrous ride we are going to have together ....