Welcome to the Academic Year

Welcome—and for most of us, welcome back.

Tomorrow, we officially begin the College’s 104th year as more than 800 courses, a dozen varsity sports, a wide range of performing groups and student organizations come together to begin their work for the fall semester. The Class of 2019 has arrived on campus and in London. Selected from more than 8,500 applications (our second-highest total ever), the class numbers 694 students, including 35 in our London program. A record 13 percent are international students (99) hailing from 32 countries and another 7 percent hold dual passports. 23 percent self-identify as domestic students of color, and 14 percent are the first in their family to go to college. 

I expect this to be an extraordinary year for the College, and it is exciting to look ahead with you at all the strategically significant projects that we will tackle together in the coming months.

This fall will see a confluence of major efforts that will set important directions for our future. First, we will come together again in shaping our next Strategic Plan, with continued input from faculty and staff members, students, trustees, and alumni. As we reflect upon all of the accomplishments associated with our 2005–15 Strategic Plan, Engaged Liberal Learning, and our annual action agendas, we are determined to develop an even more ambitious blueprint to guide us going forward. We will begin circulating a draft of that Plan for campus reaction in the near future.

Along with strategic planning, we will be completing our preparations for the upcoming Middle States accreditation, as well as the continuing review and revision of our General Education requirements. In addition, this year we will prepare for the public launch of a $220–240 million Comprehensive Campaign around the theme of “Creating Our Future.” This Campaign, which already has raised more than $90 million in its “quiet” phase, will focus on increased endowment support for financial aid and academic programs, the new Center for Integrated Sciences, and a new home for Admissions and Financial Aid. Other priorities will involve funding to increase the endowment for the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, to enhance experiential academic and career opportunities, to make athletic facility improvements, and to grow the Skidmore Fund, which provides budget support for so many of our academic and extracurricular programs.

The thread that will knit all of these efforts together is a continuing focus on building community. As we all know, last year presented significant challenges as we addressed issues related to both sexual assault and diversity and inclusion. Since then we have engaged in very frank and useful campus discussions, reviewed policies in these important domains, and we will step up our efforts in the months ahead. The appointment of a Chief Diversity Officer, implementing revised policies on sexual and gender-based misconduct, and enhancing training are just a few of the steps we will take this fall.

We aspire to be a community that values a diversity of perspectives and that can engage productively in conversations about even the most challenging issues. I am committed to this proposition and call upon all of us to redouble our efforts to realize this vision through our work this coming year. Accordingly, I ask for your participation in making Skidmore an even better place to learn, live, and collaborate as teachers, scholars, and community members in 2015–16 and wish you an exceptional year.

Sincerely,
Philip A. Glotzbach
President