Statements

I write to announce that W. Rochelle Calhoun, Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs, has been named Vice President for Campus Life at Princeton University, effective September 1, 2015.

Once again, our country arose this week to news of a tragic shooting, this time claiming the lives of nine African Americans in Charleston, South Carolina. Both local law enforcement officials and the FBI are investigating this event as a hate crime, and it may rise to classification as a terrorist act.

Thank you to everyone for all you did to make 2014-15 a terrific year. I'd like to take this opportunity to update you on three items: The decisions made and topics undertaken by the Board of Trustees at its final board meeting of the year; admissions statistics for the class of 2019; and some of the key items on the agenda for the coming fall.

With the semester coming to an end, I want to provide an update on a few key initiatives and acknowledge, again, the very good work being done by so many people across our entire community - staff, faculty, and students. I know that this is a particularly busy time in the semester as faculty and students push hard to bring their coursework to a close, our athletic teams wrap-up their seasons, and many others are working to prepare the campus for several waves of visitors to arrive very soon - first for commencement, then reunions, and finally our summer programs.

President Philip A. Glotzbach addresses the issue of sexual and gender-based misconduct on the Skidmore campus.

As President, I am determined that Skidmore live up to the values of mutual respect and caring that are central to our educational mission. That commitment is being tested by the continuing challenge of sexual and gender-based misconduct on our campus. Recent local and national developments have highlighted the difficulty - and yet the importance - of effectively addressing this issue. It continues to be imperative for me to underscore my dedication to do all we can as a College, both to ensure the safety of our students and to treat every individual affected by these issues with fairness and respect.

Dear Members of the Skidmore Community, I am pleased to announce that at the 104th Skidmore College Commencement Exercises on Saturday, May 16, 2015 I will confer honorary degrees upon two exceptional individuals: Julian Bond and Sallie W. "Penny" Chisholm '69.

Today marks the beginning of the spring semester with 816 courses, hundreds of independent studies and internships, and numerous formal and informal student groups all getting underway.

As we near the end of the semester, I know that many of you, particularly our faculty and students, are focused on completing your classwork in anticipation of the winter break. This is, indeed, where your attention should be, but our work does not exist in a vacuum, and that is why I write to address the recent and deeply disturbing events in Ferguson, Staten Island, Cleveland, and elsewhere.

Early this morning, as part of our Skidmore Urgent Notification System, we alerted the campus to an active search conducted by police for a Level 3 sex offender who allegedly committed a sexual assault off-campus. We put the campus on lockdown, and instructed students to remain in their rooms and closed the campus.