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April 27, 2019

Dear Members of the Hobart and William Smith Community,

For more than a century, Hobart and William Smith Colleges have existed within a coordinate construct founded to educate women within the liberal arts tradition. Since then, the Colleges’ dedication to our coordinate nature has not wavered. The lived experience of coordinate, however, has evolved over the decades, changing to meet the shifting needs of new generations of students and the faculty who mentor them. I write today to share recent actions taken by the Board of Trustees regarding the Colleges’ coordinate structure.

As Chair of the Board of Trustees Thomas S. Bozzuto L.H.D. ’18 wrote to you in the fall, at its October 2018 meeting, the Board unanimously passed a resolution affirming its commitment to “the coordinate heritage and mission of Hobart and William Smith Colleges.” The Board then tasked the Student Experience Committee of the Board with creating recommendations that would adapt the coordinate construct to “ensure that all students are welcomed and supported.” In particular, the Board sought to evolve the coordinate construct to be more inclusive, and to revise historic structures, policies and procedures so that the Colleges can better embrace multiple gender identities and a greater range of difference.

Since then, the Student Experience Committee has worked diligently on this project, seeking ideas and perspectives from the entire HWS community and obtaining the guidance of a national expert on inclusion and diversity. They hosted multiple listening sessions on campus with students, faculty and staff, and consulted with the leadership councils of the Alumni and Alumnae Associations. Through the Office of Advancement, the Committee surveyed the entire alum network, gathering data and suggestions from thousands of alums. From the many ideas proposed over the course of six months, the Student Experience Committee formulated a series of recommendations that were presented to the full Board at its April 2019 meeting. After thoughtful debate, the Board accepted and adopted as policy a set of actions that honors the Colleges’ rich history while also evolving the coordinate system to ensure its continued relevance for current and future generations.

The action items cover a broad range of topics that focus on making the Colleges more inclusive; enhancing facilities to create equity and accessibility; amplifying traditions to include all members of our community; and creating educational programming and professional development opportunities.

The Board has now tasked the senior staff to work in collaboration with faculty, staff, students, alumni and alumnae to implement the action items of the policy. We will begin this summer, creating workgroups and timelines, and communicating our progress.

As someone who has witnessed the evolution of the Colleges over many decades and as co-author of the Culture of Respect report, I am confident that these action items represent the Board’s unyielding commitment to inclusion and our heritage. Please join me in supporting this work in the weeks and months ahead.

Sincerely,

Patrick A. McGuire L.H.D. ’12
Interim President

 

April 27, 2019

Dear Members of the Hobart and William Smith Community,

For more than a century, Hobart and William Smith Colleges have existed within a coordinate construct founded to educate women within the liberal arts tradition. Since then, the Colleges’ dedication to our coordinate nature has not wavered. The lived experience of coordinate, however, has evolved over the decades, changing to meet the shifting needs of new generations of students and the faculty who mentor them. I write today to share recent actions taken by the Board of Trustees regarding the Colleges’ coordinate structure.

As Chair of the Board of Trustees Thomas S. Bozzuto L.H.D. ’18 wrote to you in the fall, at its October 2018 meeting, the Board unanimously passed a resolution affirming its commitment to “the coordinate heritage and mission of Hobart and William Smith Colleges.” The Board then tasked the Student Experience Committee of the Board with creating recommendations that would adapt the coordinate construct to “ensure that all students are welcomed and supported.” In particular, the Board sought to evolve the coordinate construct to be more inclusive, and to revise historic structures, policies and procedures so that the Colleges can better embrace multiple gender identities and a greater range of difference.

Since then, the Student Experience Committee has worked diligently on this project, seeking ideas and perspectives from the entire HWS community and obtaining the guidance of a national expert on inclusion and diversity. They hosted multiple listening sessions on campus with students, faculty and staff, and consulted with the leadership councils of the Alumni and Alumnae Associations. Through the Office of Advancement, the Committee surveyed the entire alum network, gathering data and suggestions from thousands of alums. From the many ideas proposed over the course of six months, the Student Experience Committee formulated a series of recommendations that were presented to the full Board at its April 2019 meeting. After thoughtful debate, the Board accepted and adopted as policy a set of actions that honors the Colleges’ rich history while also evolving the coordinate system to ensure its continued relevance for current and future generations.

The action items cover a broad range of topics that focus on making the Colleges more inclusive; enhancing facilities to create equity and accessibility; amplifying traditions to include all members of our community; and creating educational programming and professional development opportunities.

The Board has now tasked the senior staff to work in collaboration with faculty, staff, students, alumni and alumnae to implement the action items of the policy. We will begin this summer, creating workgroups and timelines, and communicating our progress.

As someone who has witnessed the evolution of the Colleges over many decades and as co-author of the Culture of Respect report, I am confident that these action items represent the Board’s unyielding commitment to inclusion and our heritage. Please join me in supporting this work in the weeks and months ahead.

Sincerely,

Patrick A. McGuire L.H.D. ’12
Interim President

 

February 14, 2019

Dear Members of the Hobart and William Smith Community,

The Student Experience Committee of the Board of Trustees is continuing its efforts to collect the perspectives and ideas of our campus community regarding the Colleges’ coordinate structure. As a reminder, this work is in support of the Board’s commitment to our coordinate heritage and mission. The task of the Committee is to create recommendations that will adapt the coordinate construct to meet the needs of all students with the goal of ensuring that all students are welcomed and supported throughout their Hobart and William Smith education.

To help facilitate a new round of discussions about this issue and taking into account the community’s suggestions during the fall sessions, the Board of Trustees has retained Dr. Graciela Slesaransky-Poe, a national expert on inclusion and diversity. An education professor and the former founding dean of the School of Education at Arcadia University, in Glenside, Penn., Dr. Slesaransky-Poe has spent her career helping educational and community organizations navigate the complexities of creating gender and sexually diverse, inclusive, welcoming and affirming organizational cultures.

I write to invite your participation in one of three sessions that will be led by Dr. Slesaransky-Poe.

Sunday, February 24
This conversation is designed for those students who identity as transgender or gender non-conforming. In order to ensure the privacy of attendees, we are not advertising the location or time of the session and are asking that students interested in attending reach out to Dean Kaenzig or Dean Hussain for details. Dr. Slesaransky-Poe will lead the session alone.

Sunday, February 24
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
The Geneva Room
An open session for all students with Dr. Slesaransky-Poe. Members of the Student Experience Committee will attend this session.

Monday, February 25
9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
The Geneva Room
An open session for all faculty and staff with Dr. Slesaransky-Poe. Members of the Student Experience Committee will attend this session.

I look forward to seeing many of you on campus on February 24 and 25 to continue this important work together.

Sincerely,

Edward Cooper ’86, P’16
Trustee and Chair of the Student Experience Committee

 

October 29, 2018

Dear Members of the Hobart and William Smith Community,

It is with enthusiasm and optimism that I write today to provide an update on the presidential search process as well as action taken by the Board of Trustees at our fall meeting.

As I have communicated in past letters, the Vice Chairs of the Board of Trustees Cynthia Gelsthorpe Fish ’82 and Andrew G. McMaster Jr. ’74, P’09 are co-chairing the presidential search committee. The three of us met on campus last week with the entire search committee and representatives from our search consultant, Isaacson, Miller, to review initial resumes of potential candidates. I am pleased to report that we have a very strong pool of professionals who match the qualities and characteristics outlined in the position profile. These individuals are highly skilled and respected scholars, administrators and leaders. We remain, however, early in the search process, and I encourage all members of the HWS community to recommend candidates by emailing Isaacson, Miller at HWSpresident@imsearch.com.

I am especially grateful to Interim President Pat McGuire who has agreed to remain in his role until the conclusion of a successful presidential search. President McGuire, along with his faculty and staff colleagues, has been focused on providing students with incredible educational opportunities while overseeing a very active campus with multiple symposia, public lectures, arts programming and athletics events.

As you know, among the conversations underway on campus is a dialogue about the Colleges’ coordinate structure. In July, President McGuire and I received a letter signed by a group of faculty recommending that the Colleges begin a community conversation on the coordinate system. Since the “Culture of Respect” report was published in 2015 recommending that the coordinate structure be contemporized to meet the needs of 21st century students, we have heard from a number of alums, parents, faculty, staff and students. Whether communicated on social media, in person, via letter or through the pages of the Herald, we have been impressed with the passion and enthusiasm expressed by the members of our community for Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Although the sentiments voiced have often differed, what connects all reflections is the sincere desire to ensure that students have an educational environment in which they can thrive.

The Board recognizes that for many, our coordinate nature is a source of strength and pride. Emerging from the suffragist movement and ensuring that women have equal access to opportunities, our coordinate mission has influenced generations of Hobart and William Smith graduates to consider gender as they navigate the world. It is also evident that in order for the Colleges to remain relevant into the 21st century and to embrace expanding notions of gender, historic structures, policies and procedures that have existed for decades must undergo change. To meet the needs of all students, Hobart and William Smith must evolve. It is the belief of the Board of Trustees that we must do so without losing the core values and the heritage that define us. Fortunately, the Colleges have a long history of successful adaptation; our curriculum, for example, has transformed considerably during the past two centuries, as has the student experience and even the ways in which we define and realize our coordinate construct.

The Board of Trustees, therefore, has unanimously affirmed its commitment to our coordinate heritage and mission and has asked the Student Experience Committee of the Board, working with President McGuire and the greater campus community, to create recommendations that will adapt the coordinate construct to meet the needs of all students. The goal is to ensure that all students are welcomed and supported throughout their Hobart and William Smith education. We have asked that these recommendations – tactical and strategic – be prepared by the spring 2019 Board Meeting.

Led by Trustee Ed Cooper ’86, P’16, the Student Experience Committee includes:

Trustees Frank V. Aloise ’87, Linda D. Arrington ’88, Cassandra Naylor Brooks ’89, Dr. Stephen L. Cohen ’67, Dr. Jeremy T. Cushman ’96, Roy Dexheimer ’55, P’86, GP’18, LL.D. ’80, Jane M. Erickson ’07, Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk ’98, Gail Herman McGinn ’73, Dr. Deborah S. Pilla ’76, The Rt. Rev. Prince G. Singh, Dr. Richard L. Wasserman ’70, Christopher S. Welles ’84, P’12, P’15 and William T. Whitaker, Jr. ’73, L.H.D. ’97;
Student Trustees Edens D. Fleurizard ’20, Gianna Gonzalez ’20, Gavin R. Gross ’19 and Caitlin E. Lasher ’19;
Vice President for Campus Life Robb Flowers, Dean of Hobart College Khuram Hussain, Dean of William Smith College Lisa Kaenzig P’22 and Provost and Dean of Faculty DeWayne Lucas.
Although it is too soon to speculate on the nature of the recommendations the committee may propose, we do recognize the magnitude of the work ahead and the importance of seeking out and listening to many voices and perspectives. To that end, Ed and the Student Experience Committee will host discussion sessions on campus to engage faculty, staff and students in conversations about the Colleges’ coordinate structure. Similarly, a series of webinars will be held for all alums and parents. Plans are also underway to issue an online survey to all members of the HWS community, including alums, parents, faculty, staff and students. Details on the discussion sessions, webinars and the online survey will be available in the coming weeks.

I thank you for your continued dedication to and engagement with the Colleges.

Sincerely,

Thomas S. Bozzuto ’68, L.H.D. ’18
Chair, Board of Trustees

Letter from some members of the Faculty to Interim President McGuire and the Board of Trustees (Summer, 2018)

Dear President McGuire and Members of the Board of Trustees,

We are writing to request that the Board of Trustees restart the project it began this year to initiate a community-wide conversation about the coordinate system. As a group of faculty who believe it is time to move toward uniting the Colleges and ending the coordinate system, we are disappointed that this project was put on hold. We urge the Board of Trustees to restart this community conversation with an emphasis on the following:

The voices of transgender and non-binary students and graduates. As faculty, we are painfully aware that many of our transgender students are harmed by the coordinate system and exposed to ongoing dangers whose effects linger long after graduation (including the risk that their Hobart or William Smith diploma will disclose their transgender identity to future employers and others, potentially putting them at risk for discrimination). We have listened to our non-binary students who are forced into a gender binary system that erases them as cherished members of our community (we have heard many accounts of how this alienation taints their college careers, often beginning with their very first days on campus). This project needs a clear plan to solicit their input, because there is no ethical way to pursue any course of change without meaningfully listening to their voices.
 

Respect for the dedicated work of staff and administrators whose jobs are tied to the coordinate system. As faculty, we know and value the dedicated work of our staff colleagues who have jobs associated with either Hobart or William Smith. We believe it is important that everyone in the community feel free to envision a new future for the Colleges without fear that uniting the Colleges will mean the loss of their jobs. Solving the problems of the coordinate system may require discussing some changes to administrative job titles and responsibilities. However, this project needs to proceed with a commitment that it will not be used as a pretense to fire staff.
 

Celebration of the rich history of the Colleges and an optimistic vision for the future. We believe that this is an exciting time to draw on the Colleges’ vibrant traditions and rich history of working toward equity and justice. A discussion of the coordinate system is an important component of our ongoing efforts to improve recruitment and retention. We believe that a community conversation about what unites us, what values we share, and what we hope to accomplish together is exactly what we need at this moment. We need to envision an identity for the twenty-first century that provides for meaningful changes while preserving the traditions and practices that we value. We believe we can do both.
We are writing at this time because we are concerned that the project was paused, in part, to allow a marketing and brand study to precede the conversation. Of course, collecting many different types of information is crucial to this process. But we hope that the discussion will not be unduly focused on marketing and branding considerations at the expense of other factors, such as the values of the Colleges and the needs of transgender and non-binary students. Rather than focusing on marketing or fears of a lost past, we hope that the Board of Trustees will initiate this conversation with a focus on equity and vision for the future. Thank you for your consideration, and please contact us if we can help with this exciting project.

Sincerely,

Brien Ashdown, Associate Professor of Psychology

Geoff Babbitt, Assistant Professor of English

Eric Barnes, Associate Professor of Philosophy

Elizabeth Belanger, Associate Professor of American Studies

Alex Black, Assistant Professor of English

Jamie Bodenlos, Associate Professor of Psychology

Rob Carson, Associate Professor of English

Robert Cowles, Professor of Music

Donna Davenport, Professor of Dance

Jodi Dean, Professor of Political Science, Donald R. Harter ’39 Professor of the Humanities and Social Sciences

Hannah Dickinson, Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric

Laura Free, Associate Professor of History

Kendra Freeman, Associate Professor of Sociology

Karen Frost-Arnold, Associate Professor of Philosophy

Greg Frost-Arnold, Associate Professor of Philosophy

Daniel Graham, Associate Professor of Psychology

Jessica Hayes-Conroy, Associate Professor of Women’s Studies

Cassie Herbert, Visiting Professor of Philosophy

Leah Himmelhoch, Associate Professor of Classics

Khuram Hussain, Associate Professor of Education

Alla Ivanchikova, Associate Professor of English

Mary Kelly, Associate Professor of Education

Ervin Kosta, Assistant Professor of Sociology

Juan Liébana, Associate Professor of Spanish and Hispanic Studies

Jim MaKinster, Professor of Education

Kirin Makker, Associate Professor of Art and Architecture

Heather May, Associate Professor of Theatre

Justin Miller, Associate Professor of Chemistry

Mukherji, Ani, Assistant Professor of American Studies

Patti, Lisa, Associate Professor of Media and Society

Erin Pelkey, Professor of Chemistry

Ben Ristow, Assistant Professor of Writing and Rhetoric

Audrey Roberson, Assistant Professor of Education

Jason Rodriguez, Associate Professor of Anthropology

Naomi Rodriguez, Assistant Professor of Education

Leah Shafer, Associate Professor of Media and Society

Caroline Travalia, Associate Professor of Spanish and Hispanic Studies

Maggie Werner, Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric

Melissa Autumn White, Assistant Professor of LGBT Studies

Cadence Whittier, Professor of Dance

Chris Woodworth, Associate Professor of Theatre