Dear Williams community, I want to close the academic year with one more tribute to this weekend’s wonderful commencement and a look at some of the challenges in front of us. I will start by once more congratulating our undergraduate and Master’s degree recipients. It buoyed my spirit to greet… Continue reading »
To the Williams community, Today, Tuesday, May 6, is Staff Appreciation Day 2025. Every spring the college honors staff who reach major milestones in their Williams careers. Today we celebrate 131 colleagues for such anniversaries, along with 25 others who are retiring. I am especially grateful for their dedication… Continue reading »
Dear Williams community, Today, the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) issued a document called “A Call for Constructive Engagement.” This open letter, which I signed along with more than 200 fellow leaders in higher education, decries “government overreach and political interference” in regards to America’s colleges and… Continue reading »
To the Williams community, Last week, a rumor quickly spread in the Williamstown and Northern Berkshires community that federal immigration officials had detained a Williams student. We promptly looked into the matter, as Campus Safety Director Jeff Palmer informed you in his email. ICE was not on campus and we… Continue reading »
To the Williams community, Last week the Board of Trustees held their April 2025 meeting. Given the Board’s fiduciary role, the agenda was focused on Williams’ financial position for the year ahead and beyond. Throughout various sessions of the meeting the Trustees also engaged in significant discussions of the current… Continue reading »
To the Williams community, On Saturday, the New York Times editorial board published a powerful defense of American higher education, entitled, Colleges Are Under Attack. They Can Fight Back. Such a defense is urgently needed given recent governmental intervention. The Times board focused their piece on large universities. But… Continue reading »
Dear Colleagues, I am delighted to announce that Thomas Everett Smith ’88, the J. Hodge Markgraf ’52 Professor of Chemistry and current chair of the Chemistry Department, has accepted our invitation to become the next director of the Williams-Exeter Programme at Oxford University (WEPO). Tom’s term of service will… Continue reading »
Dear Williams community, Today, as we start the Spring 2025 Semester, I want to wish you all well. I have spent the last three days in Washington, DC, with leaders from a diverse list of the nation’s independent colleges and universities. We came together to advocate on Capitol Hill for… Continue reading »
Williams colleagues, I write to share the sad news that Trustee Emeritus Francis (Fay) Vincent Jr. ’60 passed away on Saturday from complications of bladder cancer, in Vero Beach, FL. He was 86 years old. Fay, who served on the Williams Board of Trustees from 1970 to 1988, was… Continue reading »
Williams faculty, staff and students, I am delighted to inform you that Frederick Rudolph ’42 – Class of 1965 Professor of American Culture Gretchen Long and Charles R. Keller Professor of History Eiko Maruko Siniawer ’97 have agreed to serve second terms on my senior staff, as dean of the… Continue reading »