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 the crucial role our schools play in society, at a moment when that value is being scrutinized and challenged.
One of the points I made to legislators during my visit is that our institutions combine timeless values and timely value. The educational work of teaching, learning, thinking and creating has been a fundamentally human project across historical eras, cultures and civilizations. Meanwhile, colleges and universities are also serving the needs of our times, preparing students for impactful lives and careers, creating jobs, fueling economic development and strengthening communities.
Being part of an institution doing such work makes me feel connected to something larger than myself. You are each part of this project, too.
Typically in my start of semester messages I share updates on various developments connected to our larger mission. This spring, I might have included projects ranging from the Athletics and Wellbeing Programming Study to the new Williams College Museum of Art. You can still catch up on that news through Williams Today, Daily Messages and the Events Calendar.
Today, however, I want to briefly introduce a community-wide initiative planned for next year, which illustrates Williams’ ability to connect the timeless with the timely. “On the Log,” organized by Garfield Professor of Ancient Languages Edan Dekel and John W. Chandler Professor of Chinese Christopher Nugent, will offer community-wide opportunities throughout Academic Year 2025-26 to tap into the value of face-to-face conversation, the power of place and the enduring impact of direct, sustained interaction. Inspired by the legendary Williams quote about the ideal college being a teacher on one end of a log and a student on the other, this program, and others you are each involved in, embody the values—and the value—that make a liberal arts education well worth supporting.
As we embark on the new semester, let me reiterate how glad I am to be doing this work with all of you, in this moment. I offer you my fond wishes for the spring term.
Maud