Dear Friends of the Williams-Mystic Program,
We, as leaders of Williams and the Williams-Mystic program, respectively, are writing to make you aware of the latest discussions regarding the program’s future.
In April, the college administration announced that it was considering closing Williams-Mystic at the end of June 2025, when Williams’ three-year contract with Mystic Seaport Museum would expire. The administration explained this serious decision as driven by concerns about a persistent gap between the program’s revenues and expenses, and the cost to Williams of covering that gap in relation to the college’s other needs, priorities and obligations.
These financial concerns were raised irrespective of Williams-Mystic’s considerable merits. Over the last 47 years, Williams-Mystic has transformed and impacted the lives of more than two thousand students from Williams and elsewhere. Williams-Mystic alumni contribute to society in ways that reflect the value of their experience in the program. News about the possibility of closure drew expressions of concern and desire to help from more than five hundred alumni, along with Williams and Williams-Mystic faculty and staff and friends and colleagues across higher education. The messages often asked for a reassessment or for more time to seek alternatives.
In the wake of these requests, and following further conversations with the college’s partners at Mystic Seaport Museum and with members of the Williams faculty, we are establishing a joint working group this summer, facilitated by John Gerry, Associate Dean of the Faculty. The group will identify options that would enable Williams-Mystic to meet the college’s expectations. Its membership will include representatives from the Williams administration, Williams-Mystic administration and faculty, an alum of both Williams and Williams-Mystic, Williams faculty and Mystic Seaport Museum.
It is important to note at the outset of this process that the two of us do not entirely agree on the college’s assessment of the problem. But the college has to have the final say over its finances and institutional priorities, and so we have decided to set aside our differences and work together to seek viable solutions. The working group’s job will be to come up with proposals that the college regards as sufficient and viable, and that are acceptable to Williams-Mystic given its programmatic and educational goals. We assume that any such solutions will require a combination of substantial revenue increases and cost reductions.
All parties involved are approaching this process in good faith. While we agree that the outcome cannot be predetermined, and closure remains a possibility, we are mutually committed to seeking a financially sustainable path forward if one can be found.
Thank you, in advance, for your patience as we go through the process, and for your interest in the outcome. We will write again when we have news of the working group’s progress.
With all best wishes,
Maud S. Mandel, President; Professor of History; Program in Jewish Studies
Tom Van Winkle, Executive Director, Williams-Mystic