Vassar Quarterly - Fall 2017 - 2

President's Page

Optimism in a Divisive,
Troubled World

FA l l 2 0 1 7

diversity and unity rather than giving in to
social divisiveness.
In addition, from the moment we opened
our doors, Vassar has valued "going to the
source"-using primary documents and diverse
experiences to understand ourselves and the
world around us. This approach engages the
whole individual-intellectual, social, and
emotional-in a diverse array of the arts, humanities, and social and natural sciences. Such an
approach values all experience as a source of
learning and intelligence. We use our galleries,
special collections, and natural and urban
environments to cultivate knowledge and be
transported to other places as part of learning.
Our small classes and the devotion of our faculty
to our educational mission leave an imprint on
our students, creating "Aha!" moments that are carried beyond our
walls, producing a new generation of young people who see promise
in knowledge, are open to new sources of learning, and allow an
enduring optimism to outweigh momentary skepticism about our
collective future.
We also have a strong track record in using multidisciplinary
approaches that allow students to tackle complex problems such as
environmental change, social inequity, and political unrest from
multiple perspectives. To cite but one example, we have a wonderful
program with the Posse veterans and continue to collaborate with
West Point, as we seek to bridge the potential divide in the thinking
of our future civilian and military leaders.
We do continue to face much noise in the world and finding one's
path is not easy. At Vassar, we continue to encourage students and
faculty to discover their own goals; we empower students to take
responsibility for their education and to plot their own paths forward.
This experience builds both empathy and resilience. These two characteristics, perhaps more than any others, can sustain young adults
entering this noisy, complicated world.
From my perspective, Vassar is ideally positioned to play a pivotal
role in sustaining higher education as a place of relevance and positive
influence, enabling young adults to live meaningful lives and contribute constructively to our society and our world. I hope you will stay
involved and come visit when you can.
Elizabeth Bradley
President

John Abbott

s I begin my time as President of
Vassar, I am humbled by the challenges in our social, political, and
economic environment, but also
uplifted by the thought that Vassar is wellpositioned to be a transformative force for young
adults facing this contentious and unsettled world.
We are living in an increasingly divisive,
complex, and noisy time. More and more, we
see people disparaging others without reproach
and identifying wholly with their own identity
group, rather than understanding the world as
interconnected and interdependent. Skeptics
about the value of higher education and liberal
arts have posed questions about the content,
objectivity, and relevance of what we are teaching.
And as problems-economic inequality, climate
change, food insecurity, to name a few-are increasingly complex,
clarity about appropriate next steps, the path forward, and what we
might aspire to become is tough to find.
Recognizing these challenges, I remain optimistic that the
essence of Vassar's enduring mission is as important today as it has
ever been. I have grown optimistic about Vassar's distinctive place
in the world and the enormous opportunity we have at this point in
our history.
Vassar can be recognized for its excellence: providing the highest
quality education in a diverse and inclusive community that empowers
students and faculty to discover and pursue their own goals and tackle
the most pressing intellectual and social problems of our time. Vassar
can be a deeply trusted institution, and it can play a pivotal role in
promoting the relevance and positive influence of higher education
in our society.
Why am I hopeful? Because I know our history.
For the last decade, Vassar has devoted its energies and resources
to ensuring we have a diverse community-socioeconomically, racially,
and ethnically. Twenty-five percent of the faculty are of color, and
many are in leadership roles; 35 percent of the students are of
color. This has been a terrific start. In the years ahead, we can now
create an inclusive community, one of engaged pluralism. Such a
community would do more than tolerate difference; we would
engage and value difference. In such a community, all thrive, viewing difference not as a threat but as a source of holism and learning.
We have the opportunity to distinguish ourselves by practicing the
enactment of the world we want to see-one that embraces both

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vassar Quarterly - Fall 2017