Welcome!

Friends,

Welcome, everyone! I want to especially welcome the Class of 2028 to our community. You were selected from the largest applicant pool in College history. As a higher-than-expected number of you accepted your place, your projected class of 370 actually numbers 387 – which is wonderful. We're all gratified by your excitement for Haverford (the feeling is reciprocal!) and look forward to working and being in community with you in the days and years ahead.

As we launch into this new semester, I’d like to set the tone for the year by inviting us into working together – with curiosity, learning, and openness – to build and enrich our inclusive community through continual dialogue in the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. I will remain focused on maintaining our dedication to freedom of expression, which is an integral part of liberal arts learning, and the simultaneous need to ensure that every member of our community feels valued and able to thrive. Like colleges and universities across the nation, last year challenged us. On balance, as a community, we rose to the challenges. What will remain crucial throughout the year is that our words, and our actions, are aligned with the higher purpose of growing together in learning and community. To that end, I want to discuss three major initiatives that will carry on throughout the year. 
 
Meeting the Moment
First, I'm pleased to introduce a new initiative designed to amplify the collective knowledge, tools, and resources of our faculty, staff, students, and the broader community for ethical and responsible engagement amidst complex local and global environments. Called Meeting the Moment: Community in Dialogue, this College-wide series of more than 30 planned programs will include workshops and events that will help us all communicate and connect in positive ways to promote belonging, thriving, and making the most of our shared Haverford opportunity.

Through education and development workshops, invited speakers, and dialogue sessions, Meeting the Moment will address topics related to current geopolitics and the impact of identity-based discrimination, voter registration and electoral power, and grief and resilience. We will convene in facilitated dialogues and community gatherings. Included is a visit from acclaimed author James McBride, author of this year’s Campus Read book, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, who will give a reading and lead a discussion about finding and building community. I look forward to meeting and working with you through these inspiring events and activities.

Presidential Statements
Second, as I noted in yesterday's message about dialogue and connection, this year I plan to prioritize dialogue and gathering as I limit my use of presidential ‘statements’ to matters that directly impact Haverford or higher education. My focus is on empowering our educational mission so that students’ lives may speak, both at Haverford and throughout life after graduation. I look forward to staying, and being, in dialogue with you in any number of ways, whether in person, on Zoom, or in writing.

Ad Hoc Committee on Freedom of Expression, Learning, and Community
Third, last spring, I announced the chartering of – and invited nominations for – an Ad Hoc Committee on Freedom of Expression, Learning, and Community. It will define areas of concern, strength, and opportunity as we seek to advance our educational mission through greater understanding of how expressive freedom and fostering a campus community can help us all thrive, together. 

Over the spring and summer, I met with prospective Committee members in order to constitute this 18-member group that includes faculty, staff, students, alums, Board members, and Corporation members from over 140 nominees. The Committee’s charge is here. I am grateful that Associate Professor of Psychology and Asian American Studies Shu-Wen Wang and past Board of Managers chair, alum, and Corporation member Cathy Koshland ‘72 have agreed to co-chair the Committee. Assistant Chief of Staff Lisa Lonie will support the Committee’s scheduling and logistics, and Committee member and Librarian Paul Turner will support the Committee’s research. The Committee will report its findings next June, including recommendations for future actions to advance our mission. 

All three of these initiatives – along with progress in many areas, noted below – will work together to strengthen our inclusive intellectual learning community, which prepares students for bold engagement and ethical leadership in an ever-changing world. As always, my focus will be on building and strengthening this legacy with which I have been entrusted. I’m proud to do this with you. 

Sincerely,
Wendy Raymond

Vote!
Election Day is Tuesday, November 5. Haverford has long been a leader in college student electoral participation. Kudos to past and current students and all who support our local voter registration and electoral processes! Let’s keep the momentum going! I hope every eligible voter will join me in casting your ballot, and I thank those of you who are involved with voter registration efforts such as yesterday's work in the GIAC on move-in day. Our campus voting guide has everything you need to know about how to do so, including the associated timelines to register to vote and/or request a mail-in ballot, which must be done in advance. Students: you can vote right here on campus! Let's aim for 100% turnout. As in the past, faculty and staff (most of whom do not vote on campus) may request up to three hours of paid time off to vote at their local polling station. Employees may also request up to a full day of paid time off to volunteer their services to local election officials for non-partisan purposes.

Haverford 2030 Update
We have made substantial progress in the implementation of our strategic plan Better Learning, Broader Impact – Haverford 2030, thanks to the generosity of alums and friends, the support of external partners, and the leadership and commitment of our faculty, students, and staff. 

Successful fundraising began with last year’s generous gift from Burton Pike ‘52 to support a new endowed professorship in the humanities, and we have advanced numerous transformative initiatives since then. Yesterday’s update from Helen White and Jesse Lytle details recent progress.

Ethical Inquiry & Leadership
A key – and near-term – feature of Haverford 2030 is the programmatic planning that will undergird the physical home of our Institute for Ethical Inquiry and Leadership. The Institute is made possible by a leadership gift of $25 million from Michael B. Kim '85, who is also chair of our Board of Managers. As our colleagues in Institutional Advancement continue to pursue additional philanthropic opportunities related to the Institute, we are close to determining its location here on campus as part of our work on a Comprehensive Campus Plan. I look forward to announcing our decision regarding the siting of this integral element of Haverford's future.

Meantime, news of the Institute is traveling. The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a profile of Michael B. Kim '85, and I was struck by this recent reference to the Institute in an opinion piece authored by someone who makes no claim to any Haverford connection. "(Haverford's) Institute for Ethical Inquiry and Leadership should be required training for all health care administrators." I believe that's the sort of effect the Institute will have on Haverford's institutional visibility worldwide. Above and beyond our identity as an undergraduate liberal arts college, we'll reach new audiences because of our work in ethical inquiry and leadership. I cannot imagine a better field through which to build Haverford's reputation. The day-to-day study – and living – of ethical engagement is tap-rooted here.

Compensation Study
Faculty and staff can look forward to completion of our comprehensive Compensation Study this fall. A landmark in our efforts to standardize and make transparent both the structure of Haverford's job architecture and compensation for our work, its goals include:

• An updated compensation philosophy
• A review of the current staff job structure and architecture
• A comprehensive assessment of compensation and benefits for faculty and staff
• A redesigned salary structure and associated pay processes, practices, and metrics

The project team is now aligning the salary benchmarks with our job architecture, job levels and career streams. These benchmark ranges are being reviewed with an eye toward establishing a formal salary structure. 

The core team managing the project will host another community forum in September to provide a more detailed update. In the meantime, please refer to the Compensation Study Webpage for further information.

Changes to the Physical Campus over Summer
Our friends and colleagues in Facilities annually take advantage of summer break to improve our campus’s physical endowment. From enhancements to labs, classrooms, and offices to impressive interior uplifts (e.g., new flooring, furniture) in Gummere, Barclay, Kim, multiple HCA apartments, and 710 College Avenue residence halls, multiple renovations have energized our learning, living, and work spaces. I wish to highlight two particular projects that generate a good deal of curiosity. The first is the ongoing upgrade to dark-sky-compliant LED lights on campus light poles. Through a 2020 plenary resolution emanating from the thesis of Sadie Kenyon-Dean ‘20 with Professor Karen Masters, students advocated for this multi-year project designed to reduce campus light pollution. This is an inspiring example of student participation in the life and work of the College as well as our commitment to sustainability. The second is the dredging of the small 'upper' pond, adjacent to the Duck Pond. Campus residents and visitors alike treasure these water features, which need to be cleared from time to time in order to remove silt and invasive plants.

--

Wendy Raymond

President