The third draft of the mission statement was approved by the faculty at a March 26 meeting in a 92 to 26 vote, with eight abstentions, according to Clerk of the Faculty Joshua Smith. The vote comes weeks after the mission statement was withdrawn by college President Nicole Hurd after faculty criticized the statement for minimizing the value of academics at the college.
The revised draft, a part of the college’s long-term strategic plan, no longer refers to athletics as a “co-curricular pursuit,” a top priority of the faculty. It saw some “key language” removed that will be added later as a preamble, according to Hurd.
“I expected it would [pass] because we had several open meetings with faculty after the previous faculty meeting where we discussed the issues,” said Dru Germanowski, a geology professor who serves on the committee that drafted the statement.
The mission statement must be voted on by the board of trustees to be codified; the board will meet on May 20. The statement will go into effect next academic year if it receives approval from the board.
“I think the new version was a major improvement,” wrote English department head Chris Phillips in an email. Phillips was a supporter of the original draft the faculty reviewed.
“I’m proud of the work my colleagues did on the new statement,” he added.
Emma Li ’27 and Trebor Maitin ’24 contributed reporting.
