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Lafayette President Dan Weiss outlined a six-part strategic plan Saturday that he said would make the College one of the nation’s elite learning institutions.
Speaking during a 10 a.m. gathering that served as one of the focal points of Reunion Weekend, Weiss laid out a bold set of ambitions that will serve as the foundation for Lafayette’s future. The speech echoed some of the vision he set forth in his inaugural 2006 Reunion Weekend address.
“When I came to the campus two years ago it was with the intention to lead the effort of, what do we do next?” he said. “How do we create a college in the new century that respects tradition but looks to the future?”
The answer, Weiss said, lies in the strategic plan – still under development – that will land Lafayette “among the ranks of the finest liberal arts colleges in the country.”
1) Quality of faculty. “We’re going to invest in building the finest faculty we can,” Weiss said. He praised the College’s current instructors and said Lafayette needs to keep making sure it upholds its standards of instructional excellence.
2) Curriculum. Among the goals must be a curriculum that stresses globalism, where students are encouraged and enabled to learn foreign languages, cultures, and viewpoints and study abroad. That also encompasses service learning, the incorporation of service projects into curricula as “faculty work to get students out in the world” to gain first-hand knowledge. “This means taking our little college in Easton, Pa., and connecting it to the world in myriad ways.”
3) Initiatives in the life sciences. “This is the great scientific frontier in the 21st century,” Weiss said. He said the curriculum needs to stress cutting-edge learning in areas like stem cell research and nanotechnology to position Lafayette at the forefront of the science world.
4) Arts. “All great liberal arts colleges have strong programs in the arts,” he said. He praised the programs of the Williams Center for the Arts and Williams Visual Arts Building, and stressed the importance of the Experimental Printmaking Institute founded and directed by Curlee Holton, which gives students the opportunity to work side-by-side with renowned professional artists and exhibit their works in real-world settings. “We ought to leverage it more effectively than we do,” Weiss said. He also said the aesthetics of the campus need greater attention, in particular mentioning his desire to eliminate the road around the Quad.
5) Diversity. The school can better achieve diversity by becoming a stronger leader in making a Lafayette education available to anyone who qualifies academically, regardless of ability to pay, Weiss said.
6) Campus, resources and community. Among the priorities in meeting this goal are making sure Lafayette is a responsible citizen in the Easton community and maximizes the use of its resources. “This is a place that brings people together, who love this place, who want to be a part of this place,” Weiss said. “We can’t lose sight of that or we lose our identity, we lose our core.”
Before outlining the plan, Weiss noted that the past 15 years have been a particularly fruitful era for the College.
“We have so much going for us, so much momentum and opportunity,” he said.
He also shared highlights from the past year.
On the athletic front, the football team once again defeated Lehigh (for the third straight year) and the baseball team has enjoyed its most successful year in program history, including a berth in the NCAA playoffs.
In academics, Weiss cited three faculty books that have earned critical acclaim and media attention: Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany by Donald L. Miller, John Henry MacCracken Professor of History; From Hire to Liar: The Role of Deception in the Workplace by David Shulman, associate professor of anthropology and sociology; and Babylon and Other Stories, a collection of short stories by Alix Ohlin, assistant professor of English.
Three students and one recent alumna received Fulbright Scholarships, noted Weiss, and the College is first among leading liberal arts schools in the country for the number of students receiving Goldwater Scholarships in recent years.
Posse Foundation students continue to flourish at Lafayette, including Pepper Prize winner Danielle Bero ’07. In fact, Weiss reported, CBS News will air a report on the program Monday evening that highlights Lafayette because of the program’s success here.
The Third Street area at the bottom of College Hill will look completely different in the next year-and-a-half as projects are completed there, Weiss promised, and the College has received two major community service awards that demonstrate it serves as a national model for town-gown relations.
Weiss also mentioned the dedication of Ramer History House and Bourger Varsity Football House, the renovation of McKeen Hall, the upcoming master plan that will guide the use of the campus over the next 10 to 30 years, and the yearlong celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birthday of the Marquis de Lafayette.
During a question-and-answer period, Weiss said the College will continue to set its tuition according to what the market will support while continuing to make full use of its endowment and ability to provide financial aid to students who need it. He pointed out that Grinnell tried dropping its tuition to attract more students and found that it failed.
Weiss also mentioned that the new vice president for business affairs and treasurer, Mitchell Wein, has been charged with improving the College’s recycling and overall environmental stewardship. A building housing a life sciences program would be a “green” (environmentally friendly) one, he added.