Trustees Look Ahead to Lafayette’s Third Century at Fall Meeting

At its fall meetings October 8–10, the Lafayette College Board of Trustees focused on the forces shaping higher education and how Lafayette is positioned to meet them as the College begins its third century.

The weekend featured a presentation by Grant Thornton, a national advisory firm that works with colleges and universities, on the state of higher education, which covered demographic shifts in the college-going population, federal policy, affordability, and other topics. 

In a Past Presidents’ Panel moderated by President Nicole Hurd, former Lafayette presidents David Ellis, Dan Weiss, and Alison Byerly reflected on the decisions and moments that shaped the College during their tenures and the values that have carried Lafayette across two centuries.

The Board heard from the campus community throughout the weekend, including:

• Student Government President Allie Waxman ‘27 
• Clerk of the Faculty Joshua Smith
• Alumni Association President John Mulcahy ‘87 P’27

Faculty and student representatives also took part in the Board’s committee meetings and Friday’s dinner.

The weekend concluded Saturday, October 10, with the Bicentennial Ball on the Quad, where President Hurd announced $50 million in gifts to the College. The gifts include the largest investment in endowed professorships in Lafayette’s history, with eight new faculty chairs, and $12.5 million from trustee Chip Bergh ‘79 to endow the Bergh Family Fellows. 

In other business, the Board:

• Approved a statement from the Board of Trustees and administration affirming their commitment to academic freedom.
• Welcomed new Trustees Francine Della Badia ‘91 and David MacKnight ‘94.
• Welcomed Emeritus Trustees who returned to campus to participate in the weekend’s meetings and special programming.
• Welcomed the chairs of the College’s regional councils representing the Northeast, Southeast, West Coast, and Mid-Atlantic and Intermountain regions.
• Received a presentation from Assistant Professor of Art Eric Hupe and students on the digitization of the Lafayette exhibit at the French National Archives. 
• Received an update on campaign planning and fundraising opportunities.
• Approved renaming Metzgar Fields as the Marshall P. Metzgar Campus, and approved naming requests for spaces in Hugel Science Center and the Williams Center for the Arts.