Writings & Remarks

As we begin Hamilton’s 210th year, I want to thank you all again for the extraordinary work you do to support our students and our educational mission. Never has your commitment to the College been more visible and appreciated than during the past 18 months.

We, the presidents of the New York Six Liberal Arts Consortium member institutions, write to request your support for doubling the Pell Grant through the budget reconciliation process this fall and before the program’s 50th anniversary in June 2022. Doubling the Pell Grant is of vital importance to our communities, state, and nation, for several reasons.

Dear Students, Faculty, Staff, and Parents,

I hope everyone has had an opportunity this summer to rest and recharge. While we are not out of the COVID-19 woods, the vaccines have given us a path forward free of many, though not yet all, of the challenges and constraints of the recent past.

Dear Members of the Hamilton Community,

Last month, I summarized for you some of the significant work we accomplished together to address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at Hamilton, and I highlighted the proposals from the Advisory Council to make the College a more inclusive and equitable community. We are continuing to work on those proposals, including the recommendation that Hamilton establish a full-time chief diversity officer position, reporting to the president.

Robert Parris Moses ’56, an icon in the civil rights movement and one of Hamilton’s most distinguished alumni, died yesterday in Florida at the age of 86.

Dear Hamilton Community Members,

Although July has just begun, we are already looking forward to welcoming all community members back to campus this fall for in-person classes, residential living, and on-campus work. Hamilton is taking certain precautions to make our hope of returning to near-normal conditions a reality, so please read this entire message. It contains critical information about health and safety requirements for this fall.

President Wippman acknowledges the hard work and sacrifices made to provide students with the best education and richest campus experience possible in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today we join with others throughout the country to observe Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day. This day, which Congress and President Biden just designated a federal holiday, commemorates the day in 1865 when enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Of course, the end of slavery did not mean the end of racism, or the violence, oppression, and loss that go with it.

We can be proud of what we have accomplished during the past 15 months, but we should also recognize that the strains of pandemic life have left many of us exhausted. I plan to take some vacation this summer, and I hope you also will be able to find time to rest and recharge.

One year ago, I announced a renewed and more comprehensive plan of action to address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at Hamilton, and I identified three steps we would take: host listening sessions and form an Advisory Council; expedite a new equity and inclusion plan; and increase resources. These steps were intended to accelerate the work already being done to create a more welcoming and inclusive campus community. I am writing to update you on some of the progress we have made.