Writings & Remarks

Fall Board Meeting Update

November 5, 2026

Tags Board Update

Dear Hamilton Community,

Much has happened on the Hill since the Board of Trustees gathered earlier this semester for its fall meeting. I’d like to take a moment to share a few highlights from that weekend and provide updates on several priorities guiding our work this academic year. 

The Board of Trustees met on campus October 1-3 in conjunction with Homecoming. It was the first board meeting for new alumni trustees Bob Fryklund ’80, Heather Hage ’02, and Valarie Hing ’90.

Most board committees met on Friday. That included the Buildings, Grounds & Equipment Committee, during which Associate Vice President Mike Klapmeyer gave an update on summer projects focused on athletics venues, the Bristol Center Terrace, replacement of the stage flooring in Wellin Hall, and realignment of the sidewalk on College Hill Road. Trustees also received updates on upgrades to the Burke Library building systems, planning underway to enhance the student residential experience, and progress on the Nye Center for Innovation and Technology ahead of its campus opening in January. 

At the Student Affairs meeting, leaders of the Student Government Alliance told trustees Hamilton’s strengths include experiential learning, the academic program, faculty availability, classroom resources, and access to senior staff and trustees. Areas in need of improvement, they said, include housing and equitable access to residential options across all four years, spaces to build community, and internal communications to current students. 

In addition to attending committee meetings throughout the day on Friday, trustees participated in three plenary sessions focused on the College and its future. In the first, Enrollment Vice President John McLaughlin led a discussion about the strategy to position Hamilton for the next several decades by focusing on investments in financial aid, the residential community, and academic innovation. Vice President for Advancement Lori Dennison ’87, and her colleague, Director of Gift Planning Julie Ross ’84, then laid out the plan for the most ambitious fundraising effort in Hamilton history.

During the second plenary, trustees heard from Vice President for Innovation and Information Services Joe Shelley on institutional AI strategy and usage. He was followed by Provost and Dean of Faculty Ngoni Munemo who discussed the early progress of the AI Lighthouse Fellows before they presented on their work studying the affordances and challenges of AI in a liberal arts education. Special thanks to Professors Justin Clark, Jaime Kucinskas, Alex Plakias ’02, Darren Strash, and Lisa Trivedi for their presentation. Vic Bejjanki and Erin Tripp are also Lighthouse Fellows.

The third plenary also highlighted the work of our faculty. Joe Shelley, Associate Provost Nathan Goodale, Lisa McFall, Director of Digital Initiatives, Scholarship, and Collaboration, and several students reported on the outcomes from our first pilot of the HILL summer fellowship program. Dean Munemo and faculty and staff colleagues (Aaron Strong, Chris Willemsen, Natalie Nannas, Cat Beck, Courtney Gibbons, Darren Strash, Mike McCormick, Melissa Marietta, and Nicolas Roberts) gave an update on our first Co-Labs (currently underway) and the Impact Terms planned for January.

Senior members of the board also met with the chairs of Academic Council, the Committee on Academic Policy, and the Committee on Appointments, while other members of the board joined faculty members at a reception prior to the Alumni Council Recognition Dinner. Two major awards were presented at the dinner: The Jeff Little ’71 Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Lori Reidel K’77, and Head Men’s Hockey Coach Rob Haberbusch received the Alumni Council’s Distinguished Service Award. Nine members of the faculty who are retiring this year were also recognized by the council.

In my remarks at the formal board meeting, I expressed my belief that, among our peers, the Nye Center will be more impressive, more integrated into campus, and more central to our academic innovations and Open Curriculum 2.0 than any similar facility at a peer institution. It will be, I told them, a site of wonder and awe. 

I spent the bulk of my remarks discussing the series of national reports focusing on the declining public trust facing higher education. These reports address perceived political bias, cost and transparency, academic rigor, grade inflation, career readiness, and AI and cheating.

Declining public trust is a problem for higher education more broadly and certainly creates conditions of political vulnerability and challenges for enrollment. But, across all the areas of public concern, Hamilton performs at a high level – affordability, rigor, career outcomes, student satisfaction, critical thinking and free expression. We continue to have strong demand for what we do, with 17 applications for every spot.  And, the families and students interested in a liberal arts education are not the ones persuaded by the critics that college is no longer worth it.

There is a lot of noise around the value of a college degree. But our signal is strong. We can make it stronger. By the end of the semester, I will have more to share about our upcoming campaign, which will prove to be a watershed moment for the College. Our trustees are as engaged and committed to investing in and supporting our future as they have ever been.    

Onward!

Steven