Writings & Remarks

June 6-7 Board Meeting and Reunion Weekend

June 9, 2025

Tags Public Statements

Dear Hamilton Community,

The Board of Trustees met on campus June 6 and 7 in conjunction with Reunion Weekend. Eleven trustees joined their classmates in celebrating milestone reunions, including Joel Johnson ’65, P’93 who returned to College Hill for his 60th reunion. 

At the Alumni Association meeting on Saturday morning in the Chapel, we had the pleasure of recognizing the 2008 Volunteer of the Year Bob Bloomer ’50 as he observed his 75th class reunion. The Alumni Association also bestowed the Bell Ringer Award to former CBS Sports President Neal Pilson ’60, GP ’16,’17, and announced that Andrew Jillings would receive the Distinguished Service Award in the fall and Nathan Goodale was being honored with a College Key.

During their committee meetings on Friday morning, trustees heard reports on academic affairs, enrollment, and advancement. Vice President and Dean of Faculty Ngoni Munemo discussed faculty hiring, curricular conversations that took place during the recent faculty retreat, and a summary of the extraordinary productivity of the faculty as reported in their annual reviews. The board also heard from Ty Seidule about the course he taught this spring that promotes civil discourse through immersion role-playing games, including experiencing an interactive AI-driven chat bot, created with the help of LITS, which allows for conversation and debate with Alexander Hamilton. The board also heard from Courtney Hance who gave an update on the health professions advising program.

In the Committee on Enrollment, Vice President and Dean of Admission John McLaughlin told trustees that the current composition of the Class of 2029 is excellent. Hamilton received 8,905 applications, about 375 more than last year, and admitted approximately 13%. There are currently 495 students who have submitted deposits, 16 transfer students arriving in the fall, and 57 first-year students joining us in January. He reminded trustees that these figures will likely change at the margins and will not be final until the beginning of the fall semester. In her report to the Committee on Advancement, Vice President Lori Dennison ’87, P’16 reviewed fundraising progress for the current fiscal year, discussed early planning for the next capital campaign, and gave a very early look at the new alumni portal that will launch next summer. Trustees also heard an update on the Career Center from Melissa Marietta.

Following lunch, Ngoni and LITS Vice President Joe Shelley led a plenary focused on Aspirational Design. As you know from my notice last month that linked to the end-of-year report from the “What If” Committee, we will be deploying design throughout the fall to audition ideas for the future of the College. The board got a chance to hear about two proposals that were funded through the What If initiative – Tafara Godo ’27 discussed the entrepreneurship ambassador pilot, and Professor Natalie Nannas discussed the Hamilton Health and Humanity initiative, an interdisciplinary approach to developing future leaders in health and healthcare. Trustees reacted positively toward the progress we’ve made, and many asked good questions, and generally encouraged us to continue to think big and boldly. 

The board also heard an update on summer construction projects from Associate Vice President for Facilities and Planning and Interim Chief of Staff Mike Klapmeyer before adjourning for the day to join their fellow alumni celebrating reunions.

At the full board meeting on Saturday morning, the board ratified the degrees presented to the Class of 2025 and approved promotion to full professor for Abhishek Amar in Asian studies, Tara McKee in psychology, and Katheryn Doran in philosophy who will retire later this month as professor of philosophy emeritus. I hope you will join me in congratulating our colleagues on this well-deserved acknowledgment of their teaching and scholarship.

Trustees also thanked outgoing board members Phyllis Breland ’80, Eric Grossman ’88, Lindsey Rotolo ’97, and Nancy Roob ’87; and re-elected charter trustees Philip Hawkins ’78, Christopher Marshall ’90, Montgomery Pooley ’84, and Jack Selby ’96. I’ve really come to appreciate how fortunate Hamilton is to have such devoted, enthusiastic, and discerning alumni willing to share their expertise and advice on important College matters. 

The next board meeting will take place Sept 26-27 in Clinton. 

I hope you have a wonderful and relaxing summer, and please accept my sincere gratitude for all you’ve done in the past year to help me transition to Hamilton. I’m thrilled to be here.

Steven