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| "We are regularly asked, for better or
for worse, to prove to our alumni that we are living up to their
goals and expectations." |
by Brian Rosenberg
By the time you read this column, I will have been president at
Macalester for nearly a year and will have starred in "Meet
the President" events in Scottsdale, Tucson, Los Angeles, San
Francisco, Naples, Fort Lauderdale, Seattle, London, New York, Boston,
Washington, Chicago and (five times) the Twin Cities.
Between these events and Reunion, I will have spoken with, to and
in front of more than 2,000 alumni and parents and will have discovered
a number of things: the likelihood of an upgrade as a Frequent Flier
on Northwest Airlines (moderate); the most expensive city in which
to catch a cab (Boston, hands down); the chance that a package of
cookies scrounged in a Northwest World Club will remain intact in
a crowded briefcase (small, unfortunately).
More usefully, I will have developed a much deeper sense of those
issues that are of most importance to the extended Macalester community
and a clearer understanding of my mission and challenges as president.
Despite variations in geography and demographics among these numerous
events, what has been most striking has been the consistency with
which a small set of themes has been articulated by those in attendance--which
suggests not only that Mac alumni from different generations have
much in common, but also that our collective response to those themes
will define the future and shape the nature of the college. Each
of these might be described, fittingly enough, as a sort of creative
tension, or as a desire to bring into appropriate balance a pair
of entwined but competing priorities. I would identify the most
consequential of these as follows:
(1) Commitment and criticism: Macalester
alumni for the most part care deeply about the college and remain
convinced that its central mission is admirable and necessary; at
the same time, Macalester alumni<em dash>not a few of whom
are passionate and idealistic<em dash>hold the college to
high standards in virtually every sense and are not slow to point
out where the college has failed to meet those standards. More than
most colleges, I suspect, we are regularly asked, for better or
worse, to prove to our alumni that we are living up to their
goals and expectations. This perhaps begins to explain why an accomplished
and attentive group of alumni has not historically been as supportive
of Macalester as one might expect and why it is so critical that
we build a sense of trust within our community.
(2) Excellence and distinctiveness: Most of our alumni are pleased with
the college's rising national prominence and with our ability to
compete for students, resources and recognition with the finest
colleges and universities in the country. At the same time, our
alumni are wary of any attempt to "chase rankings" or
to become a carbon copy of other elite institutions. We want to
be outstanding, but to be so in a way that resonates with the distinctive
character, mission and history of Macalester. In particular, even
as we receive more and more applications and become necessarily
more "selective," we want to preserve our focus on educating
engaged and informed global citizens.
(3) Quality and access: Virtually all our
alumni want our programs, faculty and facilities to be comparable
or superior to those at the very finest liberal arts colleges; at
the same time, they take great pride in the fact that Macalester
serves, and has long served, a population much more diverse economically
and much more international than do nearly all of our peer institutions.
This commitment represents an enormous investment of resources.
Can we devote the necessary funds to the operations of the college
while simultaneously providing much more financial aid than do the
schools with which we compete for students? Can we foreground access
while at the same time ensuring that the college to which we
are providing access remains strong and financially stable?
These last are perhaps the most pressing questions currently faced
by Macalester and will, consequently, be the subject of intensive
discussion and planning in the weeks and months ahead.
It should I hope be apparent that none of these "creative
tensions" is subject to easy resolution; it might even be fair
to say that none is resolvable in the strictest sense, but that
the goal should be to maintain the paired objectives in some appropriate
balance and not allow one to overwhelm or obliterate the other.
On all, to be sure, we invite your reflections and ideas and on
all we will be consultative and forthcoming. Exercising stewardship
means not merely celebrating accomplishment or bemoaning weakness,
but wrestling day to day, week to week, with issues of consequence
and complexity. I hope you will join me in doing so.
Brian Rosenberg, the president of Macalester, writes a regular
column for Macalester Today. He can be reached at rosenbergb@macalester.edu.
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