Dear Members of our Campus Community,
Welcome—and welcome back—to Holy Cross. This week marks the beginning of an exciting time, as we celebrate the start of our academic year and welcome our new first-year and transfer students to our community. For many of us, this is also a time of transition: we find ourselves settling into the familiar and adjusting to all that is new and reimagined.
Our returning campus members have likely noticed some of the change that surrounds us. There are new spaces for living, like the City View townhomes and Jesuit residence; and the reimagined Ciampi Hall, now a student residence focused on wellness and wellbeing. Our colleagues in facilities and dining services worked tirelessly to improve the places where we gather, with recently completed renovations in Kimball Hall, Cool Beans and the Prior Performing Arts Center’s O’Connor Family Cafe. Many of you and our students, as part of our strategic and campus master planning processes, spoke clearly for the need for more intentional and welcoming spaces to live and learn together. These places have transformed, yet I imagine you will find them quite accommodating to your established routines.
Our progress is not limited to the physical spaces on campus. We will continue our work on other pillars of Aspire, our strategic vision for the future. Tomicka Wagstaff, Vice Provost and Associate Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, will lead our collective efforts to implement inclusive excellence across our campus. This fall, Provost Elliott Visconsi will guide the academic strategic planning process that will build on our academic excellence and shape the future of our learning community. I am excited to share that Heather Hayes, Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Chief of Staff, will assume leadership of Aspire’s Worcester pillar, working with colleagues across campus to help advance partnerships, engagement and collaborations with our home city.
This year, we look forward to advancing more intentional collaboration across the College. The President’s Administrative Advisory Board (PAAB) will reassemble this fall, offering an important venue for cross-divisional engagement and information sharing. PAAB is composed of senior direct reports to members of the leadership team and serves in an advisory capacity, working together to make recommendations to leadership on improvement of business and administrative processes, particularly those that require cross-divisional collaboration, and helping to lead and oversee implementation.
As I shared in June in response to the Supreme Court decision on Affirmative Action, we find ourselves in a new landscape for higher education. Much like last year, we aim to be in a position to respond thoughtfully—not simply react—to change in our work and sector. We are working to reconcile our admissions and other practices with new legal requirements, and engaging in dialogue with our board and campus members this year to reconsider our practice with respect to legacy admissions.
Sean Scanlon, our Vice President for Advancement, noted earlier this summer that the Schuler Foundation, a champion for Pell-eligible and first-generation students, indefinitely postponed its Schuler Access Initiative, a partnership with Holy Cross and several other colleges and universities. Our leadership team remains deeply committed to ensuring that talented students from all backgrounds can continue to access the opportunity of a Holy Cross education.
As we start this new year, I am particularly attuned to the ways in which I can support students, faculty and staff—with their incredible and varied experiences—as we form a hope-filled community. Our commitment to celebrating and fostering a diverse and thoughtful learning community remains unchanged. It feels particularly timely to not just welcome you, but to affirm how deeply appreciated you are—and just as you are—here at Holy Cross.
Over the next few weeks, you will hear from Holy Cross leaders highlighting recent achievements and sharing opportunities to enrich our academic life and campus community together.
In this busy period, it is important to take time to reconnect and welcome our new colleagues. Please join us on Wednesday, September 6 at 3:30 p.m. for the President’s Welcome Reception as we celebrate our community and look forward to the year ahead.
My best wishes for a successful fall semester. I look forward to seeing you on campus.
With gratitude,
Vincent D. Rougeau
President