Hill, seniors complete four years at Vassar

The Class of 2010 entered Main Gate for the first time in August 2006 at a significant moment in Vassar history. President of the College Catharine Bond Hill was about to officially take her place as the College's 10th president, filling the position of former President Frances Daly Fergusson, who served the College as president from 1986 to 2006. Hill's inauguration in October that year was a turning point for the College, but, as the class would see, Vassar would continue to transform over the next four years.

Much like the Class of 2010, Hill, more casually known as "Cappy," might call this her senior year at Vassar. The admissions process was different for the two of them—the Class of 2010 was chosen out of an applicant pool of 6,075, and Hill was chosen out of 200 candidates in a nation-wide search. Still, both came with diverse experiences prior to setting foot on Vassar's campus. The class was and is filled with champion athletes, star performers and budding scholars, and Hill brought her own expertise in the economics of higher education and economic development in Africa, as well as degrees from Williams College and Oxford and Yale Universities.

"I do feel a special relationship to the Class of 2010," wrote Hill in an e-mailed statement. "We were learning about living at Vassar at the same time!"

In this four-year period, the members of the Class of 2010 have seen improvements to campus facilities, such as the complete renovation of Davison House; attended notable speakers, such as writers Tony Kushner and Gail Collins; and participated in the Vassar Student Association's (VSA) 128 organizations.

The Vassar careers of both Hill and the Class of 2010 began with campus-wide celebrations of Hill's inauguration. The chocolate fountains at the "Cappy and the Chocolate Factory" themed party were much-noted in the pages of The Miscellany News.

The celebrations, however, gave way to serious work. Upon her arrival at the College, Hill named affordability, the curriculum and the upkeep of Vassar's physical plant—particularly dormitories and the College's science facilities—as her top priorities. Along with Hill, several new administrators joined the College's group of senior officers. Dean of the College Christopher Roellke took on his position in November 2008 after serving as a professor of education, associate dean of the College, dean of studies and finally as acting dean of the College. Under Hill's leadership, the position dean of planning and academic affairs was created in the 2007-2008 academic year. Professor of Classics Rachel Kitzinger was named to the post.

Because Kitzinger and Roellke had already taught and worked at the College, Hill noted that they had a good grasp of Vassar's needs. "These are people who really understand the institution and know many people on campus. That has been very helpful," she remarked.

Dean of the Faculty Jonathan Chenette arrived in 2008 from Grinnell College. "It has also been very helpful to have someone with another perspective, although he arrived at a very difficult moment," wrote Hill. "I think the new administration has handled the difficult decision making of the last few years very successfully, with significant help from the senior faculty leadership."

Under Hill's leadership, the Class of 2010 witnessed the re-adoption of Vassar's need-blind policy in the fall of 2007 after a decade of need-sensitive admissions. The Class of 2012 was then the first class to be admitted with the policy in place.

Hill noted the role of students in the College's decision-making processes. Prior to the adoption of the need-blind policy, the VSA Council passed a resolution advocating the decision. Last year, the VSA passed a resolution in favor of the admission of undocumented students, which was then approved by the Committee on College Life, and this year the Council's support led to an optional half-credit for participation in varsity athletics.

A Miscellany News article written in September 2007 noted that the decision to adopt the need-blind policy was a sign of the College's financial health. However, Vassar's endowment, like that of most private institutions of higher education, suffered after the financial crisis hit in 2008. However, according to Hill, the crisis made the need-blind policy more appropriate than ever. "To have responded to the financial crisis by constraining financial aid just when students and families needed it most clearly was inconsistent with our mission and goals," wrote Hill.

While students' voices have been significant in the adoption of many College policies, some members of the community expressed frustration with the rapidity of decision-making in the wake of the financial crisis.

Together, Hill and the Class of 2010 have been challenged in the past two years by the effects of the recession on the College, and at times seemed to challenge each other. "I think the thing I found most difficult was finally realizing that I wasn't going to be able to keep everyone happy… There was no way to reach complete consensus on how to respond to the financial challenges," wrote Hill.

By June 2009, the endowment had decreased by nearly 30 percent, and it was clear to the Board of Trustees that significant and lasting changes needed to be made. "To be sustainable, an endowment should not be drawing much more than five percent," said Chair of the Board of Trustees' Investments Committee Jeffrey Goldstein '77 at an open meeting on May 21, 2009. "Next year the projected draw on the endowment is almost double that. It's close to nine percent. That is not a sustainable path because we are taking from the future." Since the onset of the economic crisis in the fall of 2008, some students alongside faculty and staff have shown their concern for the way the College handled cutting back. Demonstrations in May of 2009 led to the creation of a Hardship Fund over the summer to help staff members who were not employed by the College over the summer. Over the course of the summer, the College allocated over $60,000 to employees.

Overall, Hill wrote, "We've reduced staffing by about 10 [percent] in almost all categories of employment at the college. That was very difficult, but fortunately most of this was accomplished through voluntary means. This is a major, long term adjustment at the College."

In the fall, the Campus Solidarity Working Group emerged as a group for faculty, staff and students to voice their discontent at staffing cuts. The Working Group held several demonstrations protesting the College's elimination of 10 positions. The Working Group did not succeed in preventing these cuts, and a few students held a second hunger strike in December in an effort to save the jobs at the eleventh hour. The strike ended after Roellke disclosed the job status of the laid-off staff members, of whom two took on other positions at the College, two accepted retirement incentives, one was able to remain after a voluntary transfer of another staff member and at least one found a job outside of the College.

"In the end, I know there still isn't complete consensus on the decisions that were made, but I believe we made the hard decisions that we needed to, and did so with lots of discussion and collaboration with the entire community," she wrote. "We were as open and transparent as we could be, but in the end could not make everyone happy, because we had to adjust to the new realities of our financial situation."

Though the cuts made by the College were less than unanimously approved by the student body, the Class of 2010 showed a commitment alongside Hill to the need-blind admissions policy in their choice of the Senior Class Gift—an Endowed Scholarship Fund (see "Fund to be active in 2010-11" on page 1).

While reacting to the financial crisis has in many ways defined the second half of the last four years, Hill has not been swayed from her original goals. "The financial situation has if anything clarified our priorities and goals, since we've had to think very carefully about how to respond to reductions in our resources," wrote Hill. "I don't think it has actually changed any of them, just perhaps changed the timing on some. It will take us longer to do some of the capital projects that we consider very important, including maintaining and restoring our beautiful facilities."

Change, as well as progress, she noted, is an inevitable occurance: "I'm sure we'll figure out that some of the changes we've made aren't quite right, and we'll adjust over time."