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News & World Report, a weekly news magazine. Whittier was named one of the best small, comprehensive colleges in the nation in a recent survey of college presidents conducted by U.S. “What we want to do is make the next great leap forward.” “In almost every respect we have moved ahead as far we can without a substantial infusion of money,” said Connick, adding that the college has made both academic and financial gains under Mills’ leadership. In examining the college’s needs, the 27 trustees settled on a $25-million endowment increase as the barest, minimum requirement, says Dezember, who lives in Bakersfield. He and other trustees say Whittier can recruit the well-heeled without upsetting the ethnic mix it has cultivated in the student body, which is one-third minority or foreign. With 80% of its 988 undergraduates receiving some sort of financial aid, Dezember also thinks the college should woo more students who can pay their own way. “We’ve been struggling, I’d say, for the past 10 years.”įaculty salaries stagnated and building maintenance and construction fell behind-the two areas that would likely benefit the most if Dezember accomplishes what he hopes. “We’re having many problems fiscally right now because of the drop in enrollment,” said one trustee. But that sum is still painfully low, hobbling a college that-like so many other small institutions-is struggling financially under the declining enrollments of the post baby boom years. It has grown to about $15.5 million, thanks to a 6-year-old capital fund drive, the first in Whittier’s history. When President Eugene Mills took over eight years ago, the college endowment stood at a little more than $6 million. Milo Connick, “a reluctance on the part of our Quaker forebears to think in terms of money.” Historically, the 100-year-old private college has paid little heed to cultivating financial support, reflecting, in the words of trustee and former religion Prof. Whittier College really needs an ambitious fund-raising program at this point in its development.” “He is very effective as a leader, and we think the time is right for his approach. “We know what he has been able to accomplish in business,” said Trustee Jim Mitchell.
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And just as there is a season to every thing, leaders of the Quaker-founded college have decided that the season has arrived for a hard-driving businessman like Dezember to take the reins. She has served on the boards of First Person Arts, F&M’s Alumni Association and Whittier College’s President’s Executive Advisors Group.A 56-year-old Whittier graduate who once aspired to the ministry, Dezember harbors no Biblical devotion to poverty.
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She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Franklin and Marshall College and received her graduate degree from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. She also worked in theatre and film, where she first realized the power of storytelling in connecting people and creating social change. Prior to her work at Bryn Mawr, Vanessa’s career in education included several teaching positions- at a private girls' school, a community college, and a public university. For several years she co-facilitated the Leadership Empowerment and Advancement Program (LEAP) and was a THRIVE facilitator. She has worked with the Community Diversity Assistants and the Alliance of Multicultural Organizations. She also convenes the steering committee for Bryn Mawr’s First Generation/Low Income (FGLI) program.ĭuring her time at Bryn Mawr, Vanessa has been a leader of the Tri-College Identity, Equity and Social Justice Institute, a participant in the Social Justice Partnership Program (SJPP) and an adviser to Stor圜ORE. Her most recent work supports the telling of Bryn Mawr’s histories through the Perry House Oral History Project, the Pensby Fellowship and the Black at Bryn Mawr program.Īn advocate for college access and post-graduate opportunities, Vanessa serves as Posse Liaison and Administrative Coordinator of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. Assistant Dean for Access and Community Development Vanessa Christman is dedicated to improving campus climate and building community at Bryn Mawr.