Photo Courtesy of NESCAC.com
Williams College Welcomes New President
Recently, Williams College announced its 18th President. In a press release, Williams’s Communications Office wrote “Williams College announced today the appointment of Maud S. Mandel, Dean of the College and Professor of History and Judaic Studies at Brown University, as its 18th president. She will succeed Protik (Tiku) Majumder, who has served as interim president since Jan. 1, following the move, after eight years, of Adam F. Falk to the presidency of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Mandel will begin her tenure at Williams on July 1, 2018.”
During her previous tenure at Brown, Mandel accomplished much. “As Dean at Brown, Mandel has been deeply involved in efforts to advance diversity and inclusion, including promoting programs to foster retention for historically underrepresented students in the STEM fields. She also led a collaborative process with students and staff to open the First-Generation College and Low-Income Student Center (FLi Center), the first center at any Ivy League school to be dedicated to first-generation students.”
As a scholar, Mandel “examines the ways policies and practices of inclusion and exclusion in 20th-century France have affected ethnic and religious minorities, most notably Jews, Armenians and Muslim North Africans. Her work has won support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the American Philosophical Society, among others.”
Colby College Opens New $25 Million Dorm
Colby College students, for the first time ever, will be able to live in “on-campus” housing in downtown Waterville. The
Central Maine
reported that “construction is nearing completion on the $25.5 million residential building Colby College is planning to open this month in the heart of downtown, with the first students scheduled to move in next week.
Dozens of newly wrapped chairs and other furniture crowded the first floor of the new Bill and Joan Alfond Main Street Commons on Monday as builders continued to work on retail and public space that will also be part of the building.
“It’s exciting to think about,” said Brian Clark, vice president of planning at Colby. “One week from today, basically, we’re going to see students living here. And one or two weeks after that, the full 200 will be here. It’s exciting to think about what that means for activity on Main Street.”
The project is part of a multi-million dollar downtown revitalization effort spearheaded by Colby with partnerships with the city and private investors. So far, Colby has contributed $65 million in direct investments into downtown, officials said Monday.”
This project is aimed at increasing the community engagement of Colby students, who many consider disengaged from the local community. By having students more engaged, Colby will be better able to facilitate its reciprocal relationship with surrounding area.
