Recently I attended a conference of administrators from New England who have organized to promote multiculturalism and diversity on their respective campuses. One representative came up to me and fervently applauded the retention conference organized by Sharon Herzberger, Trinity's vice president for student services. This administrator felt that faculty and administrators from first-ranked liberal arts colleges turned out in large numbers because they were drawn to Trinity's emphasis on getting it right. Rather than posing the challenge negatively, the conference held high aspirations for achievement and success for students of color on campuses where such students had previously expressed feelings of isolation and alienation. Students are critical in challenging the College to move forward on its agenda.
Students provide energy and urgency.
Here for a relatively brief period, students nevertheless experience college as an important time for personal and intellectual growth. Creating a rich, embracing environment supportive of student development is critically important. After all, unlike faculty and staff, students cannot retreat to their own feathered nests. If they are to flourish, they have the choice to make the College environment livable or to leave. Practical necessity and youthful idealism power their demands for rapid transformation.