To our outstanding faculty across all disciplines: I will be a president who supports your work. You will be partners and trusted advisors in my administration. And I will strive to ensure that you have the tools you need to continue providing Mills students with the tools they need to flourish in a complex world.
In recent months, it has become trendy to talk about a college education in terms of 'return on investment.' We’ve seen articles that rank the various academic majors by future earnings potential. Some have even suggested that studying the liberal arts is now an impractical luxury.
I believe I know why this sentiment exists. It comes from a place of deep discontent about our economy and job market. I have heard this tension in the voices of seniors here on campus.
We can’t escape the fact that this is a challenging and uncertain financial time for colleges and universities across the country. But one thing is clear beyond any doubt: the surest way to fortify our financial strength is to fortify our academic strength. We cannot and will not solve short-term financial challenges by sacrificing our long-term academic standing.
Coming from the business world, I have interviewed and hired more than a few employees over the years. And so I can tell you with some credibility that in the quote-unquote real world, you can teach someone how to do a job, but you cannot teach them how to thinkcritically.
I wholeheartedly reject the implication that one must choose between the lofty ideals of a liberal arts education and the practicality of career training.
Mills students prove this point. They are remarkably diverse, in both background and outlook. They are voracious learners. They are emphatically multidisciplinary, equally comfortable analyzing Darwin and Didion.
We train our students to think broadly and critically. There is nothing more practical than nurturing these skills—the skills to question, analyze, and lead. We do that here. And we do it well.
Of course, Mills is not just a leading liberal arts college—we are a leading liberal arts college for undergraduate women.
At the time of President Holmgren’s inauguration two decades ago, there were more than 300 women’s colleges across America. Today, there are fewer than 60. So in a real sense, we are an endangered species.
Some will argue that the state of gender equity in America has been transformed since Mills and other women’s institutions opened their doors.
