I'm absolutely thrilled at the opportunity to lead Smith College.
I want to begin by thanking the members of the search committee
and the board of trustees for the confidence that they've placed in me.
As every member of the Smith community knows,
Smith College has a strong foundation in every way:
financially, academically, administratively.
And of course Smith has a strong history of social justice for women,
which is very very important to me.
I've been learning a lot about Smith College over the past few months.
I know that there are so many distinctive aspects to Smith College:
the ADA Comstock program, the School of Social Work
where I've seen many undergraduate students over the years,
the engineering program, the museum of art which I've visited many times,
Smith's increasing international ambitions and of course Smith's relationship
to the five colleges.
My own view of higher education leadership is that in order
to be successful, one really has to be a servant leader
and so what the president of a college or university does is to support the work
of the faculty, their teaching and their research.
I know a little bit about the Smith College faculty
because I've given to colloquia there, both in the psychology department
and because of my interest in early childhood education.
I've even had a chance to tour one of the lab schools there,
so I know I can count on the faculty in the years ahead to partner with me
and to support me in this big job I'm gonna need you.
I know from my own undergraduate experience that sometimes
the staff plays a role in student life that maybe others aren't aware of.
In my case I more or less put myself through school with generous financial aid
from Tufts University and I became very good friends with a woman
in the financial aid office named Mrs. Milton.
She held my hand several times when I was worried about finding a way
to pay the bills and with her help I was able to pay them for eight semesters.
So I'm so glad to hear that it's a strong and committed staff at Smith.
I know we're going to have a good time together.
What this opportunity is going to give me, is the opportunity to actually live on campus
which is something I haven't been able to do, not even as an undergraduate myself.
So I'm very much looking forward to that.
I know how strong the Smith College house system is
and how strong the house culture is.
I'm looking forward to dining in each and every one of the houses,
I think that it will help me get to know Smith maybe better than anything
that I could do.
And I'm also interested in learning from Smith students about the
value of the liberal arts education that they are receiving.
I think that in this time in history, that it's never been a more important time
for a liberal arts education.
It's very important for students not only to gain a college degree
but also to be able to connect the work that they're doing with the values
throughout their lives and that's one of the things that I think a liberal
arts education does better than any other kind of education.
My husband, Bill, and I are very much looking forward to moving to campus
into becoming a part of the Smith community.
I thought you might like to know that Bill has been a high school
English teacher his whole career.
He writes poetry and he's very excited about living in Northampton
because he knows what a rich and vibrant cultural hub that it is
and he's also looking forward to being a partner with me in this important work.
So we're looking forward to various cultural events at Smith,
we're also looking forward to cheering the Pioneers to victory,
to slow walks around Paradise Pond to decompress at the end of the day
and to many exciting events that we will host at the President's House.
I'm so looking forward to getting to know the forty-seven thousand
alumni around the world.
I know that you are accomplished in all fields business, law, medicine,
government and beyond.
I also know that the Smith alumni constitute an extraordinary network that
support other alumni at all stages of their career.
You are advocates for Smith College, you provide resources for our students
you are ambassadors, you're even informal admissions counselors.
So I'm looking forward not only to getting to know you but to learning more
about how Smith College shaped your life.
I am so excited about the campaign for Smith and I love the theme "Women for the World".
In my experience campaigns help raise everybody's sight for an institution
and it's clear that that's already happening at Smith.
I was so pleased to see the focus on access to a Smith College
education through financial aid, that's something that's very
important to me personally.
I absolutely love fundraising sometimes that surprises people,
but when you fundraise you really have the opportunity to partner with people
who are as passionate about the institution as you are.
And with respect to the campaign for Smith I'll have the opportunity
to help Smith alumni realize their dreams not only for Smith but also for women.
When I read the futures initiatives, I knew I wanted the job because
it's clear that Smith plans to be bold going forward in a changing higher education landscape.
You know one of the things that struck me through the entire interview process
is how one can't have a conversation with any member of the Smith community
without them quoting Sofia Smith.
One of my favorite quotes of Sofia Smith's is that her goal was that
Smith College would be a perennial blessing to the world and it certainly is.