Photo by Tom A. Mike

But this excitement is tempered by the realities of the world. It is a little over a year since the tragedy of September 11, 2001. The nation is engaged in a war on terrorism with no end in sight. As this goes to press we face the possibility of another war, the consequences of which cannot be foreseen. And the weak economy has damaged the finances and shaken the confidence of students and their families, as well as many alumni. It also has affected the College; declines in the stock market have put a dent in our already modest endowment.

The College has actually benefited from some outside factors. The economic boom of the 1990s increased the affluence at that time of students, their families, and the College’s benefactors, and the demographic "baby boom echo" dramatically expanded the pool of high school graduates. But our current confidence and clear sense of direction also are the products of a great deal of hard work by members of the College community.

Interested readers may access the complete text of this report as an Adobe Acrobat document on the Office of the President website: Reports and Initiatives