A Welcome to the New Year

Dear Friends,

Summer seems to have flown by and now we are all on campus. Whether you are new to Smith, are returning after break, or have been here throughout the summer, we are all becoming reacquainted with the cadence and routines of the academic year.

The year ahead brings great promise: As always, we will be reinvigorated as we learn and study, deepen our relationships, and grow confident in our talents. Beginning this fall, we will consider Smith’s future with a communitywide strategic planning process. And in January, we will kick off a year of reflection and celebration as we mark Smith’s 150-year anniversary.

The new academic year may also bring trepidation for many of us as violence continues its rampage across the globe. The human toll of these ongoing conflicts is staggering, and even when we are not directly involved, many of us have struggled to discover how we can best contribute to their resolution. In particular, the conflict in the Middle East has affected many members of our campus. Our various responses to all of it have raised questions here and on campuses like ours about academic freedom, freedom of expression, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and the expectations we have of each other.

When we broke for summer recess it was clear that we were not in consensus about many things. Now, at the start of the fall semester, it is also clear that we can begin again with a renewed commitment to building bridges and finding an approach that is uniquely Smith. On this campus, we can choose to pursue a radical empathy in which we call in instead of calling out; choose conversations over social media posts; nurture our curiosity and listen deeply; and exercise our freedoms to learn, to disagree, and most of all to be in conversation with each other.

Together with faculty, staff, and students, we have worked to begin the academic year with educational programs and cocurricular activities for engagement that will help equip each of us with the knowledge and tools to understand and combat group-based bullying and hate, and ensure a campus environment that allows everyone to feel supported as they study and work. There will also be opportunities for us to increase our understanding of Smith’s endowment and to explore what it means to “call in.” And faculty on our campus and throughout the five colleges are teaching courses this year about the Middle East; Israel and Palestine; systems of government; the history of various political movements; the role of religion in violent and nonviolent struggle; and the psychology, sociology, and anthropology of human cooperation and conflict.

Living in community comes with both rights and responsibilities, and we will continue to work hard to ensure that there are many opportunities for dialogue before disagreements rise to the level of protests. When protests do take place, as they did last spring, among the values that guide us are our educational mission and the importance of respecting each other. When any of us transgress those values and the policies that give them substance, we will continue to hold each other accountable.

Most of all, however, living in community allows us the satisfaction of engaging with each other and learning and doing new things as we strive to enrich our world. Find out how you can participate in the 2024 U.S. elections with Smith Votes; vote if you are eligible; and consider ways to support this foundational aspect of democracy. Beginning in October, join us at the Campus Center for First Tuesdays—a chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones over delicious coffee and doughnuts from Atkins Farm. And I invite the whole campus to join a new tradition, Second Thursdays, on Chapin lawn for 15 minutes once a month to do tai chi, deep breathing, or learn to line dance—I’ll be right up front! Let’s nurture ourselves in mind, body, and spirit for the work ahead.

Now is the season for listening, respect, connection, and joy, with a spirit of curiosity and kindness. In this coming year, let these things define what it means to be uniquely Smith!

President Sarah