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President's Blog

How Leaders Decide

By on March 11, 2013

One of my favorite things about working at Sweet Briar is sitting in on classes, which I’m always happy to do (only when invited, of course!)

Prof. Bakich and Mr. Peck

On Friday, Professor Spencer Bakich invited me to visit his course on How Leaders Decide. He was hosting a terrific guest speaker: Geoffrey Peck is Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Transnational Threats at the CIA (and the father of a Sweet Briar student to boot!)

It was a remarkable opportunity for students to hear from someone working in the field about how intelligence is used in support of decision-making. What was especially valuable, I thought, was to hear an intelligence officer’s reflections on what makes it so very difficult to turn bits of information into a coherent intelligence assessment. In the context of a specific agency’s work, he raised what is really the most fundamental question of any intellectual enterprise: how can we know what we know? And how sure can we be that we know it?

Here are some ideas I took away from listening to the discussion:

  • Categorization matters. It’s important to question what categories and assumptions you’re starting out with in any inquiry. If you’re looking for a “war” you might miss non-state-based threats; if you’re looking for a reaction to an assumed cause you might miss recognizing the importance of other factors.
  • Scope matters. As you ask more and more detailed questions, it’s natural to begin looking at any problem “through a drinking straw.” Sometimes that’s exactly what you need to do — and sometimes you need to look around at the larger context to make sense of what you see through that straw.
  • Culture matters. Organizational culture defines the way any group approaches intelligence. This is true in government, business, education, any field — it’s important to recognize the ways in which your cultural practices influence the way you acquire and interpret information and to interact collaboratively with different organizational and knowledge cultures.

 

These are ideas that are important in national intelligence, of course, but to my mind they are equally important in every profession or field of study. Our students learned something important about U.S. intelligence activities, and also something important about thinking intelligently in any field.

 

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A Recent Talk

By on March 6, 2013

I belong to an essay club in Lynchburg, a monthly gathering of people of various professions, ages, and backgrounds. At each meeting one member gives a talk, responds to questions and comments, and facilitates discussion. There are a few unwritten rules — for example, generally the essay is not to be directly related to one’s daily professional activities and the title of the essay is to be in some way obscure, allusive, or punning.

In my third year of membership my turn came up for the first time last month. The title of my essay was “Just What Do You Think You’re Doing, Dave?” — not exactly an obscure quote to any fan of 2001, but the best I could think up.

Here’s the first paragraph: see if you can anticipate how it might end up connecting with HAL.

“My great-grandmother Laura was born in the 1870s in Grundy County, Missouri, where she lived all her days. Electricity was installed in her home at some point well after she reached middle age. During my childhood, in the 50s, Grandma Laura used that electricity without qualm to run a refrigerator. She would serve us sweet tea over ice in the summers and there was always ice cream in the freezer. But electricity was emphatically not used to light Laura Fannin’s house at night. God, Laura explained, intended for decent people to get up with the sun and to go to bed with the sun; she therefore had no truck with electric lights. Even as a preschooler, it struck me as curious that God felt so strongly about lighting yet seemed to care so little about refrigeration – somehow the dark meant we shouldn’t be awake but the heat didn’t mean there shouldn’t be iced tea.”

If you’re interested, the whole text can be found in the “Remarks” section of my web page. (And please, if you read it there, remember that it’s the text I read from and has not been formatted, proofed, or footnoted as it would be for formal publication!)

This entry is filed under Local Interest, Technology, Uncategorized. | 1 Comment

Joyful Noise

By on February 26, 2013

Students, Singing!

Sunday evening was the annual Gospel Fest, held in celebration of Black History Month.

Chaplain Dori Baker greets the crowd

I love this event, at which the Sweet Briar and local communities gather in the Chapel to share the kind of music that makes that lovely old building ring like a bell! We heard choirs of men and of women, family groups and soloists, performing spirituals and hymns.

AND, for the first time, Sweet Briar students welcomed our guests with a performance of their own. Our singers — 68 strong! — opened the evening with a spirited version of “Siyahamba,” accompanied by the Sweet Briar drum ensemble. (Did you know Sweet Briar has a drum ensemble, thanks to new music professor Jeff Jones?)

I’ll admit it, I’ve been humming that tune since Sunday night. . .

Opening our doors, sharing the vitality of the gospel tradition and the talents of our students and our neighbors: I can’t imagine a better way to end a weekend. Since I don’t have audio clips to share, I hope these pictures give you some sense of the energy and fun.

 

 

This entry is filed under Campus Life, Diversity, Local Interest, Uncategorized.

Brownies Trying Science

By on February 20, 2013

Earlier this month 81 Brownie Scouts from 9 troops spent a day on campus “trying science.” By completing 15 science related activities, participating Brownies earned three badges.

The day was sponsored by our chapter of Iota Sigma Pi, the chemistry honor society, and led by students from Professor Jill Granger’s Service Learning: Science Outreach course, ably assisted by many of their friends and classmates.

Seeing undergraduate students sharing the love and the fun of science with younger girls is utterly delightful. Faces light up, brows furrow in concentration, hugs get exchanged. And little girls get an experience that makes it clear that big girls do science, that doing science is fun, and that college is a place where cool things happen. (And where the food is really good — apparently all-you-can eat of lots of different things in the dining hall is a highlight of the day!)

It’s a win-win-win, and pretty cute to boot.

This entry is filed under academics, Campus Life, Local Interest.

An Academic “Rumpus”

By on February 14, 2013

Audience members arriving for the lecture

This week Sweet Briar’s Lectures and Events Committee and the Tusculum Institute sponsored a visit to campus by Henry Wiencek, journalist, independent historian, and author of “Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves.”

I was pleased that Mr. Wiencek, also the author of books on George Washington and the Hairston family, appeared on campus for several reasons. First, obviously, Virginia history — and Thomas Jefferson’s role in it — is a topic of special interest; Sweet Briar is so close to both Monticello and Poplar Forest that Mr. Jefferson feels like a neighbor. And then, in recent years Sweet Briar and the Tusculum Institute have launched various projects studying enslaved people on the former Sweet Briar Plantation and their descendents in our community; examining the larger context of slavery in Virginia is essential to those efforts.

Henry Wiencek and Tusculum Institute Director Lynn Rainville arriving

But mainly, I was pleased because Master of the Mountain has been the center of an academic controversy — what Wiencek himself refers to as “the rumpus.” Wiencek argues that Jefferson’s management practices as a slaveholder must be taken into account as we assess his public and private statements (and silences) on the topic of slavery. If you’re interested in the controversy, Smithsonian Magazine published an excerpt from Wiencek’s work which you can find here: the New York Times described the controversy here: Annette Gordon-Reed, distinguished author of The Hemingses of Monticello, published a “debunking” of Wiencek’s work in Slate.

I think too often we forget how much academic debate matters. The heart of academic work is not in declaring what is known or has been learned but in marshaling competing ideas, interpretations, observations and analyses and letting them contend with one another. In his lecture, Henry Wiencek openly considered the grounds on which he and his critics differ. He represented himself not as an authority on Jefferson come to reveal the truth but as an active intellectual engaged in thrashing out contentious issues.

Reminding students that ideas are worth arguing for and over is essential to a healthy intellectual community. As is showing them that vigorous academic debate can be conducted without profanity, personal aspersion, invective, or abuse.

Some people in the audience seemed to agree with Mr. Wiencek. Others challenged him on various points. Everyone heard him frankly describe the differences between his critics and himself and explain why they mattered — and why he cares enough about his subject to make the strongest case he can for his views. Whatever members of the audience learned about Jefferson as a slaveholder, they learned something very important about intellectual integrity and what it means to care passionately about ideas.

 

This entry is filed under academics, Campus Life, Diversity, Faculty, Local Interest, Uncategorized and tagged , .

Sweet Briar Creates

By on February 9, 2013

Last week ended on a lovely note — the opening of the “Sweet Briar Creates” exhibit in Benedict.

The strengths of the professional artists on Sweet Briar’s faculty are well known. Their work is a source of pride to colleagues and students alike. But less well-known are the talents of faculty and staff members for whom art is an avocation rather than a primary professional commitment. “Sweet Briar Creates” showcases and celebrates their work.

As everyone moved around the gallery at the opening, I heard many versions of “who knew?” Who knew a professor of poetry was also an outstanding woodworker? Who knew that a housekeeper at the Elston Inn made beautiful jewelry using reclaimed materials and natural motifs?

The VCCA’s Craig Pleasants and CFO Scott Shank: photo by Rob Alexander

Or that a grant proposal writer in the Development Office both painted and made vividly-colored “slumped glass?” (And yes, I had to asked what that meant too.) An Aramark employee creates multimedia pieces exploring consumer lust for technology products. An English professor makes graceful and subtle ceramic vessels. The Master Naturalist creates musical instruments from from things like gourds and deer bone. And so on. . .

ARAMARK’s Kylene Hayslett and Cheryl Warnock, Theater

Talking with the artists and with those who were there to enjoy the art gave me a renewed appreciation for the creativity that runs through every part of campus every day. Art is one reflection of that creativity, of course, but only one — to me, the display represented the way in which  everyone on campus — whatever her or his title and official duties — is seeking to see things from new perspectives, explore additional facets of a topic or experience, and express insights in original and creative ways.

Doing that requires taking some risks.

Studio Art’s Paige Critcher and Environmental Studies’ Rob Alexander

For a professor of environmental studies to display his photographic work (to a crowd that includes professional artists) might, I imagine, be daunting. Having the courage and the vision to take a creative stretch — that what’s the exhibit reminded me is so special about the people who work at Sweet Briar.

 

 

This entry is filed under academics, Campus Life, Faculty, Uncategorized.

February Fitness!

By on January 30, 2013

Leading a fitness class

It’s no secret that I believe that physical fitness and the more holistic concept of wellness are essential to academic, professional, and personal success. As a woman who came of age before Title IX revolutionized the way girls engaged with sports in school, and as someone who remembers participating in President Kennedy’s Fitness Challenge, I am especially aware of the importance of fitness and wellness for women and for young people.

Here on campus, February is a time when we give special focus to wellness, broadly defined, for all members of the community — students, staff, and faculty. Here are some of the things that are going on this month:

  • A free kickboxing class for those who would like to try out this invigorating form of exercise.
  • A workshop on “financial fitness” for students.
  • Wear Red Day. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. Wear Red, Raise Awareness on February 1st.
  • Guided lunchtime walk every Friday in February. See an interesting aspect of campus, meet some new people, restore your energy with time outdoors.
  • Classes in NIA, Zumba, and Kickboxing return to the schedule. (If you haven’t tried one of my NIA classes, I promise you it’s lots of fun.)
  • Lunchtime indoor soccer on Tuesdays and Fridays.
  • And coming up: workshops on emotional health, career transitions, and smoking cessation; blood pressure checks; a chair massage day; a mini-health fair, and much in addition.

Every member of the Sweet Briar community has a different level of fitness and a different set of personal health concerns. Each person enjoys different kinds and levels of physical activity and benefits from different modes of health education. Our goal is to help each student and employee identify one or two simple things that will promote health and well-being — because we know that wellness supports the ability to succeed in all areas of life.

Alumnae, parents, and friends, you can join in too! Even if you’re far from campus, why not join us in spirit and seek out one or two fitness or wellness experiences to enjoy in the coming month?

This entry is filed under Uncategorized.

PBS NewsHour Features Sweet Briar STEM Education

By on January 17, 2013

Click here to see a great story and video about the way Sweet Briar is helping change math education in local communities.

The story features a project in which two teachers, both participants in our STEM education program, developed a lesson plan to help students understand number patterns through dance. (And yes, homework included watching “America’s Best Dance Crew” on television!)

“Lewis, a STEM specialist for Virginia’s Lynchburg city schools, and Steele, who teaches gifted education in Bedford county, Virginia, are both math enthusiasts eager to instill in their students a love of the subject. And dancing, they hoped, might be just the thing to help tackle a common fifth-grade learning deficit — number patterns.

“Dances are patterns,” Lewis said. “We had identified that our students had trouble with patterns and this was a way to get them involved in it.”

Both teachers are part of Sweet Briar College’s STEM teacher education program, where they worked together to design “dance by numbers,” a lesson plan that relies on dance to teach pattern recognition. In the video above, Lewis explains how the lesson works.

Math, education, and a dash of the arts — stronger STEM programs for elementary schools.

This entry is filed under Uncategorized.

Sweet Briar Days!

By on January 14, 2013

The holidays are over and it’s nearly time for the second semester to start, which means ’tis the season for Sweet Briar Days — those wonderful events at which alumnae, current students, prospective students, and other friends of Sweet Briar gather to share stories as they reconnect with old friends and maybe make a few new ones! Whether they take place over coffee or cocktails, in the morning, afternoon, or evening, in large gatherings or small, Sweet Briar Days are one of the ways that our vigorous alumnae network is strengthened and extended.

This year’s schedule included 32 Sweet Briar Day events in locations such as Charlottesville, Denver, Hampton Roads, New York, Richmond, Boston, Lynchburg, Houston, and about 25 other towns and cities across the country. I’m hearing wonderful feedback about each and every event. Here’s a comment from a message we received from a father who attended a Sweet Briar Day in California:

“It was an honor for us to be surrounded by so many wonderful representatives of the college – we’re talking major league devotion and love for their alma mater.  There were two fifty-year anniversary gals and one SIXTY year celebrant!  Plus the recent grad who is studying for her Masters. . .” He goes on to talk about the prospective student he met who’s on pins and needles as she waits, and hopes, to get a letter of acceptance, and said that his daughter “got a whole new perspective of the ‘sisterhood’ and belonging to such an awesome group of people.”
Those of us who spend most of our time on campus can tend to think of Sweet Briar as the students, faculty, and staff we see every day. What I love about Sweet Briar Days is the way they remind me that Sweet Briar extends far beyond the campus, in a lively and extensive network of women who love sharing the Sweet Briar experience and supporting each other throughout their impressive lives and interesting careers.
This entry is filed under Uncategorized.

Looking Around and Forward

By on January 8, 2013

The time after the holidays and before students return to campus is when many professional conferences and meetings take place. For example, I’ve just come back from the President’s Institute of the Council of Independent Colleges, which was held concurrently with the annual meeting of the Women’s College Coalition.

Like folks in all other professions, college presidents find it valuable from time to time to raise their heads from the daily agenda in order to look around at the larger context shaping that agenda and forward toward whatever might be coming next. There is much to be learned from the experiences and ideas of educational leaders from across the country who share Sweet Briar’s commitment to liberal education and student success. America’s liberal arts colleges share many values, commitments, and challanges. What makes them stronger as a community makes each college individually stronger as well.

Here are things I especially appreciated during my time at the conference:

  • I heard a keynote address by Andrew DelBanco on the value of liberal education. Many of the ideas he shared with the assembled presidents are developed in his book, College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be. DelBanco’s main point is that residential undergraduate education plays an essential role in preparing students for citizenship and community life by sustaining an environment in which they can practice leadership, decision-making, debate, and self-government under the guidance of role models and mentors.

 

  • I participated in a robust discussion about financial aid policy. This session has received some press coverage; the question is whether financial aid is appropriately allocated between two purposes — to meet the financial need of families and to provide non-need-based aid to students with particular qualifications.

 

 

 

 

Of course, I also valued the opportunity to pick the brains of other college presidents, hear about interesting innovations moving forward on other campuses, and reflect on the national picture of opportunity for students.

It goes without saying that leading an academic institution in this day and age is challenging work. But a conference like these is just one more occasion on which I realize how lucky I am to have the chance to do it! Providing the kind of education Sweet Briar offers to new generations of women, and advancing the proud tradition of the American liberal arts college as an option for all students, is endlessly interesting and unquestionably important.

 

This entry is filed under academics, Economics of Higher Education and tagged , , .

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