From the President

A letter from President Andrea E. Chapdelaine, Ph.D.

Winter in New England has a way of sharpening your senses. The light is softer and more insistent, the air clearer. The campus is held, for a time, in quiet, crystalline focus. As a native New Englander, I have always felt that this season invites resolve, and a chance to look back with clarity and then choose, deliberately, how to move forward.

My own journey has taken me to many places and institutions, but from this vantage point, watching students immersed in their work and listening to faculty and students engaged in intellectual discovery together, I am grateful to be at Conn, which embodies a rigorous, relational liberal arts education. At a moment when higher education is being asked to prove its value in new ways, what I see every day on this campus affirms why this model continues to matter. In that sense, becoming president of Connecticut College has felt, in many ways, like coming home. 

Yet, Conn extends far beyond this campus, and our students’ education is enriched by journeys across the globe. They travel far intellectually, geographically and professionally, anchored by enduring relationships with faculty, staff, classmates, alumni and mentors. The stories in this winter issue capture those transformative experiences, following Camels as they move between disciplines and across borders, applying what they learn in ways that shape both their work and the world around them. 

In this issue, you will find the extraordinary range of paths our students and alumni create for themselves, and of the common threads that run through those journeys: curiosity, courage and a passion for learning by doing. These qualities allow them to navigate new landscapes and integrate ideas across disciplines—an approach reinforced by Conn’s Connections curriculum and the relationships that define our student-centered community. As higher education adapts to rapid change and shifting global pressures, I remain convinced that a liberal arts education provides an essential compass, grounding students in habits of mind that endure.

Here, you will meet students and alumni applying their learning in powerful ways. A physics major who restores carburetors and leads the revival of an iconic 1957 Chevy demonstrates that entrepreneurship and innovation flourish wherever talent, mentoring and opportunity intersect, even in fields where women have long been underrepresented. You will encounter students immersed in our expanding portfolio of short-term, faculty-led global programs that engage in complex, real-world challenges, from social justice and sustainability in Peru to microbiology in Tanzania and arts and culture in Ghana and Taiwan. You will read about an alumnus reshaping the global skincare industry, using both economic insight and the reach of social media to build a fast-growing brand created with men of color at the forefront. 

Together, these stories capture the essence of Conn today, a community that invites students to bring their whole selves to classrooms and studios, to communities across the globe, and to the lives and careers they shape beyond the campus. They also reflect the vital role our alumni play in sustaining this ecosystem of opportunity. Through mentorship, advocacy and philanthropy, our alumni extend Conn’s reach every day, and for that generosity of time, talent and support, I am deeply grateful. Because of this enduring partnership, Conn remains both a point of departure and a lasting home for all of us.

Andrea E. Chapdelaine, Ph.D.

President, Connecticut College