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Dear Members of the Sarah Lawrence Community,
On November 13, I wrote to share concerns with you about draft tax reform measures in the House and Senate that had implications for Sarah Lawrence and for higher education more broadly. Now that the House and Senate have passed bills and are moving toward a vote on the final bill, I would like to again draw your attention to those items in the House's version of tax reform that we believe are detrimental to higher education, that will create significant financial challenges for many of our students and families, that will significantly impact tuition benefits for our employees and their dependents, and that (in both the Senate and House versions of reform) will potentially decrease essential donor support for financial aid and our academic mission. See an analysis of the House and Senate versions of the bills prepared by the American Council on Education.
Sarah Lawrence and our peer institutions have been reaching out to elected officials to express our collective concern about these proposals—proposals that we believe would do grievous harm to higher education at a time when the need for access to such education and the vital role it plays in our democratic society could not be greater. I urge you to express your thoughts—concern and/or support—regarding elements of this legislation to your elected representatives. USA.gov provides an e-mail portal at usa.gov/elected-officials.
Yours,
Cristle Collins Judd
president@sarahlawrence.edu