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Dear Sarah Lawrence Community,
Today marks my first day as president of Sarah Lawrence College and I am delighted to be in situ in Westlands! Soon, my family and I will also be settled in the President’s House: the moving vans are set to arrive on August 11.
Since the announcement last January that I had been chosen as your next president, I have been the recipient of a warm welcome from all quarters of our community. In recent days, I have enjoyed the chance to walk the campus, begin to meet staff, and even drop in on an admission tour or two. In the coming weeks, I look forward to spending time with you at events both formal and informal, on the campus and beyond, as we get to know one another. Above all, I look forward to the start of the semester and the academic work that is the core of our shared enterprise.
I have joined the College at a time of palpable momentum, represented by Ahead of the Curve: The Campaign for Sarah Lawrence and the positive impact that it will have on our future. I also arrive at a time when the challenges facing American higher education have arguably never been greater. Recognizing the imperative for the College not only to confront but to shape these challenges, we have taken the occasion of the presidential inauguration to focus on the theme of “Democracy and Education.” I hope that you will join me on October 6 as together we formally mark and celebrate the next phase of Sarah Lawrence. More importantly, I encourage you to join me as we engage as a campus in a yearlong exploration of a theme that draws its title and inspiration from John Dewey’s landmark book, Democracy and Education (1916)—a work whose concerns were influential in shaping the founding philosophy of the College almost a century ago. I hope you will propose and participate in many events not only as we collectively seek a greater understanding of Sarah Lawrence’s past and present, but also chart its future and, along with it, the future of American higher education.
Last but not least, I’d like to introduce you to my family, who will join me here on campus. My husband Bob is the executive director of the American Musicological Society, housed at NYU. Two of our three daughters, Hannah and Sarah, will be with us until they depart in mid-September (Sarah to spend the fall of her junior year studying abroad in Bolivia and Peru, and Hannah to start grad school at the University of Chicago), and our oldest daughter, Katie, and son-in-law, Rafael, will visit regularly. When you see us together on campus or riding our bikes in the neighborhood, please say hello!
I am deeply honored to join you as the 11th president of Sarah Lawrence College and I am delighted today to embark on the future we will forge together.
With warmest wishes,
Cristle
Cristle Collins Judd
president@sarahlawrence.edu
