The Bowdoin Orient

November 10, 2000
Volume CXXXII, Number 9

College financial situation encourages growth

Eric Chambers, STAFF WRITER

   The Board of Trustees has proposed a new set of initiatives designed to improve both the financial status of the College and the reconstruction of buildings on campus.
   According to the October 21 Board of Trustees meeting, financial situations at Bowdoin have improved over the past year. The College’s bond rating has improved, and its budget balanced for the ninth year. Because of this, according to Chair of the Student Executive Board Jeffrey Favolise ’01, “It is now easier for the College to borrow money, since we are doing better with our financial affairs.”
    In addition, the Subcommittee on Minority Affairs reported that the Posse and Chamberlain Scholar Programs, designed to attract a greater number of minority students to the campus, have been very successful.
    The Board has also proposed many possible renovations of on-campus buildings, including the Walker Art Museum. These renovations, if passed in May 2001, would include a climate-control system to help preserve works of art, additional handicap accessibility, teaching spaces located inside the building, and extra spaces for new exhibits and storage.
    According to Meghan MacNeil ’03, vice-chair of the Student Executive Board, these renovations will “further help bring the museum into the campus community.” The idea of the creation of a new building for the Psychology Department was also brought up at the meeting, although plans for this have not been finalized.
   Trustee and Chair of the Presidential Search Committee Barry Mills reported the progress of the ongoing search for a new President of the College. According to MacNeil, Mills stressed the importance of “looking for candidates who show a special interest in diversity, students, and curriculum.”
   President Robert Edwards also addressed the Board of Trustees. In his presentation on October 20, he expressed his wishes for what he would like to see after he leaves his office at the end of the year. “Edwards spoke about the need to further develop technology, the arts, minority scholarship programs, and lower the student-to-faculty ratio in the future,” said Favolise. “These are continual concerns and projects.”
   In his presentation, Edwards stressed the importance of maintaining and creating quality on-campus facilities and social and athletic programs to compete with larger universities for students. He also said that he wished that the campus could more fully utilize its small size and student-to-faculty ratio to create a warm and intimate atmosphere for both students and faculty.
   At the end, he stated, “If you do it all with confidence, a bit of grandeur, magic, and celebration, you can create some joy to go along with the excellence. We aren’t on earth for very long, so let’s enjoy it and be nice to each other.”