This issue of the Voice includes a story about Carleton’s participation in an amicus brief supporting the position of Harvard and the University of North Carolina in an affirmative action case currently before the Supreme Court.
I am sometimes asked how I as a college president decide when to take a position, issue a statement, or speak on potentially controversial topics. When do I speak as an individual, and when does the president speak for the institution?
My own statements or comments exist along a spectrum of official weight that I try to calibrate thoughtfully. At the upper end of the scale, an amicus brief of the kind mentioned above, while it does not commit the college to any specific actions, is a highly visible public commitment on the part of the college, and thus is appropriate for issues in which we as a higher education institution have a direct interest. The ability to conduct our admissions program as we wish, and in ways that advance our goals for diversity and inclusion, is clearly a compelling interest for Carleton.
At times, there are issues of great public concern that have an impact on some or many members of our community but are not directly related to higher education. When I choose to comment on these sorts of issues, it is generally in support of students and community members who are directly impacted, or to point out times when public comments, policy decisions, or other events don’t align with values we have articulated as a college. As a community that has undertaken significant work to combat racism, for example, we can agree that a racially motivated shooting is something we should denounce. Where agreement on a topic is less clear, as with the recent Supreme Court decision on Dobbs v. Jackson, I may feel it is useful to articulate a widely held reaction while acknowledging that opinions across the community differ. While such statements are and should be fairly rare, they present a valuable opportunity to model to students the efforts we all make to analyze and develop positions on issues of importance.
A key strategy for me has been to establish multiple channels of communication, so that I can direct my comments to different audiences or situations. This column is one way in which I can reach alumni; appearances at reunion convocations and participation in Zoom meetings with alumni groups are also great ways to connect. I have also written columns for the parents’ newsletter.
Last year, we created a weekly campus newsletter, Carleton Today, that includes a column in which I comment on issues and discussions that are still in process. This gives me the opportunity for a works-in-progress kind of communication, where I might offer a timely update on a recent board meeting, explain the rationale behind a new task force, or test my vision around strategic planning issues. These weekly dispatches also allow me to weave in the impact of world events, like the war in Ukraine, in ways that feel proportional and organic.
Finally, I take advantage of social media to share photos and brief comments on campus events or happenings within my own academic and administrative circles. I have found Twitter, for example, is a great way to get to know the broader community. I can see that the Carleton alumni who follow me love getting a feel for what is going on on campus these days. And, of course, a gorgeous picture of Skinner Chapel or the Arb is always popular!
In many ways, Twitter presents a distilled example of what it means to speak as a president: everything you say reaches multiple audiences, often without much context, and you need to think carefully about how it will sound to different ears, and in different rooms. I have found that the Carleton community strongly values communication and authenticity. This encourages me to hope that even though no one community member will agree with everything I might say, collectively the community will feel well represented by a presidential voice that seeks to articulate our shared interests, values, and concerns.