To the Williams community,

Welcome to the new semester! I share with all of you the excitement and sense of possibility that accompanies these moments every year. There’s a certain comfort in the familiar rhythm of the academic calendar, at a time when so much around us seems to defy predictability.

I’m also happy to point out that, for the first time, this start of semester message is going out to our 28,000-plus alumni and to families, as well as to campus. The Williams community reaches far beyond Williamstown, and we want to recognize that by including you all.

I’m honored to be doing so in my new role. As interim president I look forward to contributing in new and positive ways to Williams’ evolution. That growth requires us to focus on teaching and learning while staying connected to life outside the Purple Valley. In fact, it’s becoming ever more important that we engage with each other to build community out of diversity.

We’ll set aside tomorrow, February 1, for that purpose. On the 10th annual Claiming Williams Day, I invite staff, students, and faculty to attend and participate in some of the many scheduled campus events. And I hope our alumni and families will also be with us in spirit, wherever you are. The Williams community thrives when we invest in such efforts together.

Here are other examples from across the college of what’s possible when we work as partners:

These accomplishments and others like them exemplify the community-wide spirit guiding our work at Williams. Such a spirit has to be nurtured. With that in mind, I look forward to many community conversations, on campus and off, in the coming months, and to hearing your perspectives on how we can make Williams an even better place for all of us.

Sincerely,

Tiku Majumder
Interim President