November 24, 2015

Dear CC Community,

As Thanksgiving approaches, the violence that has rocked our world in recent weeks - in Paris, in Syria, in Mali - is on my mind. I am also thinking about the turmoil and conflict on college campuses across the country and how hateful words and images have permeated our own learning community.

But gratitude for the CC community moves me from sadness to hope. I am inspired by our students who push us to be a better institution, who are filled with dreams of what a learning community can be. Our faculty, who are so committed to our students that they are willing to keep growing as learners themselves, also inspire me. I am grateful to be surrounded by staff members who are dedicated to supporting our mission of teaching and learning. I am grateful for our parents, who entrust us with their children and for our alumni, who provide a model of life-long learning to our students. I am appreciative of our trustees and friends for their support as we deliver on our mission to provide the finest liberal arts education.

I am grateful to be a part of this community. We are a group of people committed to teaching and learning, who care about each other. We certainly can be better - we must be better - but we are also surrounded by much goodness.

And we move forward, with all of our goodness and our imperfections, because we are a community with a mission that matters.

In this season of giving thanks, I want to express my gratitude to all of you.

With warm regards,

Jill