We are experiencing a transitional moment at CC, with new leadership and the evolving nature of the pandemic providing us with new opportunities to do things differently. Our society is grappling with necessary and important questions about structural inequities. Some are questioning the value of a liberal arts education. Times like these provide opportunities for us. I believe it’s both a critical and an opportune moment to ask ourselves this question: How can we do what we do better? I would like us to step back and consider the distance between our aspirations and our actions. I invite us to look ahead at the realities likely to affect higher education over the next several decades and to think about ways to address them. I ask us to engage in conversations that focus on the possibilities for our future rather than the challenges and problems of the past and present. Let’s dare to have visionary discussions about how we educate our students, capitalize on our unique strengths, and take advantage of the opportunities available to us to do what we do better.

— President L. Song Richardson, September 16, 2021