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In September 1875, Wellesley College welcomed its first incoming class. More than 300 students showed up, along with mountains of luggage—and concerned family members. For a young woman to go off to college at the time was a break with the past. Imagine the courage they must have possessed!

At this moment, we are seeing unprecedented attacks on higher education across the country, and the value of—and right to—academic freedom is being called into question. This is to the detriment of all of us.

“Our endowment allows the Wellesley community to be socioeconomically diverse and makes us a place where students can discover, in the words of our second president, Alice Freeman Palmer, ‘the wealth that lies in differences.’”

Last semester, I took part in a celebration honoring the 50th anniversary of the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) and the leaders, past and present, who made that milestone possible.

It’s incumbent upon college campuses to provide what I see as a powerful antidote to polarization: pluralism, and the dialogue and diversity of ideas that come with it.

This spring, Wellesley College took a stand in support of democracy and of renewing the civic purpose of higher education.

Earlier this year, I had the privilege of honoring groundbreaking artist Lorraine O’Grady ’55 at Wellesley’s Davis Museum, which is hosting her first major career retrospective exhibition. Lorraine’s work is a powerful example of art...

We want to integrate the WCAA into the College in a way that will give alumnae greater representation within College leadership, deepen partnerships between them and the College, and create new opportunities for collaboration.

Colleges and universities across the country are reasserting the civic purpose of higher education, and Wellesley is proudly among them