It was only the second day of classes but a sizeable crowd turned up to hear John Burness, interim president of the College, speak at the Mayser Gymnasium Thursday.
It was only the second day of classes but a sizeable crowd turned up to hear John Burness, interim president of the College, speak at the Mayser Gymnasium Thursday.
After all, he is not only our interim president but, in his own words, someone who has had a long love affair with the College. Naturally, many wanted to hear what he had to say.
In his remarks, Burness started off by offering reflections—both those of his time as an F&M student in the 1960s and his experience over the two months getting reacquainted with the College since assuming the interim presidency.
He stated his sense of place had been shaped by his student years here at F&M, but that he now sees it differently in light of the presidency.
Burness has also certainly been busy gaining fresh perspectives about the College, both from within F&M and the community at large.
Through conversations with local leaders, gallery tours, as well as numerous meetings with faculty, he has gained a broader view of the state of the College as well as what needs to be done for future advancement.
Many things have changed since Burness was an undergraduate at F&M, from new facilities to the fledgling College House system and the sheer diversity of the student body.
He recounted there was perhaps one African-American student and no women in his class.
Looking to the year ahead, he expressed the view that his greatest priorities would revolve around maintaining the academic and intellectual quality of F&M while securing a future of growth and advancement for the college.
Specifically, he would seek to finalize land arrangements for the Northwest Gateway Campus in order to gain the necessary space for future expansion.
Burness also emphasized the importance of increasing the College’s endowment, stating that this was crucial in order to reach a need-blind admissions policy—a hallmark of any superior educational institution. Burness added this was a major financial commitment, perhaps more than any other program at the College.
He believed F&M had done a good job in the past with maintaining the annual operating budget but needed to strengthen its long-term financial underpinnings on which the future excellence of the place will depend.
Burness expressed support for the College House system, directing House dons to work on a five-year strategic plan to ensure the future of the Houses.
He also reemphasized the focus this year on the celebration of great teaching and great learning.
Several areas of improvement, directly related to the president’s strategic priorities, were also identified with regards to the College’s graduation rate and the success of graduate school applications, the impact of our environmental initiatives, and F&M’s investment in technology.
Burness closed by stating how it was an “extraordinary privilege” to serve as president of the College, jokingly adding, “This remarkable place has been around providing superior liberal arts education for 224 years and there has to be a limit to the damage I can do in one.”
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