Clayton Rose announced as 15th president of the College

Emails: Students who dressed as Native Americans to face disciplinary action

Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster sent an all-campus email this evening announcing that the College will take disciplinary action against students who dressed up as Native Americans at an off-campus party before Thanksgiving. Student groups and faculty have made a concerted effort to educate students about cultural appropriation in the past year. Last May students organized a teach-in that specifically addressed concerns about the appropriation of Native American attire. The Orient will run a full story when it returns to press in Janaury.
Dear Members of the Bowdoin Community, I write to reinforce the principles of our College and to express my personal frustration and my disapproval of harmful behavior by students who should know better. Last month, just before Thanksgiving, students living at 83 1/2 Harpswell Road—the so-called “Crack House” rented by some members of the men’s lacrosse team—hosted a party known as “Cracksgiving,” for which students were encouraged to dress up as Pilgrims and Native Americans. The invitation urged students to attend “wearing your finest Thanksgiving attire.” Fourteen of the lacrosse team’s fifty or so members went forward with costumes, even after some of the team’s other members actively tried to talk them out of it. For some, wearing a headdress and “war paint” on one’s face and bare chest is just harmless fun. For others, it is cultural appropriation that demonstrates poor judgment and insensitivity. And for others still, it is a racist act that perpetuates prejudice, promotes hurtful stereotypes, and demeans others. Especially disturbing is that the hosts of this event knew—or should have known—that their actions would offend; yet they went ahead with their plans nonetheless. Unfortunately, none of this is new. Last year, there was a similar party that prompted members of our faculty and the Native American Student Association to create programming aimed at raising awareness about cultural appropriation and why it is unwelcome at Bowdoin. The event was covered in the Bowdoin Orient. And just a few weeks ago, in anticipation of Halloween and “Cracksgiving,” student leaders held a “Cultural Appropriation Fashion Show” hoping to educate students about inappropriate costumes. Many got the point and decided not to wear costumes to “Cracksgiving.” But others, including some of the party hosts who knew about and/or attended these educational efforts, chose to willfully ignore the message. So, what can we do when we educate about prejudice, ignorance, and insensitivity but continue to have people who engage in behavior that is hurtful and demeaning to others? One thing we can do is to say loudly, clearly, and repeatedly that this behavior is not okay. Dean Amaez and I have had several conversations with leaders of the men’s lacrosse team, and the team and their coach have discussed this situation together. Members of the team now recognize that these actions were hurtful, and they have decided that the tradition of “Cracksgiving” has run its course. While I’m glad the team has begun productive conversations about this matter, we must continue to educate about these issues and the impact this behavior has on members of our community. We will take disciplinary action against those who recently dressed in Native American attire since this is “conduct unbecoming of a Bowdoin student.” And we will not tolerate attempts to silence the substantial ongoing student leadership and dialogue on these issues through malicious, personal attacks posted anonymously on Yik Yak and elsewhere—posts that cannot be described as anything other than cowardly. We are, to put it bluntly, better than that. The message must be clear: Bowdoin will not condone or tolerate behavior that divides our community and denigrates others, nor will we accept a plea of ignorance as license to avoid accountability. At this moment in America, as tensions run high about race, class, and inequality, we must continue to learn from one another, to think before we act, and to take responsibility for our actions and our mistakes. Sincerely, Tim FosterDean of Student Affairs

Emails: President Rose responds to reactions to "tequila" party

President Clayton Rose sent an email to the Bowdoin community discussing the "tequila" party and subsequent reactions, both on campus and off. The full text of the email is below:
To the Bowdoin community:
There is currently commentary in the press and social media about a “tequila party” on campus and the reactions of students and the administration. Some aspects of what has been reported have been accurate, others have not, and some facts and context are missing. Because of our legal obligation to protect student confidentiality, I cannot comment specifically on this party, although I will say that the issues we are dealing with are not really about hats or drinks. I do want to share with you how I consider these situations.
I understand that this issue and the standards to which we hold our community members creates debate here and in society more broadly, and I know there are differing reactions and views. I welcome thoughtful engagement on these issues. More on this later.Context matters, and over the last year or two we have had several incidents where students have engaged in racial and ethnic stereotyping—a violation of our Social Code—and there has been much discussion within our community about these incidents, as well as action taken by the administration. Like our Honor Code and rules against hazing, our Social Code creates a set of standards that reinforce and embody our values, and that directly serve our intellectual mission, which importantly includes engaging with uncomfortable, difficult, and even offensive ideas. It is also important to note that the language of our Social Code is quite similar to the language found in codes of conduct for federal and state governments, as well as for most private sector employers. We are a place with a history and culture of tolerance, respect, and warmth. Over the decades, our thinking and standards have evolved while remaining true to our values. Examples include opening the College to those of any religious faith, making Bowdoin a place where gender does not define who attends or teaches here, and recognizing that—notwithstanding a powerful and positive legacy—the time for fraternities at Bowdoin had passed. These were not easy moments. They caused debate, and each required that we confront and change attitudes and behaviors. As we have evolved Bowdoin to stay true to our values, we have become a better, more vibrant college and community.
Bowdoin’s essential mission is to teach, learn, and create knowledge, and in doing so to prepare our students for lives of leadership and for making a difference. This requires that our students arrive at Bowdoin ready to be transformed and to evolve their intellect and character through their four years on campus. To deliver on our mission, we must engage in “full-throated intellectual discourse,” including with challenging and disturbing ideas. As I said in my inaugural address, we must do this because:
It is only through this engagement with the most uncomfortable and difficult ideas that we can understand ourselves, our history, and understand the issues and challenges embedded in the hardest, fiercest problems we face today—natural, social, political, and economic. Addressing and confronting these problems requires individuals who are unafraid, who have honed their intellectual skills and are prepared to engage in the debate. If we are to tackle these tough problems, we must be willing to engage with those we disagree with in the strongest terms possible, whose ideas may offend us, and where we may have a deep emotional reaction. We cannot respond by turning away; rather, we need to confront and dig in, figure out what is flawed, incomplete, or wrong. We solve the hardest problems and defeat bad ideas not by withdrawing, but with well-honed logic, data, analysis, and rhetoric.
If we are to serve this mission then every member of our community, every one of our students, must know themselves to be an equal member. Anything less diminishes their ability to participate, to become educated, and it diminishes their ability to add to the learning and creation of knowledge for others. Social gatherings on our campus are generally not connected to our intellectual mission and the exchange of ideas. They are meant for fun, which is as it should be. However, in the context of the serious campus discourse about race, ethnicity, and identity that has been ongoing this year, actions in these social settings that caricature groups, that simplify a culture to some coarse or crude sense of its reality, or that use tokens of discrimination with deep and long-standing meaning, can have a profound effect on those in our community who identify as part of these groups, and can diminish their ability to engage academically. That’s when our values and our mission suffer.
Finally, as I noted above, I welcome open and thoughtful discussion on any number of questions related to this issue, including what constitutes stereotyping, the role race plays in determining opportunities and outcomes in our society, the definition of “political correctness,” the nature of a community and what it might owe its members, and how and why a community such as ours evolves its values. These are worthy topics for debate and learning.
I welcome your thoughts.
Clayton

Emails

Clayton Rose announced as 15th president of the College

January 26, 2015

Clayton S. Rose, Ph.D., a professor at Harvard Business School, will be the 15th president of the College, according to a community-wide email from Chair of the Bowdoin College Board of Trustees Deborah Jensen Barker ’80. Students will have the opportunity to meet President Rose this afternoon at 3 p.m. in Morrell Lounge. Read the full text of Barker's email below:

Dear members of the Bowdoin community,

It is my privilege to report to you that following a unanimous vote of approval this morning by the Board of Trustees, Clayton S. Rose, Ph.D., has been elected president of Bowdoin College, effective July 1, 2015.

Clayton, who earned his doctorate in sociology with distinction at the University of Pennsylvania, is currently a professor at the Harvard Business School. I join my colleagues on the search committee and on the Board who believe he is the ideal person to lead Bowdoin into the future. He is immensely qualified academically, combining a passion for the liberal arts and a dedication to teaching and learning with extensive leadership experience. He’s going to be terrific as Bowdoin’s next president.

Clayton was the unanimous choice of a truly extraordinary Presidential Search Committee led tirelessly by Jes Staley ’79, P’11, to whom I and the entire Bowdoin community owe a great deal of thanks. The search committee received many, many nominations, suggestions, and ideas and carefully considered the qualifications of a truly impressive pool of potential leaders for Bowdoin. In the end, Clayton Rose was the clear choice, and all of us involved in this process couldn’t be more excited about his selection.

I invite you to read the official announcement about Clayton’s appointment appended below, and to visit the Bowdoin website for more information on the search.

I also invite you to gather this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. in the Morrell Lounge of the David Saul Smith Union with me, President Mills, Jes Staley, and Clayton and Julianne Rose, as we introduce Clayton to the campus community.

The entire Bowdoin community—faculty, students, staff, alumni, trustees, and friends of the College—is responsible for the extraordinary success of this search. Because of you, Bowdoin is an incomparable institution that attracts the very best, and in Clayton Rose, we have found the very best leader for our future. My sincere thanks to each of you and especially to President Mills for his leadership, his unrivaled energy, and his total and unwavering dedication to Bowdoin.

Sincerely,

Deborah Jensen Barker ’80, P’16
Chair, Bowdoin College Board of Trustees

CLAYTON S. ROSE TO BECOME THE 15TH PRESIDENT OF BOWDOIN COLLEGE

BRUNSWICK, Maine — Clayton S. Rose, Ph.D., of Brookline, Mass., has been elected president of Bowdoin College, effective July 1, 2015. The announcement was made today by Bowdoin Board of Trustees Chair Deborah Jensen Barker (Class of 1980) following the unanimous and enthusiastic recommendation by an 18-member Presidential Search Committee and a unanimous vote of approval this morning by Bowdoin’s Board of Trustees. Rose will become the fifteenth president of the 221-year old college.

Rose, 56, is currently a member of the faculty at the Harvard Business School (HBS) who teaches and writes on the responsibilities of leadership and managerial values. He succeeds Barry Mills, who will step down June 30, 2015, after a highly successful presidency spanning fourteen years.

“Clayton Rose is the ideal person to lead Bowdoin into the future,” said Barker. “He is immensely qualified academically, combining a passion for the liberal arts and a dedication to teaching and learning with extensive leadership experience. He’s going to be terrific as Bowdoin’s next president.”

Rose was selected for the Bowdoin presidency following an eight-month international search conducted by a committee comprising Bowdoin trustees (several of whom are also current Bowdoin parents); faculty, students, administrative and support staff; and a representative from Bowdoin’s Alumni Council. Current Bowdoin Trustee James E. Staley, a member of the Class of 1979, chaired the effort.

“Our search committee was a marvelously dedicated and eclectic group that worked hard and got along really well,” said Staley. “That said, with faculty, students, staff, alumni, trustees and parents, we never had a problem finding issues where people disagreed or had different points of view. We met many great candidates but in the end, the committee just rallied around Clayton because of his remarkable record of success throughout a varied career, his passion and vision for the liberal arts, and his ability to be embraced by very different communities.”

Rose earned his undergraduate degree (1980) and M.B.A. (1981) at the University of Chicago. In 2003, following a highly successful 20-year leadership and management career in finance, he enrolled in the doctoral program in sociology at the University of Pennsylvania to study issues of race in America, earning his master’s degree in 2005 and his Ph.D. with distinction in 2007.

He joined the faculty at HBS in 2007 and was named professor of management practice in 2009. He currently teaches an elective course that explores business engagement with society’s larger problems (“Reimagining Capitalism”), and has taught several others, including the required course on ethics (“Leadership and Corporate Responsibility”) and an elective titled “The Moral Leader.” He has also been engaged administratively at HBS, dealing with issues of community values and standards (including matters related to Title IX) and the school’s honor code, and has been part of a faculty group advising on improving the experience of women faculty and students at HBS. He has received awards at HBS for innovation in teaching and for service to the community.

He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the nation’s largest private supporter of academic biomedical research, having joined in 2009. He previously served on the board of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

Rose is a native of San Rafael, Calif. His wife of 32 years, Julianne H. Rose, originally from Rosemont, Penn., earned her undergraduate degree in biology magna cum laude at Boston College and her M.B.A. at the University of Chicago. She began her career in finance, held elected office at the municipal level for many years, and is preparing to launch a business in the summer of 2015.

“Bowdoin is an exceptional liberal arts college, with a rich history, distinct set of values, and a gifted, engaged and devoted group of faculty, students, staff and alumni,” said President-elect Rose. “I am honored and excited by the opportunity to lead this special institution, and Julianne and I are very much looking forward to becoming part of the Bowdoin and Brunswick communities.”

Members of the Bowdoin community, including outgoing President Barry Mills and those who served on the Presidential Search Committee, expressed their enthusiasm for the appointment.

“This is a terrific choice for Bowdoin,” said Mills. “Members of the search committee, led with great dedication for the College by Jes Staley, faced very high expectations from a Bowdoin community that always demands excellence. The committee has done impressive work. Clayton Rose is a wonderful person and an accomplished leader. He will be a great fit for Bowdoin and I am confident that he will lead the College into a very bright future.”

Faculty representatives to the search committee said Rose’s teaching experience will be invaluable in helping him understand the needs of Bowdoin’s faculty.

“Clayton’s thoughtfulness, ability to listen, and desire to engage with the issues that matter most to faculty will make him an effective partner,” said Bowdoin Professor of Government and search committee member Paul Franco. “Also, as someone who has moved from the corporate world to academia and is convinced that liberal education is the one thing needed in our increasingly utilitarian universe, Clayton will be a powerful spokesperson for the value of the liberal arts.”

“Clayton has a deep knowledge of what we do at every level, from students and staff to faculty and trustees,” said search committee member Tess Chakkalakal, associate professor of Africana Studies and of English and program director of Africana Studies. “He also has a thorough understanding of the complex challenges, both financial and political, that liberal arts colleges face today. He is a reflective person who will consider multiple perspectives before taking action. He also has a true commitment to transparency and openness, which I believe will be appreciated by the faculty. Most importantly, he will listen to their concerns and be attentive to the differences among members of the faculty.”

“Clayton Rose is quite thoughtful with a great sense of integrity and a passion for social justice,” said Assistant Professor of Biology and search committee member Jack Bateman. “He beautifully articulates the value of a liberal arts education, yet he understands the pressures facing the College now and in the future. Of all of the amazing individuals that the committee considered, in the end it was clear that Clayton Rose is the right choice to be our next president.”

Student representative to the Presidential Search Committee Dustin Biron ’15 predicted that Rose “will be a strong presence in the life of the College,” while fellow student representative Oriana Farnham ’15 said she was impressed with Rose’s willingness to listen and his ability to ask thoughtful questions.

“I was convinced that Clayton Rose is the right person to lead Bowdoin when we had a conversation about the Women’s Resource Center over lunch,” said Farnham. “He asked me many thoughtful questions about what issues and programs Bowdoin women care about. His questions helped me frame the salient issues on campus in a way I hadn’t thought about before, and I could tell that he was sincerely curious about and invested in student life and our campus culture. I think he will relate to students by finding out what they care about. He will find out by asking them directly and respectfully, and he won’t be afraid to challenge them a little bit by asking even more questions. I think he will learn from Bowdoin students, and we will learn from him, too. I’m really excited by that prospect.”

Rose’s current and former colleagues echoed the enthusiasm of search committee members and trustees.

“Clayton Rose has a powerful commitment to the liberal arts and to the value of that kind of education, no matter what a person goes on to do,” said Dr. Hanna Gray, the former president of The University of Chicago and the Harry Pratt Judson Distinguished Service Professor Emerita of History at Chicago, who has known Rose since he was an undergraduate and has served with him on the HHMI board. “He sees the liberal arts as a way of enlarging and enriching the ways in which people can understand, help interpret, and help make a difference in life, whether it’s the life of the mind or the life of the world.”
Clayton is an exceptional person,” said Sir Paul Nurse, Nobel Laureate in medicine, president of The Royal Society, fellow HHMI board member, and former president of Rockefeller University. “He has a very quick and perceptive mind, which allows him to get to the crux of matters quickly and to analyze them very effectively. He also understands people, their motivations, their strengths and their weaknesses. As a leader, he isn’t locked on ‘the transmit button.’ He listens, and that is particularly important in the leadership of an academic institution. He is an articulate, cultured and charming man with wide interests and breadth, and I believe he will be very effective as president of Bowdoin College.”

In 2001, at the time of his decision to leave the world of finance to pursue his academic interests, Rose was vice chairman and chief operating officer at J.P. Morgan, the investment bank created in 2000 when J.P. Morgan & Co. merged with the Chase Manhattan Corporation. He previously served as head of global investment banking and head of global equities, among other positions at J.P. Morgan & Co.

Clayton and Julianne Rose have two sons: Garett, a graduate of The University of Chicago and the University of Chicago Law School; and Jordan, a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Business School. Garett and his wife, Meredith, reside in Washington, D.C., and Jordan lives in New York City.

Rose will be joining Bowdoin as the College prepares to begin its 214th academic year. Founded in 1794 when Maine was still part of Massachusetts, Bowdoin is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious liberal arts colleges. Today, Bowdoin enrolls approximately 1,800 students from across America and around the world who are admitted for their accomplishments and promise without regard for their financial circumstances. Approximately 45 percent of Bowdoin students receive need-based financial aid. Loans are not required, and the average financial aid grant is nearly $40,000 a year. Admission to Bowdoin is highly competitive. In 2014 the College received nearly 7,000 applications for about 500 spots in the Class of 2018. Bowdoin students study with highly accomplished and dedicated faculty in small classes (9:1 student/faculty ratio) and in world-class facilities that include modern and technologically advanced classrooms and laboratories, coastal research stations, a state-of-the art recital hall, two theaters, a renowned art museum, and a new facility for art and dance. With 31 varsity sports, many club teams, a well-equipped fitness center, and food that is consistently considered to be among the very best at any college or university in America, Bowdoin encourages health, fitness, teamwork, and competition. A Bowdoin liberal arts education and residential life experience instill principled leadership, lifelong learning, and service to the common good.

Notable Bowdoin alumni include:

Franklin Pierce (14th U.S. president)
Nathaniel Hawthorne (writer)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (poet)
John Brown Russwurm (abolitionist and editor)
Oliver Otis Howard (Civil War leader)
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (Civil War leader)
Robert E. Peary (Arctic explorer)
Alfred Kinsey (sex researcher)
Peter Buck (physicist; co-founder, Subway Restaurants)
Thomas R. Pickering (U.S. ambassador and diplomat)
George J. Mitchell (U.S. Senator and peacemaker)
Leon Gorman (chairman, L.L. Bean)
William S. Cohen (U.S. Sen. and Sec’y of Defense)
Kenneth I. Chenault (chairman and CEO, American Express)
Geoffrey Canada (educator and author)
Stanley F. Druckenmiller (investor and philanthropist)
Christopher Hill (U.S. ambassador and diplomat)
Cynthia McFadden (NBC News)
Joan Benoit Samuelson (Olympic champion)
Reed Hastings (founder and CEO, Netflix)

For more information about the appointment of Clayton Rose and Bowdoin College, visit bowdoin.edu.

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