The Lawrentian would like to welcome Dr. Jill Beck as Lawrence University’s 15th president. We are confident in the search committee’s decision and the Board of Trustee’s final decision to bring Dr. Beck to Lawrence. She certainly appears to be well qualified for this position, and she will certainly bringmany fine qualities to this institution. The members of the Lawrentian staff who have had the opportunity to interact with Dr. Beck personally have noted her genuine concern for students, which is, perhaps, one of the most important qualities a new president must possess.
Along with this welcome, we would like to issue a challenge to Dr. Beck. Lawrence has seen many changes over the past few years under President Warch’s administration. This year, some of these changes materialized seemingly without student input, which has led many students to question whether the administration has had the students’ wellbeing truly at heart.
Our challenge to you, Dr. Beck, is to always value and hold Lawrence’s students’ voices as a necessary and integral aspect of any decision that is made affecting students. The most important lesson administrators and teachers can teach their students is the value of their voices, the weight these voices can carry, and the changes these voices can affect. We hope that you will always promote this aspect of learning during your administration through the decisions you make.
We are absolutely confident and incredibly excited about your experience and qualifications regarding fundraising and bridging the arts and the sciences. We most certainly look forward to seeing the implementation of your expertise at Lawrence.