President Daniel H. Weiss Delivers State of the College Address

The State of the College address given by President Daniel H. Weisson June 10, the opening night of Reunion 2011, could have been subtitled “Making Lafayette a Sounder, Healthier Investment.”

Five minutes into his speech in Colton Chapel, the president noted that Bloomberg Businessweek, a major source of financial information, ranked the college in the top 20 for return on investment, measured by everything from financial-aid packages to post-graduate salaries. The high ranking should please incoming first-year students, 66 percent of whom finished in the top 10 percent of their high-school class, an impressive 9 percent increase from the Class of 2014.

Students new and old should benefit from initiatives spurred by The Plan for Lafayette approved in 2007. Weiss indicated that next year the College will implement the first revision of its Common Course of Study curriculum in 17 years. Most colleges are freezing or reducing the number of teachers; Lafayette has created 18 faculty positions and plans to add 17 more, with a whopping $20 million reserved for 10 endowed professorships. According to Weiss, the “remarkable” generosity of donors is one reason why over the last two years the College has had its lowest tuition increases since the 1960s.

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