Board of Trustees Annual May Meeting Highlights
The Lewis & Clark Board of Trustees held their annual May meeting on May 5-6. It was the first on-campus meeting of the board since before the pandemic.
The highlight of the meetings was the board’s expressions of gratitude to Wim and Alice Wiewel for their five years of dedicated service to Lewis & Clark. The board appointed President Wiewel as president emeritus, effective July 1, and announced the establishment of an endowed scholarship in his name. The board also held a special session with incoming president Robin Holmes-Sullivan, further ensuring a smooth transition of leadership this summer.
The Academic Affairs Committee engaged in an in-depth conversation regarding the college’s programming related to the environment and sustainability. The presentation from faculty and staff from across the institution included details about the interdisciplinary approach to environmental issues throughout CAS, the Environmental Studies major, the new Earth System Sciences minor, the Ecotherapies Certificate program at the graduate school, the law school’s JD and masters degree programs in environmental, natural resources, and energy law, and the work of the Sustainability Council to develop new programing and enhance existing coursework to advance sustainability-related curriculum between and across the three schools. The committee expressed its strong interest in continued focus on this area of strength at LC. The committee also heard from the marketing and CAS admissions team about their highly effective partnership and the success of their multichannel recruitment strategies.
The Campus Life Committee heard presentations on the work of the Office of Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement and on emergency planning and response. The Finance Committee heard an update regarding FY22 budget performance and approved the FY23 operating budget. The Institutional Advancement Committee reviewed campaign performance and discussed plans for future philanthropy as the current campaign gets nearer to its $155 million goal.
At the plenary meeting, in addition to approving the operating budget, the board also approved the appointment of CAS psychology faculty member Amelia Wilcox to faculty emerita status, and adopted a resolution of tribute to life trustee Mary Maletis, who served on the board from 1972 to 1981, and who passed away in March.
The board’s next meeting will be October 19-20, and will be followed by the inauguration of Robin Holmes-Sullivan as Lewis & Clark’s 26th president on October 21, 2022.
