It is always astonishing to comprehend what a small world this is, and how we remain connected to each other across space and time. In 2004, Patrick Awuah, the co-founder of Ashesi University in Ghana, was awarded an honorary degree at his (and my) alma mater of Swarthmore College. At the time, I was working at the college and it was my…Continue readingPit Stop #95: Ashesi University
Category: Liberal Arts colleges
A few days before the holiday season began in earnest, I made a trip to Geneva to visit the Geneva School of Diplomacy (GSD), an institution just starting on the path to NECHE accreditation. What a charming time of year to visit! The Geneva School of Diplomacy was founded in 2003 by one career diplomat with a passion for international relations, and one…Continue readingPit Stop #93: Geneva School of Diplomacy
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit with an old friend, President Arthur Levine, on the campus of Brandeis University. Arthur, a Brandeis alum, stepped into the presidency in the Fall of 2024 –after happily retiring and promising himself he would never take on a third college presidency. I suppose such promises are destined to be broken, because when duty called, Arthur (who had remained incredibly loyal and…Continue readingPit Stop #92: Brandeis University
It’s hard not to love the founding story of Lasell University in Newton, Massachusetts. It all began with the light. Legend has it that in the spring of 1851, a group of individuals gathered together and as the sun rose in the sky, illuminating Bragdon Hill, they made the laser-like decision to found a new school on that spot. As the founders, known as boomers, put shovels into…Continue readingPit Stop #91: Lasell University
In Greece, my first stop of four visits was to The American College of Greece in Athens. Founded in 1875, ACG is the oldest American-accredited college in Europe and the largest private college in Greece. It has been accredited by NECHE since 1981 and is an independent, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, co-educational academic institution. (Whew– that’s a lot of adjectives!). This…Continue readingPit Stop #87: The American University of Greece
My second stop in Hartford was at Trinity College, a school I knew well by reputation but had never visited in person. One of my nieces attended Trinity years ago and loved the school, and I was also aware that Trinity is perennially found on the list of America’s most beautiful campuses, so I was eager to see the place for myself. First impression: that honor is well deserved! …Continue readingPit Stop #82: Trinity College
Pit Stop #77 came about as a bit of an odd twist. On Saturday, November 16, a group of my wife’s family convened on the campus of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA to watch the Crusaders host Bucknell University in football. My grand-nephew, Sam Milligan, plays for the Bucknell Bisons (and scored two touchdowns in the first half!) — a great way…Continue readingPit Stop #77: College of the Holy Cross
Founded in 1942, Fairfield University is a coeducational, comprehensive Jesuit institution thatprepares students for leadership and service in a constantly changing world. Since its inception,the University has grown from an initial class of 303 undergraduate male students, admitted tothe College of Arts and Sciences, into a vibrant coeducational university with this year’s incoming class totaling more than 1,450 first-time,…Continue readingPit Stop #75: Fairfield University
UMass Lowell is a nationally ranked research university located among the historic mill townsnorth of Boston and home to 17,000 students– offering more than 120 undergraduate and 77graduate programs across five colleges. While the pandemic slowed the university’s growth, itsenrollment has increased 50% since 2007, and the sprawling campus is evidence of that, with$1 billion invested in capital projects since 2010. …Continue readingPit Stop #74: University of Massachusetts Lowell
This is a post of a different type– not about a visit to one of NECHE’s schools, but to the two colleges where I spent my early career. My visits came within a few weeks of each other and together they produced a surprising reaction in me. I’ll start with the trip that took me back…Continue readingOlder Roads