The first stop on our NECHE European road trip began on a fortuitous note. The flight from Boston to Paris takes a mere six hours, and despite some anxiousness about international travel these days, we simply showed our vaccination cards and passports at Logan and clambered aboard. Landing at 6 a.m. on an August Sunday…Continue readingPit Stop #25: Paris College of Art
Category: Liberal Arts colleges
Once Betty and I staggered back to Boston after 13 days on the road, I realized we had only 23 posts in the bank, but had promised 25. A problem easily fixed, of course. I decided to request a visit with President Tom O’Reilly at Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, thirty minutes from…Continue readingPit Stop #24: Pine Manor College
This afternoon was visit #21 and by now, you’d think we’d be getting a little tired of the whole road trip thing. Truth be told, we were tired and the day turned cold and rainy, with the forecast of snow overnight. It was still October for heaven’s sake! Welcome to New England, I guess. So,…Continue readingPit Stop #21: College of the Atlantic
For as long as I can remember, the trio of fine liberal arts colleges in Maine — Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby — have been in my consciousness. This morning it was my pleasure to personally visit Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Here’s a geography quiz for you: How far is Lewiston from its twin city…Continue readingPit Stop #17: Bates College
I’m about halfway through my NECHE on the Road Trip — 25 stops at colleges and universities across New England, watching, observing, listening, and recording their leaders as they talk about their institutions specifically, and the state of higher education in general. It’s been quite a fascinating and beautiful trip so far. (And yes, observant…Continue readingThe View from 800 Miles
Over the course of my career, I have been on hundreds of college campuses, including some of the most beautiful ones in the country. I’m not easy to impress with campus aesthetics, but I was admittedly gobsmacked when I was treated to a campus tour of Mount Holyoke College by its President, Sonya Stephens. Mount…Continue readingPit Stop #12: Mount Holyoke College
It’s October 22nd in Western Massachusetts, temperatures in the mid-70s, and delightfully sunny. I suppose it will get colder soon, but the glorious day allowed me to sit outside at a cafe off Route 9 with the President of Hampshire College, Ed Wingenbach. We were talking about his rather extraordinarily challenging first fifteen months on…Continue readingPit Stop #10: Hampshire College