Friends:
We want to update you on the Presidential Search Committee's progress and to thank the more than a thousand Haverfordians who shared their thoughts and aspirations for our 17th president.
The Committee, formed by the Board of Managers in February, conducted 22 listening sessions in cities across the country, and three accessible globally, involving direct conversations with more than 650 alums. Separate sessions with students, faculty, and staff, as well as online surveys, brought the total to well over 1,000 voices. Co-chairs Jim Kinsella and Charley Beever summarized what we heard from you into "Six Key Issues We Heard from the Presidential Search Listening Sessions." Fords were united by deep pride in what Haverford is and genuine urgency about what it must become. We have distilled that gathered wisdom into a prospectus, a job-description statement that has guided our engagement with candidates.
Guided by the Committee, our search firm Spencer Stuart International assembled and evaluated a deep and broad pool of nominees. Our process remains on track to have our next president assume office on July 1, 2027, with an announcement coming well in advance of that date.
Friends, we are grateful for your comments, nominations, and, above all, your clear sense of what the next president must do. If you have advice you have not yet shared, we invite you to do so.
"The world needs more Haverford," one Committee member said early on. That has been our guiding principle. We ask that you hold the entire Presidential Search Committee in the Light as we continue this important work of discernment.
With gratitude and in fellowship,
The Presidential Search Committee
