Dear Members of the TC Community,

Next week, a series of ceremonies will take place celebrating and recognizing the achievements of some 2,200 students who are completing their TC degrees. These events are the culmination of the significant accomplishments of our graduates, and they also reflect the leadership and support of our entire community: our faculty, who have educated and mentored; the staff, who have kept things running smoothly; and students who have been peers and colleagues, focused on learning. As we reach the semester’s finish line, I want to express appreciation to our vibrant and engaged community, which enables us all to accomplish our goals and impact the public good. 

Whether you are completing a degree, a semester, or looking forward to some rest and relaxation during the traditionally slower summer months, I want to acknowledge once again the many challenges our community members have faced this year, particularly over the spring semester. I am mindful that many have felt enormous stress in the face of government funding cuts, concerns about the status of visas, and challenges to our TC values, including how and what we teach — in addition to the continued war between Israel and Gaza and its painful effect on members of our TC community. These have been trying times, and I will continue to engage with many constituents as we work to preserve TC financially, academically, with integrity and in recognition of our history and mission.

Still, against this challenging backdrop, we have accomplished much together: 

• Faculty and students have continued their impressive research and scholarship, with many publications and much recognition, leadership and community engagement and media coverage.
• We have secured new gifts and grants, including for student relief, multiple named scholarships for doctoral and masters students, as well as support for student programming and scholarly research. A new gift I am particularly grateful TC received is in honor and memory of TC’s late Mun Tsang, Professor Emeritus of Economics & Education Policy.
• Through the combined efforts of our Advancing Community Together (ACT) initiative, our Office of International Students and Scholars, Department of Student Affairs, Office of Public Safety and others, we have worked to support our students, bring community members together and provide resources and guidance in the face of uncertainty.
• Thanks to the outreach of our faculty and the Division of Enrollment & Student Success, we expect to welcome more than 300 new students on our campus this summer, with another 1,500 expected to start their academic programs this fall.
• Next month, we will celebrate the employment milestones of 65 staff members, from 10 years all the way to 60. The combination of commitment and institutional history makes us all better, and I’m grateful.

Most of all, I have appreciated the joy I’ve seen on campus over the last weeks, as I had the pleasure of seeing final poster sessions of our students, ceramicists displaying their wares in Zankel, a history of our art education program in the Macy Gallery, a celebration of all things Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics in this year’s STEAMnasium, a variety of concerts in Milbank — and throughout, the sounds of celebration wafting into the hallways from many end-of-year parties.

Over the course of this semester, you’ve heard me encourage you many times to continue your work, and you have done that. 

I’m grateful to you all.

With best wishes,

Thomas Bailey
President
Teachers College, Columbia University