Dear TC Community Members,

Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting hundreds of new TC students for our lively orientation program, and this week marks the start of classes  –  and the hum of a campus full with nearly 4,000 students, 214 full-time faculty members and 901 staff members who comprise our TC community.  

I want to extend a warm welcome to all, especially to the 1,500+ new students beginning their programs this semester, and nine new members of our teaching community. You are engaging in scholarship, research and learning across subject areas that feed and sustain the very fabric of our society: education, health and psychology.

The Firsts That are Ahead of Us

We often talk about Teachers College as a place of many firsts, including the first focus on urban education, psychology in education, even our place as the nation’s first education school. More recent firsts include the development of groundbreaking culturally relevant curricula, including our Black Studies as the Study of the World: A PK-12 Black Studies Curriculum for New York City Public Schools and our Latinidad curriculum, now in development. This year we also launched a new online masters program in Sustainability & Education, a first-of-its-kind Ivy League graduate program designed to equip educators, policy professionals and organizational leaders to address pressing environmental and social challenges through education.  

It gives me a great deal of hope to consider the firsts yet still ahead of us, thanks to you all. I am just as inspired by those who will try new things that may not work. Our mission is to build a smarter, healthier, more just and equitable world, and that includes trying and failing as much as it means forging successful or new paths. The TC education is focused on inquiry, on pressing forward, trying alternate directions, interpreting and adjusting. That is how we learn, and how we respond. Our current environment demands ingenuity, flexibility and action. And in the spirit of firsts, now is the time to build on our foundation of trying new things and bold experiments, as Grace Dodge did when she developed a program focused on helping new immigrants learn skills toward the goal of employment and thriving in a new world.

Intentions for the Months Ahead

As many of us set our individual intentions as the semester begins, I want to share mine: ensuring that the strength of our community, our mission and our work is such that we can, and will, stand together in the face of inevitable obstacles and challenges, wherever and whenever they arise. For me, that means the following:

• Supporting a strong, inclusive community. Building camaraderie, addressing disagreements and making sure everyone on our campus feels welcomed and included is very important to me. Last year, we launched our Advancing Community Together (ACT) initiative to create processes supporting clarity and equity, and to provide opportunities for learning across cultures together. This year, we will strengthen that program with more resources for community members, including convenings, even amidst disagreement and adversity. 
• Continued coalition building with other university leadership. As you know, higher education has come under attack in many ways: challenges to what we can teach, to our commitment to building a diverse and inclusive environment, to our research funding, to our financial aid and to our ability to support our international community. I have spent the summer in frequent communication with peer college and university leaders as we seek to build a mutual aid network, brainstorming funding solutions, and we will continue to work together as we meet the needs of our community members. Specifically, New York State leaders have been advocating for student aid sources, and TC is collaborating with the LEARN coalition to advocate for federal research aid.
• Planning for TC’s continued strength. My main responsibility is to ensure TC’s strength as a historic institution that meets the evolving needs of our students and faculty in their research and practice and our impact on the public good. Toward that end, with Board, administration and faculty leadership, I will continue to work to build an institution that can thrive in the context of our shifting external landscape.
• Open communication and transparency. Even as we face challenges, I am guided by our founding values and history, and that is an important foundation from which to lead. I am committed to frequent communications with our community members so that all are aware of institutional updates and plans, along with our responses to external environmental shifts.

As you set your intentions for this new semester, I hope you will join me in contributing to our vibrant community. I am grateful for your engagement with Teachers College, your continued commitment to our shared values and the public good and for being part of our great legacy. 

Warm regards,

Thomas Bailey
President
Teachers College, Columbia University