Fall 2012 Issue - Colby-Sawyer College

“One of the things that makes our work particularly exciting and particularly
complex is the fact that we’re preparing students to graduate into a world that’s
changing at such a rapid rate that we don’t know what careers or grad programs
are going to be like in five or 10 years,” says Taylor, shown here in her early days
at Colby-Sawyer.
“It was a difficult year,”
Taylor recalls. At one point,
students held a sit-in in
Colgate Hall, preventing
faculty and staff from
entering the building. “It
was all very peaceful, very
appropriate and very
heartfelt,” she says. “It was
an expression of how
strongly the students felt
that they were getting a
really marvelous education
and wanted things to
remain the same.” In the
end, however, most
parties understood the
institution was doing
what it needed to do to
survive. The first class
including male students
arrived in the fall of 1990.
Taylor echoes Bliss
in noting the dramatic
technological advancements
at Colby-Sawyer in
the last three decades.
She looks forward to
related changes ahead,
including the college’s
plans for expansion.
“We’ll continue our pattern
of growth and evolution,”
she says, adding that
distance education plays a
role in current planning,
although it’s difficult to
predict exactly what it will
look like. “If anyone has
a crystal ball and can
predict the direction that
will take, that would be
amazing,” she says with a
laugh. “One of the things
that makes our work
particularly exciting and
particularly complex is the
fact that we’re preparing
students to graduate into a
world that’s changing at
such a rapid rate that we
don’t know what careers or
grad programs are going
to be like in five or 10
years. It’s a reminder that
our primary job as faculty
is to encourage and lead
the way for our students to
be lifelong learners.”
Colby-Sawyer has grown
and changed significantly
since the 1970s—professors
no longer smoke
in class—but both Bliss
and Taylor see a certain
abiding institutional
character. “The basic
The basic values
have remained
the same through
a lot of changes.
values have remained
the same through a lot
of changes,” Taylor says.
“We’re very individual
in the way we approach
our students, and that
fundamental value has
remained the same.”
Ruth Graham is a
freelance writer who lives
in New Hampshire.
Fall 2012
53