Vassar College Mission Statement
The primary mission of Vassar College, to furnish “the means of a thorough, well-proportioned, and liberal education,”1 was articulated in The First Annual Catalogue and has remained constant throughout its history. Founded in 1861 to provide young women an education equal to that once available only to young men, the College has since 1969 opened its doors to both women and men on terms of equality. Encouragement of excellence and respect for diversity are hallmarks of Vassar’s character as an institution. The independence of mind and the diverse intellectual interests of students are fostered by providing them a range of ways to meet our curricular expectations. The structure of the residential experience, in which students in all four classes live in the residence halls, obliges students to master the art of living cooperatively in a diverse community. Diversity of perspective is honored as well in the college’s system of shared governance among all the constituencies of the institution.
Vassar’s statement of academic purpose, adopted by faculty and trustees, is a definition of the qualities it seeks to develop in its students:
- Achievement of depth and range of knowledge in a single discipline or in a subject approached through several disciplines. The quality sought is not only the mastery of a body of facts, but the attainment of skill in the conduct of inquiry and the satisfaction of having gained knowledge.
- Recognition of the different kinds of knowledge and their scope and relevance to one another. It is necessary for an educated person to understand the relationships between the past, the present, and the future as well as those between people and their social and physical environment.
- Immediate experience of creative ideas, works of art, and scientific discoveries.
- Development of the powers of reason and imagination through the processes of analysis and synthesis and the use of all our human resources—to speculate, to feel, to inquire boldly, to enjoy, to change, to create, and to communicate effectively.
- Increased knowledge of oneself, a humane concern for society, and a commitment to an examined and evolving set of values.
To achieve these purposes, Vassar offers a curriculum that honors the values of liberal learning as it challenges us to lead energetic and purposeful lives. We aim, therefore, to support a faculty dedicated to teaching, scholarship, and artistic endeavor; to educate—in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences—distinguished, diverse students motivated toward intellectual risk; to promote clear thinking and articulate expression; to stimulate integrative learning through multidisciplinary studies that communicate across cultural and curricular perspectives; and to commit both students and teachers to coherent and cohesive approaches to learning.
In the largest sense, Vassar seeks to educate the individual imagination to see into the lives of others. As such, its academic mission cannot be separated from its definition as a residential community composed of diverse interests and perspectives. The differences among us are real and challenging. Contemporary life requires more than ever the skills and wisdom that liberal education has always promoted: the exercise of informed opinion and sound critical judgment; a willingness to engage in ethical debate in a spirit of reasonable compromise; the achievement of balance between emotional engagement and intellectual detachment; the actions of personal integrity and respect for others; independent thought and an attendant resistance to irresponsible authority. It is our mission to meet the challenges of a complex world responsibly, actively, and imaginatively.
1 Taken from remarks by Matthew Vassar to the first meeting of the Board of Trustees, 1861.
Goals
- To develop a well-qualified, diverse student body which, in the aggregate, reflects cultural pluralism, and to foster in those students a respect for difference and a commitment to common purposes.
- To educate our students, both broadly and deeply, in the liberal disciplines; to stimulate integrative thinking both within and across the disciplines; to strengthen and refine the powers of reason, imagination, and expression; through curricular offerings to promote gender and racial equality and a global perspective; and to nurture not only pleasure in learning but also an informed and active concern for the well-being of society.
- To extend these curricular values into the life of a residential community in which students may develop their skills by means of organized and informal activities, athletics, student government, contact with the surrounding community, and engagement with a concerned faculty.
- To maintain and support a distinguished and diverse faculty in their commitment to teaching, to scholarship, and artistic endeavor, and to other forms of professional development.
- To renew, improve, and adapt the college’s educational programs and technologies in ways that are commensurate with the most provident use of its resources.
- To continue to be a significant source of national and international leadership, producing graduates who will be distinguished both in their professional careers and in service to their communities and the world.
- To inform, involve, and engage the alumnae/i of the college in order to promote lifelong learning and to enlist their energies in the continuing development of the college.
Vassar College is committed to working toward a more just, diverse, egalitarian, and inclusive college community where all members feel valued and are fully empowered to claim a place in—and responsibility for—our shared working, living, and learning. The College affirms the inherent value of a diverse campus and curriculum reflective of our lives as members of multiple local and global communities. [From the 2003 report to the President from the Committee on Diversity and Difference, affirmed by the president and the senior officers, 2004]