1972 Institute for the Liberal Arts Program Fund
The Vassar Institute for the Liberal Arts is an exciting new project that will carry Matthew Vassar’s vision into the 21st century by serving as a public classroom for the College that bears his name and the academic community.
Based in a new building down the hill from the venerable Alumnae House, the Institute will serve as a forum for intellectual engagement through programming that ranges from established modes of academic inquiry to path-breaking collaborations among Vassar, its region, and the globe. These will include formal academic conferences that attract top intellectual expertise from around the world, as well as less formally structured gatherings that forge new collaborations across disciplines and among highly disparate groups—faculty, thought leaders, students, community organizations and agencies, and alums to name but a few.
“It is quite certain that if we only follow on in the old beaten paths, we will make no progress… My motto is progress.” – Matthew Vassar
The Vassar Institute for the Liberal Arts uniquely positions the College to assert its historic leadership role by demonstrating the relevance and social benefit of liberal arts education worldwide, while uncovering new ideas and promoting the intergroup dialogue so essential to addressing the challenges of today’s world through engaged pluralism. Topics of convenings at the Institute will vary widely. A multidisciplinary perspective could be brought to bear on the effect of trauma on the human brain. The liberal arts could be incorporated into discussions about social justice, such as a conversation about ensuring equity for residents of older industrial cities such as Poughkeepsie as those cities become the focus of intensive new development. Other promising possibilities include lifelong learning opportunities for Vassar alums. In support of this exciting initiative and in honor of its 50th reunion, we are establishing The Class of 1972 Institute for the Liberal Arts Program Fund.
This permanent fund will be invested in the College’s endowment, with the income earned from it allocated to support programming at the Institute. Expenditures from the endowment income shall include, but not be limited to, lectures, symposia, classes, and intellectual or academic offerings for the Vassar community, and the operational support to enable such events. The Fund will be a permanent recognition of the generosity of the forward-thinking alums of the Vassar class of 1972.