Students, faculty, staff, and administrators from nearly a dozen institutions recently gathered to explore questions about the future of belonging and mattering in higher education. They tackled topics ranging from ancestral intelligence to AI.
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of tech pioneer Grace Hopper’s arrival on the Vassar campus, Vassar students, faculty, alums, and others in the tech field gathered at The Vassar Institute for the Liberal Arts on April 10, 2025, trading stories about the groundbreaking work she had done to shepherd the world into the modern computer age.
Vassar presented the findings from its nearly three years of study into why some colleges and universities—even those with limited resources—graduate their students at a far higher rate than others. The research was presented in the context of a convening of educators from a dozen institutions, foundation leaders, and policy makers at The Vassar Institute for the Liberal Arts.
Why do some colleges and universities—even those with limited resources—achieve high graduation rates while others do not? Over the past three years, several Vassar administrators, a faculty member, and a student have been engaged in research designed to help answer this question. They will present their findings and continue this discussion at a symposium on April 29 at The Vassar Institute for the Liberal Arts. Representatives from a dozen colleges, foundation leaders, and policy makers are expected to attend.
Students, faculty, administrators and alums gathered at the Institute for the Liberal Arts on March 11 and 12 to talk about paths—most of them non-linear—to successful entrepreneurial endeavors.
Local college officials met for three days of workshops with representatives of local school districts, local, government and not-for-profit-agencies to develop strategies to improve opportunities for Poughkeepsie public school students.
Vassar Sustainability Director Kenneth Foster recently led a group of town and county officials on a tour of The Vassar Institute for the Liberal Arts to show them the building’s state-of-the-art energy conservation systems.
Seven years in the making, The Vassar Institute for the Liberal Arts officially opened on the weekend of October 25, 2024 with a ribbon cutting ceremony, as well as stimulating speakers and panels that addressed the world of work and the continuing relevance of the liberal arts in tackling global issues.
