Updates from the February Meeting of the Board of Trustees
Dear faculty, staff, and students,
Last Thursday to Saturday, the Board of Trustees gathered on campus for its winter meeting. At its core, the board’s work is to create the conditions that sustain Bowdoin’s vibrant research, teaching, learning, and campus life through long-term planning, financial oversight, and shared governance, and I am writing to share highlights of discussions and decisions that shaped the weekend.
The Academic Affairs Committee, a standing committee of the board, heard about the increasingly uncertain federal research funding environment and the need for additional internal research support mechanisms. Shruti Devgan, assistant professor of sociology, and Steve Perkinson, professor of art history, gave presentations that illustrated the strength of Bowdoin’s scholar–teacher model and shared their perspectives on the ways research and teaching inform and enrich one another across disciplines.
Trustees reviewed the annual audit of the College’s financial statements and had an extended conversation related to network availability. They affirmed the importance of continuing to monitor cybersecurity and artificial intelligence risks thoughtfully and proactively. They received updates on the College’s safety and security measures, including emergency preparedness and developments related to immigration enforcement practices. In the Student Experience Committee, another committee of the board, trustees learned more about the role that campus jobs play in students’ lives.
The board endorsed moving forward with next steps in our campus planning project. The College will now work with our planning consultant, Ayers Saint Gross, to finalize the 2026 campus plan and share it with the community in early April. The campus plan is aspirational; it is meant to help guide long-term decisions about the spaces that support teaching, learning, research, and community, and its implementation will depend on the success of fundraising efforts. The plan identifies campus facility needs over the next decade and reflects our commitment to working toward meeting those needs thoughtfully and responsibly over time. To identify those needs, the campus planning effort, which began in September 2024, has relied on the engagement of students, faculty, and staff with Ayers Saint Gross. I am grateful for everyone’s contributions to these conversations.
At Friday’s plenary session—a meeting of the full board, senior officers, and faculty and student representatives—trustees heard committee reports, discussed recent developments across campus, and affirmed several academic and administrative actions.
In that session, trustees voted to promote seven members of our faculty to the rank of associate professor with tenure, effective July 1, 2026. This well-deserved accomplishment reflects years of dedicated teaching, scholarship, and service. Please join me in congratulating the following faculty members: Martin Abel (Department of Economics), Ireri Chávez-Bárcenas (Department of Music), Javier Cikota (Department of History), Fernando Nascimento (Digital and Computational Studies Program), Samia Rahimtoola (Department of English), Mary Rogalski (Department of Biology, Environmental Studies Program), and Maron Sorenson (Department of Government and Legal Studies).
Trustees recognized individuals for their remarkable achievements. They approved the recipients of the 2026 honorary degrees, The Bowdoin Prize, and the 2026 Common Good Award. These recipients are chosen through a careful and often multiyear process of nomination and reflection steered by the board’s Subcommittee on Honors. We look forward to sharing more about our honorands with the community in the coming weeks. The board also marked the passing of trustee emeritus Donald R. Kurtz ’52, H’05, and President Emeritus Robert H. Edwards, H’01, honoring the enduring contributions each made to Bowdoin.
In my first email summarizing a board meeting in October, I shared that we have organized efforts over the past year to expand opportunities for trustees to interact with members of the campus community. As part of the weekend, we continued these efforts to create meaningful opportunities for trustees to spend time with members of the campus community in a range of settings. A particular highlight was a conversation over lunch with members of Bowdoin Student Government. On Friday evening, trustees attended the men’s ice hockey and men’s basketball games, sharing in the energy of campus life and cheering on our teams.
I am grateful to our trustees for their thoughtful stewardship and commitment to the College, and to the many whose planning, coordination, and care made the weekend possible.
All my best,
Last Thursday to Saturday, the Board of Trustees gathered on campus for its winter meeting. At its core, the board’s work is to create the conditions that sustain Bowdoin’s vibrant research, teaching, learning, and campus life through long-term planning, financial oversight, and shared governance, and I am writing to share highlights of discussions and decisions that shaped the weekend.
The Academic Affairs Committee, a standing committee of the board, heard about the increasingly uncertain federal research funding environment and the need for additional internal research support mechanisms. Shruti Devgan, assistant professor of sociology, and Steve Perkinson, professor of art history, gave presentations that illustrated the strength of Bowdoin’s scholar–teacher model and shared their perspectives on the ways research and teaching inform and enrich one another across disciplines.
Trustees reviewed the annual audit of the College’s financial statements and had an extended conversation related to network availability. They affirmed the importance of continuing to monitor cybersecurity and artificial intelligence risks thoughtfully and proactively. They received updates on the College’s safety and security measures, including emergency preparedness and developments related to immigration enforcement practices. In the Student Experience Committee, another committee of the board, trustees learned more about the role that campus jobs play in students’ lives.
The board endorsed moving forward with next steps in our campus planning project. The College will now work with our planning consultant, Ayers Saint Gross, to finalize the 2026 campus plan and share it with the community in early April. The campus plan is aspirational; it is meant to help guide long-term decisions about the spaces that support teaching, learning, research, and community, and its implementation will depend on the success of fundraising efforts. The plan identifies campus facility needs over the next decade and reflects our commitment to working toward meeting those needs thoughtfully and responsibly over time. To identify those needs, the campus planning effort, which began in September 2024, has relied on the engagement of students, faculty, and staff with Ayers Saint Gross. I am grateful for everyone’s contributions to these conversations.
At Friday’s plenary session—a meeting of the full board, senior officers, and faculty and student representatives—trustees heard committee reports, discussed recent developments across campus, and affirmed several academic and administrative actions.
In that session, trustees voted to promote seven members of our faculty to the rank of associate professor with tenure, effective July 1, 2026. This well-deserved accomplishment reflects years of dedicated teaching, scholarship, and service. Please join me in congratulating the following faculty members: Martin Abel (Department of Economics), Ireri Chávez-Bárcenas (Department of Music), Javier Cikota (Department of History), Fernando Nascimento (Digital and Computational Studies Program), Samia Rahimtoola (Department of English), Mary Rogalski (Department of Biology, Environmental Studies Program), and Maron Sorenson (Department of Government and Legal Studies).
Trustees recognized individuals for their remarkable achievements. They approved the recipients of the 2026 honorary degrees, The Bowdoin Prize, and the 2026 Common Good Award. These recipients are chosen through a careful and often multiyear process of nomination and reflection steered by the board’s Subcommittee on Honors. We look forward to sharing more about our honorands with the community in the coming weeks. The board also marked the passing of trustee emeritus Donald R. Kurtz ’52, H’05, and President Emeritus Robert H. Edwards, H’01, honoring the enduring contributions each made to Bowdoin.
In my first email summarizing a board meeting in October, I shared that we have organized efforts over the past year to expand opportunities for trustees to interact with members of the campus community. As part of the weekend, we continued these efforts to create meaningful opportunities for trustees to spend time with members of the campus community in a range of settings. A particular highlight was a conversation over lunch with members of Bowdoin Student Government. On Friday evening, trustees attended the men’s ice hockey and men’s basketball games, sharing in the energy of campus life and cheering on our teams.
I am grateful to our trustees for their thoughtful stewardship and commitment to the College, and to the many whose planning, coordination, and care made the weekend possible.
All my best,
Safa
President
President
Professor of Psychology