President Devereaux sets sights on Goucher's goals for the upcoming year

Dear Goucher Community:

As I reflect on my first year at Goucher as president, I am immensely proud of all the progress we have made. We have recruited six new leaders to fill key positions at the college, added eight new majors, and launched an innovative new 4+1 dual-degree program with Johns Hopkins University.

Perhaps more importantly, I am in awe of our community, and the faculty and staff who quickly pivoted to teach online this spring and ensured our students stayed on track to graduate on time. I am proud of our students for using their voices to engage in a broader conversation to confront systemic racism in our society, including at Goucher. I am proud of our alumnae/i and parents who, even when facing their own personal and professional concerns around coronavirus, stepped forward and donated to help our most vulnerable students.

The momentum of these successes fuels us, and I am enthusiastic to be leading our community during this time of change and progress.

Thank you for being a valued member of our community. We appreciate your support.

This year is anything but typical, and your help is vital if we are to achieve our ambitious but critical fundraising goal of $2 million for the Greater Goucher Fund (GGF) this year. Meeting our goal will ensure we have the funds to support our response to this pandemic and address the college’s core priorities. This includes financial aid and scholarships, faculty professional development, and staff support—all of which are so crucial for us to continue to educate the next generation of problem solvers and change agents.

We are refocusing the [UNDAUNTED] campaign to invest the resources in our people and their work. 

Thanks to the generosity of our alumnae/i, we have transformed our campus over the past decade. With over $200 million in investments in renovating, relocating, and constructing new buildings since 2009, these capital projects have been essential in creating the living-learning spaces so necessary for our students to succeed in today’s world. They have also helped Goucher College earn the distinction of being named a top innovative college by U.S. News & World Report. And, as we build upon our history of 135 years of excellence in undergraduate science education, we are redoubling our efforts to raise funds for our next capital project: our new Science Research Center.

However, in the era of the coronavirus pandemic and online education, our college transcends new buildings; it is empowered and sustained by committed individuals and relationships. We must continue to attract and retain world-class faculty through endowed professorships, sponsor innovative faculty-led research projects, and support our students with the academic advising, counseling, and career preparation needed to launch careers or pursue graduate education.

We are committed to a rigorous, top-quality education accessible to all.

The college is committed to creating opportunities regardless of race or income. We have made significant progress in this area in the past decade. This past year, 38% of our incoming class self-identified as students of color—Black, Latinx, and Asian American—and almost 40% came from low-income households. Moreover, 27% of our students are the first in their families ever to attend college. 

But we need to do more. Goucher has always been committed to social justice. We need to confront systemic racism not only in America but also on our campus. We need to lead the way in making Goucher a place where all community members feel safe, heard, and represented. 

To attract the best and brightest students, regardless of ability to pay, we need to be prepared to offer the merit scholarships and financial aid they need. Your support is vital in enabling Goucher College to increase the number of paid summer internships and faculty-led research opportunities, underwrite our study abroad programs, and, most of all, offer more scholarship support for our students.

Our new programs will prepare our students for the careers of tomorrow.

Over the past two years, we have introduced eight new majors, each rooted in the liberal arts and focused on preparing students for success in the global economy. We’ve built upon our historical strengths in education, the arts, and humanities to introduce innovative new majors in education studies, integrative arts, literary studies, professional and creative writing, and visual and material culture. And, with bold new majors in engineering science and integrative data analytics added to complement our historically strong programs in biology and chemistry, Goucher College now has the programs our math and science students need to succeed in today’s world. 

We also launched the first of several planned new 4+1 programs, allowing our students to earn a bachelor’s degree from Goucher and a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University Carey School of Business. This innovative dual-degree program expands on our longstanding reciprocal relationship with Hopkins, allowing undergraduate students to take select classes at each institution and obtain two degrees over five years. Expect further announcements of new programs and new partnerships in the coming months! 

A gift to the Greater Goucher Fund supports the core of a Goucher education. 

This year’s goal of $2 million will allow us to partially address the enormous financial need created by the pandemic, expand our commitment to social justice, and lead the way in global education.

Please join me along with your generous classmates in committing to a gift today. Your donation ensures we will continue to meet the college’s commitments, and, more importantly, go beyond the expected to transform lives. 

Be an agent of change; make your impact today by returning the giving card with your gift or going online to www.goucher.edu/presidentialgive.

Sincerely,

Kent Devereaux
President, Goucher College