On Wednesday, 10/28 we will gather at 5:30pm at Zucchini’s in Pittsfield (1331 North Street) to share drinks/dinner/discussion with Maud Mandel, the 18th President of Williams College: https://president.williams.edu/about-the-president.
After cheese/crackers/pepperoni appetizers with a cash bar, buffet dinner will include a chicken entree (please vote below), a starch (please vote below), seasoned vegetables, garden fresh tossed salad, and homemade ciabatta bread.
Space is limited, and we need to submit our choice of chicken entree and starch by Thursday. To reserve your spot, please submit your responses to these questions, and Venmo $50 to Paul Johansen (@Paul-Johansen-1 or https://bit.ly/47sYcrv and click "Continue to Destination" or use the QR code above...if asked, the last 4 digits of my phone number are 6132). If you would like to pay by check or cash on 10/28 you may, but please understand that registering here is a financial commitment, since we must give Zucchini's a headcount ASAP.
We'd like to engage President Mandel in a discussion about “Higher Education Today: The View from Williams College”
This could include several hot topics:
– How are Williams and other colleges coping with President Trump’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”? Is Williams replacing race-based DEI programs and focusing more on income inequalities?
This could include several hot topics:
– How are Williams and other colleges coping with President Trump’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”? Is Williams replacing race-based DEI programs and focusing more on income inequalities?
– About 10 percent of Williams’ 2,100 students are foreign nationals. Are they having a hard time getting visas? Are numbers of international students going down?
– As a lifelong professor of Jewish Studies, how does Dr. Mandel see the resurgence of anti-Semitism in the US and Europe?
– As the author of “Muslims and Jews in France: History of a Conflict”, how does she see the lead of Marine Le Pen in all polls leading up to next April’s elections in France? Muslims overwhelmingly vote for the number two in the polls, left-winger Jean-Luc Melanchon. In light of the high school student protests, how could this polarization play out?
– Here in the Berkshires, Dr. Mandel is on the boards of MASS MoCA and the Clark Institute of Art. Does she see the new $175 million Williams College Museum of Art as complementing – or competing – with the existing North County heavyweights?
And anything else you'd like to ask her...