2007-08
Welcome from the President

Not many college presidents have the privilege of celebrating their institutions’ 150th anniversaries.  I have been fortunate to commemorate Linfield College’s historic milestone this year with our students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and friends.  In this report of Linfield’s achievements in 2007-08, its Sesquicentennial year is surely the headline story. 

At 150, Linfield is thriving and growing.  In some respects, we are the same Linfield that President Leonard Riley guided through its 50th anniversary in 1908.  We remain a welcoming, egalitarian college that serves students from all economic classes.  We emphasize the liberal arts, with a demonstrated commitment to excellence in scholarship and in the classroom.  We blend the theoretical with the practical in ways that are at once inspirational and pragmatic.

Much has changed here.  But change is the watchword for the future of American higher education, and for the future of Linfield College.  Politics, society, business and science – all are spinning faster in a global vortex.  For example, in an effort to enhance the institution’s sustainability and to reduce our carbon footprint, I signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment on Earth Day, April 22, 2008.  Linfield’s Advisory Committee on the Environment and Sustainability (ACES), a group composed of faculty, staff and students, studied the issue for six months and recommended that Linfield join more than 500 institutions in all 50 states in signing the statement.  Our efforts on campus to recycle, design energy-efficient buildings,  conserve water and energy and purchase locally grown foods express our hopes for the next 150 years – and beyond.

Of course, life presents some changes we mourn.  On Jan. 8, 2008, our beloved Old Oak fell.  It stood here long before there was a college, but it was an emblem with which we identified.  In the coming year, we will discuss plans to use wood from the Old Oak, which we have carefully salvaged.  But we will also talk about the future of our many young trees – and of our many young students. 

Welcome to the 2007-08 President’s Report, presented for the first time as a series of linked web pages.  We are proud of our efforts and accomplishments during this historic year.  As you scan these pages, I think you will see why.

Best regards,

Thomas L. Hellie
President