In a short, 18-minute Board of Trustees Town Hall on March 2, President Manya Whitaker and Chair of the Board of Trustees (BoT) Kyle Samuels shared an information-packed update as part of their “The Work of the College” series.
Samuels began by reviewing the BoT’s role at Colorado College. Samuels described the board’s role as supervising and protecting the college’s mission, focusing on financial sustainability and strategic alignment with the institution’s values.
Samuels announced that tuition and comprehensive fees, which cover housing and student activity fees, would be raised by 3.72% for the upcoming academic year. He noted that this was below the college’s average annual increase over the past eight years.
He then turned the Town Hall over to President Whitaker, who began by saying, “We wouldn’t be a liberal arts institution if we didn’t balance those types of celebratory conversations with some more sober realities happening right now.”
Whitaker mentioned the lack of international enrollment across higher education institutions and the decline of early decision popularity. She described Colorado College as “middle of the pack” in terms of application numbers compared to peer colleges, with a 7% to 8% decline. She then spent a few minutes emphasizing the school’s focus on admission yield and the importance of a joint effort between students and the administration.
Whitaker then shared about CC’s marketing position, highlighting the administration’s conversation on enrollment, visibility and branding, generative AI, financial sustainability and the science building, calling these elements “interconnected pieces of a much larger puzzle.” She described creating a strategic plan built around four points: institutional strength, reclaiming the liberal arts, deepening engagement and excellence in outcomes.
Samuels then outlined the board’s activity in recent months. “When we’re on campus, we want to be very intentional about being present,” said Samuels. He described the board attending a class, having lunch with the Career Catalyst class, cheering for men’s hockey and women’s basketball at their games and meeting with faculty and staff. He then advertised the opening of the student trustee application in Blocks 7 and 8 and praised current Student Trustee Landon Hartman ’27 for his “incredibly thoughtful” work.
The board will return for its annual retreat to review institutional strength. Samuels concluded, “Institutional strength is built through sustained and disciplined leadership. So therefore, mission clarity, financial discipline and strategic execution are all critical.”
President Whitaker closed by reminding the public of upcoming events at the college. First, she introduced the Grow the Good Campaign, which runs until Friday, March 6.
“As someone who personally benefited from philanthropic generosity during college, I’m inspired to pay it forward and excited about making that opportunity available to others,” said Whitaker.
The next Work of the College Event, “Demystifying the Meal Plan,” will take place on March 9, and there will be a presentation on the Special Collections in Tutt Library the following day.