April 5, 2020 UPDATE

Dear colleagues,

I want to pause for a moment, as the first week of spring term comes to an end, to thank you for the amazing goodwill, creativity, and positive energy you've shown these past few weeks.

The speed at which this escalating public health crisis came upon us is certainly unlike anything we have experienced in our lifetimes. One month ago, I was returning from an inspiring trip to the West Coast, visiting alumni and parents and joining the board of trustees as we met at Stanford. Just one week later, within a span of 72 hours, everything about the way we live and do business changed.

To my colleagues on the Dartmouth faculty, I'm in awe of all you've done to mount compelling virtual courses for our students in such a short amount of time, and of how committed you've been to finding new ways to achieve academic excellence when our model's been turned upside down. You've not only kept our students front and center through it all, you've kept us grounded in our mission.

And I believe our role is more critical now than perhaps it's ever been. I've watched our nation's leaders grapple with the way forward in the face of unprecedented uncertainty and challenge. The most successful have led with a sense of humanity and compassion, an understanding and respect for science, a grasp of social science and economics, a facility with statistics, as well as an appreciation of the arts to inspire and lift our spirits--in short, the elements of a great liberal arts education. So, through this, I've come to value even more the work we do to prepare graduates for lives of leadership and impact.

To our incredible staff, I should have known that no crisis could throw you off your game. In the face of every challenge, you've rolled up your sleeves and dug in, unthwarted by the complexity or the urgency of the task before you. I've heard about the important ways that DCAL and instructional support staff across the institution, together with our IT experts, have partnered with faculty as we've transitioned to virtual learning.

Earlier this week, Provost Joe Helble and I had an opportunity to visit the '53 Commons dining hall, where the staff have totally transformed the way they're feeding those students who, by necessity, are still in residence. Almost overnight, dining staff envisioned and launched a web-based take-out service, where students can place orders on-line that are then prepared for pick-up. They've even instituted a delivery service for the students in quarantine.

Examples of this kind of creative thinking and can-do spirit serve as a reminder that the greatest antidote for uncertainty and turmoil is a resilient, creative, and determined community. At this moment, I see evidence of that across the entire Dartmouth campus, and it's a tremendous source of inspiration and hope.

And speaking of hope, we're so fortunate to have a number of Dartmouth scientists in our outstanding lung biology and protein immuno-engineering groups working to develop tests, therapies, and vaccines for COVID-19, and truly extraordinary teams at Dartmouth-Hitchcock tackling this pandemic head-on. David Lieb, chair of microbiology and immunology, wrote to me earlier this week to report on promising work in his lab on new ways to test for the COVID-19 infection.

What's more, all of you--faculty and staff alike--have done all this while wrestling with the same challenges in your personal lives faced by everyone else, including illness, changes in family circumstances, and caring for children and elders. Somehow, you've managed to juggle it all and still produce outstanding work for Dartmouth.

On Friday, the provost and Executive Vice President Rick Mills wrote to our community outlining some difficult steps that Dartmouth must take to weather this historic downturn in the U.S. economy. Given the inspiring work that you've all been doing, I especially regret the need to suspend a merit increase program for this year. To do our part, Gail and I are giving back 20% of my salary to Dartmouth for the next 12 months. I know that Joe and Rick and other members of my Senior Leadership Group plan to give back a portion of their salaries as well.

If there were ever a moment when your work deserved to be recognized, this is it. Because of you, we'll emerge from this crisis a stronger and more nimble institution. It won't be easy, but I am confident that we will do it, and I'm grateful to have you as partners as we take on this challenge. Thank you for all your efforts to date, for inspiring hope, and for taking care of one another.

Sincerely,

Philip J. Hanlon '77

President