A crisis and an opportunity

Brian C. Mitchell
President's Message
Bucknell Magazine
Winter 2009

Across its history, Bucknell has faced difficult, even perilous, times.

Today’s economic crisis and this magazine’s focus on the campus master plan bring to mind one especially troubling era. In the early 1930s, America was confronting a financial meltdown. Unemployment reached 25 percent. Banks everywhere were collapsing, and the government was doing little to help. The stock market was in free fall. And on the Bucknell campus, tragedy struck in a definitive way with the burning down of Old Main, the campus’s signature building.

Yet, at that time, the University established the Larson Plan that would guide the physical evolution of the campus into the place we know and love today. In establishing that plan, Bucknell expressed its appreciation that bad times do end, that this institution is built for the long term. Bucknell has never aimed simply to survive. It aims to adapt in a deliberate fashion so that it continues to improve.

Only a few years ago, Bucknell created its strategic plan, The Plan for Bucknell. Likewise, today’s comprehensive campaign is built around a well thought out fundraising strategy. And the campus master plan is designed for key investments that begin now but stretch across 75 years.The clarity that these plans give us matters greatly. Regardless of the economy, they help us protect core ideals, notably the importance of the academic core and access.

The academic core means our investments in faculty, academic programs and the spaces where learning happens. It is the educational experience we promise students. It is what we protect and nurture foremost. Access is our duty to ensure that all outstanding students qualified to attend Bucknell can do so. We must provide the financial aid needed to help our current students and the students that we want to enroll in the months and years ahead.

At the same time, difficult times require special care.Toward that end, we have under review a range of areas, from operational spending and hiring to enrollment trends and financial aid, from construction costs to peer actions. Meanwhile, our Career Development Center is keeping a close eye on the impact of the market turmoil on the recruitment of our senior students and helping alumni affected by the economy’s decline.

As indicated in my recent statements about the economy, Bucknell is in a strong financial position for several reasons, including our minimal variable-rate debt, our diversified endowment portfolio and our liquidity.

As we assess the situation looking ahead, we do so strategically — with a realistic, informed understanding of our situation, our challenges and our priorities. Someday soon, I believe, we will stand on the far side of today’s turmoil and see that all the work necessary to do so has, like our campus master plans, made a vital difference
in the caliber of Bucknell.