From the President
It’s a Manchester mantra: First come our students

Jo Young Switzer President Related link: MC Mission, Values, Vision and Strategic Priorities

SOME COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES spend thousands of dollars to find names for their comprehensive campaigns. When we began talking about that process, Michael Eastman, vice president for college advancement, said, “Everything we’ve discussed puts students first!” And that’s how we chose the name.

Students always have been first at Manchester. When money is tight, the funds we reserve for scholarships are off-limits for reduction. When we work on maintenance over the summer, we focus on those things that make students’ lives here more comfortable, more conducive to learning and more fun.

When we hire new faculty, we hire those people who love to teach and who do it well because we want them to be good scholars who put students first.

When it snows at Manchester, the grounds crew and custodians begin with shoveling the walks students use to get to their 8 o’clock classes. When Chartwells food service plans menus, they talk with students and monitor what they eat in order to offer healthy options that put students’ health and food preferences first.

Our Students First! comprehensive campaign keeps the focus on students and their learning.

All of our donors – regardless of their financial capacity – have opportunities to give to student scholarships, to the Academic Center (classrooms and faculty offices), to the PERC (new classrooms and locker rooms), to endowed professorships and to The Manchester Fund. Every person can help us put students first, and we hope each one will contribute.

As you learn more about our comprehensive campaign, I hope you will give to the fullest capacity you can because students were our focus in 1889 and students are our focus today.

At Manchester College, students are first!

JO YOUNG SWITZER
president@manchester.edu