One of the attributes that makes our species unique is our capacity to formulate and communicate complex ideas about ourselves and the world around us. Further, we have the capacity to convert our ideas into action.
For good and evil, the ideas of humankind change the world.
At the New School, this fact is central to our mission. We hold that most cultural, social and political changes have their genesis in powerful ideas or philosophies that propel human action. We understand that our early circumstances influence our ideas. We know that the forces of nature - from climate to geography - affect our intellectual conclusions. Our willingness to help those who suffer loss or are injured, to support social and political structures under stress and to care for our planet - all are informed by our ideas about the world, its people and our place in it.
Universities exist as places where men and women learn to develop and refine their ideas. At our University, we see ideas as much more than a simple transfer or acquisition of a worldview. Rather, ideas are the works of those who have mastered the habit of critical thinking and who are brave and resolute enough to sustain this kind of thinking all their lives.
In short, while we have become a university where the majority of our students are studying art, design or performing arts, we are still guided by the vision of the founders of the New School. They were women and men who had new ideas about the importance of critical thought and the free expression of opinions and theories and who had a passion for lifelong education for adults. Although in size and scope we are today quite different from the school founded by John Dewey and expanded by Alvin Johnson, at our core we still hold firmly to their ideas about higher education. And it is this core that makes us unique and exceptional.
One of our points of distinction is the diversity of our academic programs. The New School and the University in Exile were very focused in their curricular offerings and in their sense of mission. As we created Eugene Lang College and the Milano Graduate School and brought Parsons, Mannes, Jazz and the Actors Studio Drama School into our family, we were transformed. The liberal arts, performing arts, design and public policy became even more important to us, and once again, new ideas changed our perception of what we were, inviting us to expand our conception of the New School.
With the addition of these new programs and divisions, we were inspired once again by an idea - the idea of becoming a university. During my three years as president, we have continued this work begun by those who came before us. We have moved forward along the path of becoming a university by taking action on many fronts.
Academically, we have established a single bell schedule to make it easier for students to enroll in courses across divisions. In the fall of 2004, we will offer university-wide courses for all undergraduate students. Our new provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, Arjun Appadurai (whose message follows this essay), is developing an academic plan that will take us further still. This plan will be grounded in divisional strengths, while bridging divisional diversity to establish a university-wide academic program that promotes excellence.
We also have made strides in improving student services and streamlining administration - enhancing and coordinating functions that deal with financial aid, student life and enrollment management. We have implemented university-wide administrative systems, allowing our students to register and pay bills online. We have improved benefits and other human resources for all faculty, including part-time faculty and staff, while keeping costs in check. And we have developed a transparent budgeting protocol.
As we have become clearer about what it means to think and act like a university, we have come to recognize the importance of having a coherent message about who we are and what we offer. With that goal in mind, we have worked with Siegel & Gale, an internationally recognized firm, to develop a branding strategy that will more accurately portray our identity. The firm has recommended that in our official branding, we drop the word "university" from our title and refer to our institution - as we are most widely known already - as "the New School." We will continue to emphasize that we are a university through an expanded descriptor that explains our central programs and objectives. Siegel & Gale’s report, "Project Mirror," is being read and reviewed by many in the University community this spring. The report is a "mirror," allowing us to see ourselves objectively, as we are seen by others. The report’s recommendations, refined by discussions on campus and with trustees and members of the boards of governors, will be an important agenda in the coming year, moving us more assuredly along the path of thinking and acting like a university.
One of the core ideas of the University has reemerged from this process as a preeminent value. This idea, first expressed by John Dewey, holds that creative democracy is possible only if the participants in that democracy understand the ideas that are the foundation for self-government, master the techniques necessary for success, and maintain the depth of commitment required for difficult times. The disciplines of art, design and performing arts give our students an added measure of influence. And the fact that our University is located in New York City - the financial, media and fashion capital of the world and a welcoming port of entry for new immigrants - gives us a global reach that deepens the seriousness of our academic purpose.
This, of course, is not new. Beginning with the University in Exile, we have acted as a global university, forging ties with intellectuals from other countries and cultures, constructing our programs to engage in dialogue about the international political scene and welcoming students and faculty from a multitude of nations. In this report, you will read about some of the important programs and work that we are doing. I am encouraged that, in the coming years, we will have new opportunities to strengthen existing links and forge new ones with Europe, Asia and Latin America.
This University has benefited greatly from the generosity of those who have acted on the idea that it is important to share freely of time, talent and resources, giving back to society and to the world. We have an active and engaged volunteer community, including over 200 trustees and members of the boards of governors. I thank each and every one of you for your contributions this year, which have ensured our success in many areas. I particularly want to thank Henry Arnhold, Sheila Johnson, Eugene Lang, Philip Scaturro and John Tishman for their leadership in giving to the University. We honor you by dedicating this annual report to you, and you have honored us by placing your trust in us with your gracious gifts.
To all of you - students, faculty, staff, trustees, members of the boards of governors, alumni and friends - who have contributed time, talent and money to support this University, I look forward to continuing this important work with you. And to further inspire us along the way, I close with a Russian proverb that Alexander Solzehnitsyn included in his 1976 Nobel lecture that speaks to our work at the New School, "One word of truth shall outweigh the whole world." John Dewey would approve.
Bob Kerrey
President, New School University
