Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The nation and indeed the world are in the midst of a dramatic economic downturn.  Here at Haverford, we begin work on our fiscal '09-'10 budget next week and we're taking the current situation – and forecasts for the future – into account as we plan how best to weather this storm, as we have so many others throughout the 175-year life of the College.

The finances of Haverford College are stable, and resilient.  With the guidance of the Board of Managers and through Dick Wynn's leadership, the College has maintained a thoughtful, flexible and conservative endowment spending policy specifically designed to minimize disruptions caused by external financial troubles.   A key feature of our fiscal policy is that we are flexible and that we adjust spending up or down as opportunities allow and urgencies require.   Given the current situation, now is one of those times when we must closely monitor our spending, and indeed reduce our spending in some areas for the immediate future.

In deciding what we do and do not change, our highest priorities will continue to be the welfare of the students who come to Haverford College and of the faculty and staff who work here.  Our top concern is that all commitments to students, faculty and staff be maintained. We will continue to be responsive to students and families who are being directly hurt by the economic downturn.  Academic programs will be maintained, and new programs will be launched as new resources are acquired to fund them.

To accomplish this goal, however, we will need to work carefully and creatively to save money wherever we can.  Over the next weeks and months, each of us will need to consider seriously what expenditures are absolutely essential for this year and next year and which can be deferred if we must.  Simple measures such as energy conservation are extremely important, as will consideration of every other way in which dollars leave the College.  Similarly, when individuals retire or leave, we must ask whether the jobs of those who have left can be temporarily performed by those of us still working in our areas without replacement hires.  For now, and until such time as those careful judgments are made, I ask that no open positions be filled without clear and direct guidance from Senior Staff.  And I ask that each of us come up with additional efficiencies in our own areas. The better we can accomplish this close review of our current and future spending, the more secure and better off we will be in the months and years ahead.  And of course, as the economy recovers, we will correspondingly adjust our spending to make maximal use of the resources we have to spend.

This upheaval occurs at a time when Haverford is between comprehensive fundraising campaigns, so we are fortunate not to be in the midst of new major construction projects.  That said, we will continue to plan for the future needs of the College, and we will continue to fundraise to support our needs and aspirations.  In particular, Haverford has always been and remains committed to need-blind admission and the associated financial cost of our convictions.  Those promises to our students remain firm in the face of economic turmoil.  We will be here for them, just as those who went before us stepped up when it was their turn to ensure that those who followed would have the chance to experience what they had enjoyed.  It has been that way for 175 years and will remain so into the future, one generation of Haverfordians taking care for the next.

I want to thank each and every member of our community for what you do every day here at the College.  Know that I am completely confident that together we can overcome these new challenges, and scale whatever hurdles emerge in the future.  As we approach a season of Thanksgiving, I am reminded – daily – of the blessings that Haverford brings.  I am completely confident that together we can overcome whatever challenges confront us, and I know that we will emerge stronger, wiser and better prepared for the bright future that awaits.