The below message was sent to faculty, staff, and students on January 20, 2026.
Dear Bryn Mawr Community,
Happy New Year, welcome back to campus, and a huge thanks to colleagues who cleared the snow so quickly this weekend to prepare for our return. I hope you are rested, rejuvenated, and ready for the spring 2026 semester. My family enjoyed board games, good tv, podcasts (this one is amazing!), and lots of furry pug and kitten cuddles over the break.
A warm welcome to new Provost Dee Matthews, who leads our academic work, and to Nichole Reynolds, the interim Vice President for Enrollment, who is working hard with colleagues to recruit the dark blue undergraduate class of '30. They already have a playlist!
We start the year with special congratulations to:
- Piper Farmer '26, who was awarded a prestigious Marshall Scholarship in December.
- Neus Penalba, Assistant Professor of Spanish, whose exhibition on the Catalan writer, Mercé Rodoreda, opened at the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona/MACBA on December 5.
- Xuemei May Cheng, Professor of Physics and the Rachel C. Hale Professor in the Sciences and Mathematics, who was named a 2025 American Physical Society Fellow.
- Lisa Young Larance, Assistant Professor of Social Work and Social Research, who provided training to judges from the U.S., Canada, and the Philippines at the 2025 American Judges Association Conference.
- Emily Alesandrini and Katy Rosenthal Jackson, graduate students in the History of Art who were awarded research-supporting fellowships from the Andy Warhol Foundation and American Institute of Indian Studies.
This semester we will be bringing to the Board of Trustees the strategic direction for the College's Next Chapter. The feedback we received last semester was extremely helpful, and we will provide an update to the College at noon on 1/28 in the Great Hall. DLR will also share what they are learning through their partnership on our campus physical plan and tell us about their efforts this semester. The community has been engaged in strategic thinking for three and a half years. It is exciting to begin to wrap up the planning phases and start to deliver on the bold ambitions the College community has articulated for itself for the next ten years.
We kick off the semester with student events including the Winter Rendezvous on January 22, Welcome Back at the Well on January 23, and the Owls Basketball game against Ursinus on February 4, at which we will celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
We look forward to welcoming leading thinkers to campus, highlighting our deep commitment to academic excellence and the value of the liberal arts in the world. Speakers this semester include:
- Beverly Daniel Tatum, psychologist and former president of Spelman College on February 24 at 7 p.m.
- The Guardian columnist Arwa Mahdawi on February 25th, mathematician and writer Susan D'Agostino on March 4th, and professor of English at Fordham University and award-winning journalist Leonard Cassuto on April 16th, all part of the Provost’s Office and Creative Writing Department's inaugural "Bryn Mawr and the Public" series.
- Tim Powers, Vice President for Government Relations and Policy Development at the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, on March 3 at 11:30 a.m.
We continue, especially after the horrific events at Brown University, to update campus infrastructure and protocols to ensure the safety of our campus. A reminder that the doors of Dalton, Guild, and The Well will now require a One Card for access at all times. Colleagues from Campus Safety are happy to visit campus groups to talk more about this work.
I look forward to seeing all of you across campus this semester. To connect with students individually or in small groups, I will be holding set office hours; please email my office to sign up. And in support of our campus sustainability goals, please also review our clarified recycling guidelines and visit UnCommon Grounds in the Campus Center, which, as of today, is now offering reusable food containers.
The energy of a new semester always reminds me of the bold ambitions we hold for our community. As we continue this 'Next Chapter' together, I am deeply grateful for your engagement, your scholarship, and the care you show for one another. I look forward to the many conversations and milestones we will share in the coming months.
Welcome back,
Wendy Cadge
President and Professor of Sociology
Bryn Mawr College
101 N. Merion Ave., Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
Pronouns: she/her
brynmawr.edu
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