Dear Guilford Community,

As I begin the final month of my interim presidency here at Guilford College, I find myself reflecting on the many changes and challenges we have faced during the past 10 months. The ups and downs of the COVID-19 pandemic have mirrored somewhat the ways in which our community has seen highs and lows, and just as we as a nation and world are getting to the place where we start to understand what it means to be living with the virus, Guilford has settled into comprehension of the challenges we still face and the means by which we can meet them. 

Now that we have completed our vaccination mandate process — with 95 percent of our student body and 98.7 percent of our employees vaccinated and the rest with approved medical or religious exemptions — we have begun to hold more and more in-person on-campus events (with limited numbers, still with masks indoors) and to recall what life was like before March of 2020. We are planning carefully for future events that will involve travel and the kind of camaraderie we used to take for granted, and the Bryan Series opens its season in January at the new Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts here in Greensboro. The joy we experience in these settings reminds us what lies at the center of our Core Value of community: attending carefully to one another in simple, genuine ways.

There are many things moving forward at Guilford right now as we prepare to welcome Kyle Farmbry officially as the 10th president of the College on Jan. 1, 2022; here are some highlights.

Special Board of Trustees Meeting

The Board of Trustees held a special called meeting on Nov. 29 to approve the implementation of two new master’s degrees, already approved by the faculty: a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) and a Master’s in International Sport Management. The Board also approved an honorary degree and received the 2021 audit, reviewed by the Audit Committee. That very positive, unqualified audit showed a significant increase in unrestricted net assets for the College, driven by a very strong endowment performance.

Fundraising

We have continued to make superb progress with the Guilford Forward Fund. Currently the fund approaches $5.7 million with a deadline for our $6 million goal of Jan. 31, 2022. I am doing my part to complete the campaign before I depart the interim presidency on Dec. 31, and I strongly encourage you to join me in supporting this key effort for Guilford.

Preliminary reports indicate that we will have cleared $350,000 on Giving Tuesday, more than 50 percent above last year’s total. I am so pleased that we received a donation of $30,000 from Save Guilford College yesterday, and my deep thanks goes out to all who have supported the incredible fundraising success we have had this year.

Kyle Farmbry

Our incoming president has been on campus twice since the announcement of his appointment, holding a number of meetings with faculty, staff, trustees, cabinet members, and students; as well as attending lunches, receptions, and dinners with students, alumni/ae, and trustees. His most recent visit (Nov. 11 to 16) focused on brainstorming sessions that generated multiple ideas about how to bolster recruitment efforts.  Kyle will be moving into Ragsdale House before too much longer, having already spent some nights there during his campus visits.

Enrollment

Although it is very early in the admission process to make solid projections, we have seen significant increases in completed applications and deposits for the fall of 2022 over those for the past seven years. With the easing of COVID and the hiring of a new assistant director of admission, Guilford has been able to reconnect with high schools in the northeast corridor (especially Friends schools), and the enrollment team has set clear targets for increasing our yield from that part of the country even while we maintain strong recruitment efforts in North Carolina and the rest of the southeast. The collaboration among our enrollment staff, coaches, faculty, student admission workers, and alumni/ae is creating very positive results in this crucial area.

Athletics

Fall sports seasons have now ended. The women’s soccer team finished 11-6-1, posting their best record in 14 years and qualifying for the ODAC postseason tournament. We had a first-year student athlete, Josephine Hemmer, compete in the NCAA Women’s Collegiate Triathlon National Championship race in Tempe, Ariz., on Saturday, Nov. 13. The ODAC winter sports season has begun.

Holiday Celebrations

We are taking time at the end of the semester to celebrate our successes and to engage in those small but important human interactions that knit us together. Members of the President’s Cabinet and I will be cooking a late-night breakfast for students at the start of final exams, so I’ll have an opportunity to improve my pancake flipping skills! We are also holding a holiday breakfast for staff and faculty, returning to a tradition begun some years ago. Later this week, I will be hosting a reception for seniors, some of whom are completing their degree requirements this month. And all members of our community have the opportunity to watch the Guilford College Choir holiday concert, which will be live streamed via Facebook on Sunday, Dec. 5, beginning at 7 p.m.

I have said repeatedly that I took the position of interim president because of the relationships I have been honored to develop with the people who are Guilford College — students, alums, faculty, staff, trustees, parents, friends — over the many years of my association with this special place on corner of Friendly and New Garden. In my meetings, formal and informal, with so many in this community over the past months, I have been reminded time and again how much those relationships matter.  

In a 2011 essay, “The Mindfulness of Natural History,” Thomas Fleischner writes that “Our attention is precious, and what we choose to focus it on has enormous consequences. What we choose to look at, to listen to — these choices change the world.” In attending to our relationships with one another, we remake Guilford and the world.

In peace and gratitude,
Jim Hood '79
Interim President