FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 3, 2013
BRUNSWICK, Maine—The following is a statement by Bowdoin College regarding a report by the National Association of Scholars titled “What Does Bowdoin Teach?”
The National Association of Scholars today released a report titled “What Does Bowdoin Teach?” We will review the report because we encourage open discourse on the effectiveness of American higher education and because we support academic freedom, which is the essence of a liberal arts institution.
Bowdoin will continue to assess its effectiveness by relying on many factors to evaluate our academic and residential life programs, including the accomplishments of students, faculty, and staff, and the achievements, loyalty, and support of alumni. The College will also look to the informed judgment of foundations, corporations, and other outside donors that are well versed in assessing the quality and efficacy of the institutions they support, and we will depend on the rigorous decennial reaccreditation process. Collectively, these and other internal measures provide us with the qualitative and quantitative means to consider carefully how we are doing currently and what we must do to prepare for the future.
We are proud of our students and our commitment to build and support a community that resembles America and the world. We are proud of our faculty who represent intellectual rigor across the disciplines and who are both excellent teachers and engaged scholars. We are also proud of our alumni who are leaders in all walks of life. A Bowdoin education trains young men and women of varied backgrounds to think critically, solve complex problems, apply sound judgment, embrace lifelong learning, and make principled decisions in support of the common good. This is both our mission and our record.
