Question and Answer Session with President Hilary Link

Perfect alright. We are officially on.

Good evening everyone. My name is Cornell with Jane and I'm the vice president for enrollment and Dean of admissions here at Allegany College. Today's webinar is Q&A with one only president link. So excited to have her join all of us today. Welcome to all be joining and I encourage visiting students and parents to tell us where you're visiting from in the chat box. While we wait for everyone to check in, it normally takes a few minutes while we do that, though. Just a few housekeeping issues before we get started.

We will receive questions from from everyone who are submitting them, but they will be moderated through our colleague Katie Jordan social put them in. You know, one at a time, so we're not overwhelmed with questions through out. There will be moments where unfortunately we will not be able to get through every single question. If we are unable to do so, we will make sure we are responding within the week to respond to those questions. If there are any audio or visual issues.

The best fixed tends to be just refresh your page. That simple I know. I've sat on a number of these and I hit refresh. It tends to workout. If that does not work we also have close captioning and the last thing I would add is you'll finally this session will be reported in available later for those who may may have jumped on a little bit later or Miss Summit, so want to make sure I put that out there. I just realized as I'm looking at where people are from, how we put my glasses on so I can give someone who spoke to shout out and so.

I see the Mont I see New York, Maryland, Ohio is great to see this type of diversity and representation. Pitts burg. I know I saw think Meadville earlier as well so well.

From Mexico, Cornell

Nice, uh, so great representation. I know president link like seeing some folks from our international regions as well.

Alright, so with that said, You know let's get started. I'll give a quick introduction to President Lincoln. So yo presently God, 22nd president of Allegany College. First female president joining us today. So again, really excited to have her. I should add that doctor link is also a professor here at Alleghanian. So for students after they can, you know I'm going to get a chance to meet her outside of just maybe you know, bumping into around campus. Yes, she's actually teaching some classes. Well, I should add. She is also taught at Temple University, Rome.

Barnard in why you Columbia Aniel Uh, she's a graduate of Stanford University and earned her MA and PhD from Yale University in Italian language and literature. I will add, it's not often you have a president of a University who was making time to connect with perspective students. We have that here today and I certainly says a lot about doctor link. But it also says a lot about Allegany College as well.

With that said, I'm gonna turn it over to to President Link to give. You may be a little bit background. You know it may be at a little bit more depth about some things I shared as well.

Wonderful Cornell, thank you and welcome to everybody. It really is fun to see everybody's locations pop up. I saw there is one person from Brookline, MA where my sister and brother in law and twin nephews or from so. And I'm a bostonian. So there, um? Anyway, thank you, and thank you for all of you for being with us today. I wish we were in person.

Um, in so many ways, but we're not, uh, an thank you to Cornell for the introduction and for having me so, um, I'll start by saying you can, all I think understand when I say that this has not been the first year as president that I imagined when I came up, but life throws us all kinds of interesting curveballs. And one of the things I like to say is.

Alligator part, part of what drew me to Allegany, is that I am such a big believer in the liberal arts and in thinking that really in caps encapsulates the liberal arts experience pulling together different disciplines, and if anything in the world requires creative, interdisciplinary liberal arts grounded thinking, it is how to figure out how to run an institution in a global crisis that nobody has ever seen.

So that's my quick introduction we're having as much fun with this as we possibly can. Uhm, but it's certainly been a different year. So as Cornell said, just very quickly. I am. I'm a graduate of Stanford. I have my doctor at Masters and doctorate from Yale in Italian literature. My passion for all things Italian began when I was an undergraduate. I spent most of my junior year in college studying at Stanford's campus in Florence, Italy, and fell madly in love. I went to.

Abroad as an art history major an I came back and double majored in Italian, an art history. What's interesting about that is that my interdisciplinary approach to my studies, my research, and my life really started there where I started to see interconnections between these two different disciplines. So I moved to New York briefly, and then I really decided to pursue my passion for Italian language and literature. So I went back to you, and, um.

NB dash 20 years since then since I finished my doctor it I have both worked in the administration and taught at New York University at Barnard College for almost 12 years and then the last six years my family and I had the amazing fortune to be living in Rome, Italy, which is why Cornell noted. Uhm, I have a particular fondness for any international students.

Or applicants, uh, so we lived in Rome, Italy, where I was the Dean of Temple University's campus in Rome. It was truly a life changing experience for all of us. So we moved abroad with three children. I have my husband and I have three boys and we moved back, actually with only two of them in that we left the oldest to finish his last two years of high school at his boarding school in Rome, Uhm.

So I will say that I things are getting much more interesting as I now do admissions events and presentations with Cornell because I am the mother of a junior in high school. So, uh, neck here for those of you who come to campus or who see me at events, if I look stressed, you'll know why. Uhm, so I, I am. I think that's kind of where I'll stop and then let you ask any other questions that you think might be of interest.

Or not.

Yeah, so I'll start with this one. How why did you choose Allegany College?

So a lot of people, as you can imagine, ask me that all the time, why would you leave Rome, Italy to move to Meadville, PA? Uhm, and there are so many reasons. I actually like to tell there's a very, very specific reason. I think why I impart why I ended up here, and it actually has to do with my twin nephews from Brookline, MA. Which is that?

When they were juniors in high school, my sister I was visiting them in Boston from Italy and my sister said to me, will you sit down with the boys and try to help them think about Division Three schools there tennis players Division Three schools that they might be interested in. And so I started looking through up Pearson's book or something like that and thinking about schools that were not necessarily at the top of my mind and Allegany obviously comes toward the beginning of the alphabet.

And I started reading about the really interesting kind of baked in interdisciplinarity, that alleghenys curriculum has, and I said to my nephews. You guys should look at Allegany. They're doing really interesting things. They of course, did not. Um, however, I went back to Rome and about a month later, out of the blue, I was contacted by a search firm saying, would you ever consider Allegheny and it was one of those moments. I thought, OK, this is.

Destiny, if there ever is one, uhm, but it was that real sense of kind of a creative approach to the liberal arts that kept drawing me um to the college. and I began the application process in the interview process for now is actually part of the search committee, so he was one of the first people that I met. But I yeah, good job. Uhm, it was honestly one of those things where.

I liked the people so much and and I have to say that that has been one of the most amazing things about this year is just to have landed in a place where the authenticity, the intelligence.

And the, UM, warmth of the people is so.

Prevalent that it is so easy even coming from really far away to feel like you can make a community for yourself quickly here.

Thank you. Alright so we have another question. President Link as many people here are considering coming to Allegany. Keep a little bit about your favorite thing during your first year.

There are so many things, uh, I also want to say I was talking to a colleague earlier today and we said, gosh, this year seems like it was a decade ago. I'm sure you all feel that way to the there were so many wonderful things. I'm mostly really involved with getting to know students in a variety of different capacities.

I would say one of the best things about being the president is that, UM, I can kind of pop into lots of different scenarios. Whether those are basketball practices with the men's basketball team or sitting in on student government meetings or being invited by one of our sororities or fraternities to come have lunch with them. You know, in the same way that I think students were curious about who the new president.

Is the new woman president? I was really curious to get to know students in more informal ways and I it is one of the things that I have always loved about small liberal arts colleges, but that has really been true here at Allegany that there is an informality and sense of access that I think the students feel tored the president but that I also feel Tord this students. I will say just very quickly following up on something for now said.

One of the best things has been actually being able to come in and guest lecturer in a number of classes. So just to give you a fun sense of how some of the faculty have invited me in. I have given talks about different aspects of Roman food. I gave a lecture on um, art and Dante's purgatory. I gave a talk about rafaels fresco painting, the school of Athens.

In a physics class, um, physics and music. Uhm, I gave a talk about Saint Catherine of Siena in, um, an early medieval English and history class. So and I gave a talk on sort of the geographic, geography and politics of Italy to an International Studies class. So it has been just a little of everything which is part of what I love about Allegany.

And you've done all that in your first year, which is really impressive.

And a few other things.

Do you remember the name of the class you said? The uh, I think first year similar class you said you really enjoyed. It was with professor Jackson, the title of it. You were just really excited about.

Oh, you're absolutely right. I forgot about that one. So uhm, yeah, Patrick Jackson, one of our faculty members, um, did something really interesting with his FS 101, which is so part of the spine. Of course. Is that all Allegany students take a section of and the faculty actually have a lot of flexibility on what they want.

The theme of their FS 102101 or FS102 to be and um so he actually while he was on a high top amount in sometime last summer. Decided to kind of flip the whole premise of his. He had taught different versions of FS over the years and he decided to title his class the moral imperative to being intelligent and the entire seminar.

Um, which was brilliant in its simplicity, was asking this group of 16 first semester students. Do we have a moral imperative to be intelligent? And it sounds like something you could talk about for one session and then move on. But that was part of Watt. Sorry. My 9 year old is jumping up and down here on the couch. I said there Zachary say hi to everyone, say hi and then you gotta go so I can keep talking.

So this is called a working parenting in Corona virus anyway, um, so so he brought me into. Basically he didn't prepare me for what the question would be, but basically said I want to model for the students how you and I talked through that question. So if I said to You Doctor Lang, do we have a moral obligation to the intelligent? How would you answer and and so he and I kind of started parsing through this really interesting question.

And the student are so amazing and part of what he really taught them was to slow down and dig in because again, you know they spent a week or so on this and then they were like OK, what's next? He was like none, none. Now we're gonna go through every single word. So what is intelligence and what is? You know morality? And what does it mean? If someone has a moral opinion? It was so fascinating and I'll just say really quickly. One of the Super cool things he.

Did which I'm thinking about a lot, as I hopefully eventually will get back in the classroom for a full course.

Is he?

Slipped the writing so that instead of, you know in most, uh, high school and college courses, you start with a short assignment and eventually tored the end you have to hand in a 10 page paper, but his point is, most students. They've got 410 page papers due at the end of the semester, so.

Well, they're kind of scrambling to fill the pages and their stressed, so he actually had them write the 10 page paper as the first assignment, and the whole UM focus of the writing in the course was too edit that down to one page, which ultimately, if you think about it, is probably a more useful skill, harder, and the students who were part way through this kind of iterative process told me it was the hardest thing they'd ever had to do. so I thought that was really.

Fun, an really got me thinking about what we do as educators. That is so creative and so thoughtful.

Yeah, I remember having a conversation about it, so I'm glad you shared. We do have a question already and this was one that actually was submitted ahead of time in the big one on everyone's mind. At the moment you'll fall plans in light of Cobit 19.

So I was gonna presidents call a couple days ago and the the president of Harvard made the joke when somebody asked him that I, you know, one of the things about working from home is it I left my crystal ball in my office at work.

And I think we're all in the same boat. If I knew the answer, if I had the exact solution, I'd be.

Brilliant, um, here's here's what I will say. We absolutely intend to open for fall in person. Uhm, we are doing everything in our power and I'll get to the details of that. Everything in a second to keep the possibility of being able to have an on campus opening this fall available. I think anyone who says to you right now.

On a 20. Oh, I don't even know what day it is. May 20th. Yes, we are 100% gonna do XY and Z come the end of August. I think you have to be a little bit suspicious because the reality is just as three months ago we would never have predicted that this is where we would be. You have to be thoughtful and say we are going to do everything in our power and we're doing a lot. But we also have to recognize that the world may have other plans for us so.

Everything we are doing we also recognize has to be in line with UM state orders. So what governor Wolf in Pennsylvania decides needs to happen? Also, CDC recommendations. So I will say that the way that we've approached this again, I like to say is very Allegany in it's kind of interdisciplinary approach. It's thoughtful Nishan. It's real grounding and data. An resource and research.

The one of the things that we've done which I happen to think is the most amazing advantage we have is we have a global Health Studies program and there are not very many undergraduate institutions that have global health studies and one of the amazing benefits of that program is that we have faculty who study all aspects of global health, including an epidemiologist who actually has become a bit of a local celebrity.

Um, she's offering on the news and errion Here in Crawford County. So she has been an amazing resource for us and we have actually created with her and local emergency room physician our own kind of miniature Allegany College Health Agency. And basically they are functioning as a health agency that you would have in a local region or city to help guide all of our policies. All of our safety procedures, all of our decision-making.

Hum, and so we are. We have a set of guiding principles which include health and safety above all of our students. Our faculty and staff, and our local community. Because another few Meadville people on here and some of you may know this. But some of you may not. We're in a remarkably lucky position in that Meadville, in Crawford County, have had so few cases that that is both a tremendous advantage. It's one of the advantages that will give us the.

Opportunity to reopen, but I actually take that as a huge responsibility as well because we owe it to our local community with which we have a very strong relationship to protect the health and the well being of our local community as well. So we are doing this to protect the health and well being of our campus community, but also our local community. We also are really taking issues of equity and access for all of our students as a real guiding.

Principle, uhm, and you know then we're really looking at. What is the best way for us to deliver the curriculum in the way that Allegany is best at doing, and.

The reality is we are of residental liberal arts college. It's what we've been for 205 years and it's what we very much playing to return to, being fully recognizing that, you know, nothing's gonna look normal come the fall. But we believe that because of our size, small because of the tight knit kind of community nature, the tight knit nature of our community. Because of our location with very few cases and because of the kind of interdisciplinary thoughtful

way that we approach big global problems, we have, UM, some real opportunities to open that other, bigger and city oriented schools may not have. So the answer is that is our absolute fervent hope and plan, and we have a whole series of teams working across the college, again advised by our mini health agency, but working on all aspects of.

What life will look like for our students when we come back in the fall?

Thank you, I'm wondering. Yep, look at that another question. Can you address how orientation for students and families are impacted?

Yes, uhm. So like many things we have had to pivot and I'm actually, I'm really impressed and proud of our colleagues all across the college. That work on um orientation. Allegany bound as we call it because they in the midst of.

Shifting to a spring semester on line which everyone had to do, they pivoted all of orientation, which is normally in person to be on line up and so we are delivering summer orientation remotely and that is sort of a series of live online sessions not unlike this that cover the ends and outs of how to be a successful Allegany student. We've also built in. This is kind of the creative piece of it.

Chances for students to build community. Help them learn about what it's like to be a student, and also start thinking and working out thinking about academic schedules for the fall. Working with an Academic Advisors, an registering for courses. So even though remote, there will be chances like there would have been in person to meet current an incoming students to work with faculty advisors to learn all about the resources and also a panel that.

Looks at what we kind of.

Jokingly called the the return on investment of an Allegany Education, which is really highlighting some of our amazing alums. Uhm, and what they have done with their Allegany Education so that parents and students have a sense of where all of this learning could take you.

Thank you.

And the questions keep coming right? So research opportunities at Allegany and the announcement of carbon neutrality.

OK, um research opportunities abound. I would say, and one of the cool things is that many of the research opportunities that were happening during the spring semester, an even some that are that were scheduled for the summer, are actually still able to happen remotely because we have such an unimpressive.

Undergraduate research program. In fact, we were awarded number one in the country right by the council on undergraduate research for a good reason. Faculty from all disciplines engage students in research, so not just in the Sciences where you'll be working in somebody's lab, but in the humanities and in the social Sciences as well.

One of the amazing things about coming to a small undergraduate liberal arts college is that there aren't a graduate students doing the actual work in a science lab, and the undergrads are kind of watching and learning. Our faculty are working and doing their research alongside our students, so the research opportunities are tremendous both during the academic year and then also during the summer.

So we have a whole UM undergraduate research program with during the summer. Normally when were on campus with we.

Presentations by different students and the faculty so students not only get the opportunity to delve into topics that there really engaged with, they learn how to present that research. We also have opportunities throughout the year where students do poster sessions of the summer research that they've done. So again, they learn. What is it look like to go to an academic conference and present your work the way that you'll have to do if you follow on into Graduate School in that?

Area, so lots of opportunities of students doing really interesting collaborative research with faculty and on their own. Carbon neutrality is another fun topic so.

Allegany places a huge emphasis, an priority on sustainability. Uhm, the environment and climate neutrality carbon neutrality. So my predecessors predecessor Richard Cook, when he was president. So back in 2007, I believe, signed the presidential commitment to climate neutrality.

With a goal of Allegany reaching carbon neutrality in 2020, and um, the wonderful thing is that we stayed completely on track and have that wonderful achievement. About a month ago, a month and a half ago, probably two months ago, um, and one of the really.

Fun pieces for me was that in mid February, so before everything kind of came to a screeching halt. Richard so my predecessors predecessor and then Jim Mullen, who came after him and proceeded me. And then I were all part of a plenary session at a big National Conference on sustainability and I called second nature that it was a climate summit.

And Allegany was featured for this really interesting achievement which was maintaining carbon neutrality as it's emphasis through three different presidents. And, well, I say all the time I had the easy job I showed up in 2019. We had already done a lot of the work, but it was very clear to me even as I was interviewing for the position. An coming in that this was a.

Huge priority for the institution, and so we were, uhm, a tide for 8th I should say. So will say Top 10 in the entire country on a reaching climate neutrality, which is a pretty tremendous thing, especially when you look at it. 'cause I did this, the endowments of all of the other eight schools aside from Allegany that have achieved carbon neutrality and the endowments are.

Many, many hundreds of $1,000,000 bigger than ours, and so what's really amazing is that Allegany has done this without all of the resources that some other bigger institutions have. But we've done it kind of threw creativity, really hard work and just keeping that as a focus and re engage students in that. We engage our faculty RESS, which is Environmental Science and Sustainability Department is actively involved in these.

Um, in these issues and it goes all the way up to the presidential level, so it's something we all think about and we all prioritize, and so it's really an exciting campuswide achievement.

Yeah, if I could just expand a little bit, you know when you hear doctor link reference eight in the nation, keep in mind or three 3 to 4000 colleges and universities out there. It's really impressive feat that you Allegany College was recognized for that and so it knows that. Another thing I would add when you think about research, I get really excited about research that happens here at Allegany.

Yep.

In one of the thing that always mentioned the students at, you know, here we treat our undergrads like graduate students as relates to research because we don't have graduate students, that means there are more opportunities for undergrads to get those hands on experiences. So want to make sure I mentioned that in the last one you have to like global health and environmental science or environmental studies. I think those are going to be extremely popular majors, not they're not already. and I will say environmental ES in particular environment. It's a program. It's been around for a long time. One of the programs back in the 70s.

And I should add with number 4 in the nation last year as well.

Yeah, I mean you know, people often ask, come.

Well, how relevant is a liberal arts degree in today's Day and age right? Should I be going to a an undergraduate uhm.

I don't know, you know, education program or under a school that's only business right at the undergraduate level, but I think you know when you look at programs like global health or you look at programs like SS. There is nothing more relevant. I would say in the big picture of our world right now and nothing that we need more than people who know about global health and are passionate about thinking about global health from a variety of perspectives. And same thing with the environment.

And so, um, yeah, it's it's such. It's so relevant an yet so intellectually engaging that I think that's what's really special about Allegany.

OK, next question 'cause We are. These are great questions and great conversation. Can you give examples of how you engage with Allegany students in classes you might teach in the future?

Yeah, that's a fun question. Um, How do I engage with Allegany students in so many different ways? So, uhm, you know everything. I'll just tell you funny things. I actually dressed up for Halloween and invited the entire student body throughout the course of.

The day of Halloween to come. Trick or treat in my office a man I loved, the ones who took me up on it, especially the freshmen who were nervous about am I really gonna show up in the president's office and then I would just, you know, feed him candy and sit him down and chat. I think one of the amazing things and I say this uhm?

You know I went to Stanford as an undergrad. Is a big dish institution there about 6500 undergraduates, right? So I knew who the president was. I believe I had one conversation with the president, uhm?

Allegany is remarkable because it is a place where not only will you have multiple opportunities to engage with the president, but if I can start to get everyone's name straight, the president actually knows who you are, right? And what where you're from or what you're doing so you know. I have students babysit for my kids and tutor my kids I attend is many different sporting events as I can.

I again, as I said I I try to accept, especially in your one and this will of course go into your two as many invitations to when I'm invited by student groups to show up because it not only gives them a sense to get to know me, not just as the president, but also as a person. But it also really helps fill out my complex understanding of what Ella Gaming is.

Too many different stakeholders, so as you can imagine, as the president, I spend time with our trustees with our faculty with alumni with donors with foundations that support us, and local agencies and local businesses and students, etc. But you know, you really get a different perspective on the institution when you sit down informally and you just kind of talked to people about.

Tell me about your experience. What is Allegany mean to you so you know? Sometimes I'll go to mckinley's or to Brooks and our dining Hall and just sit down and you know, people go what's she doing here? Um, one of the really fun things Allegating has, which is something called late night breakfast and before exam start at the end of each semester, bunch of faculty, administrators, etc get behind the serving stations in the dining Hall.

And serve students so that was a really fun way to talk to students. As I was dishing out eggs and French toast for them and hearing about, you know what exams they had the next day and how this semester was going and all that. So I would say pretty much anyway that I can. I try to get in front of students on in terms of teaching. What might I teach? Well, it's an interesting question because Allegany unfortunately does not have an Italian Department and we have a very small art history.

A cluster of offerings, like, uhm, you, know what I would love to do a lot of again because my work is so interdisciplinary. Uhm, I actually have a an idea of team teaching with some of our literature, an art professors, and pulling that together where I can focus on the Italian version of things. And they might do the American side or things like that. So I have lots of ideas. It's just a matter of finding enough time.

Today, which there never seems to be.

The Great answer. Thank you and she's not kidding when she says she shows up to stop by, I show up to a number of events as well and there have been multiple occasions where, yeah, I will see her in a meeting the next day and she will say quote. I didn't see you at that event, so she is not kidding when she says she shows up to a number of different events across the campus community.

Next question here, definitely coming in. Can you please share your thoughts on campus safety?

Absolutely. So I will say um, for those of you not from Meadville, generally speaking, this is an incredibly tranquil and safe campus and local community, which is one of the I would say one of the reasons also that I was really drawn to it. You know, my family had lived in New York City for fit more than 15 years, and then in Rome, both of which I think, generally speaking, are very safe cities.

Right, there is something really lovely about being on the Allegheny Campus where it really is a very safe place to be. You know we are a community of 2300 people. Inevitably, there are going to be security issues. Small, but we have a great public safety office that works really closely, both as kind of supporting our students but also making sure that we keep the community safe.

Um and so yeah, I would say, generally speaking, it really is a very safe community. We also I will say are continually upgrading security measures, so uhm, you know card access, for example swipe card access an.

Um, unobtrusive cameras, security cameras, etc. So we are always looking for ways to even improve the safety and make the campus as secure as possible.

Thank you, the only thing I would add I've lived in a lot of different places as well. I think four or five different states another country and for me it's an extremely welcoming and caring community. I always joke that when I first moved here, you know what I had to adjust to was the fact that people wave and what I mean by that people wave who don't know you. And so when I first.

Around my wife would always say Cornell for goodness sake. Just wave back. You don't know them that they do in a small town and so I think there's something to be said about you. That small town charm as well.

Well you know I'm laughing because I'm so we live in the president's house which is very close to campus but off-campus. And many people know the president's house in in Meadville, uhm, and we live on a lovely Brookline St and the neighbors all know each other. And it's one of those places where everyone's out for Halloween, etc etc. But my husband and I sometimes walk down the street and you know, people wave and I wait and.

Way back and he'll say who's that? I don't know. I just wave 'cause they wave at me and you know you're bound to know somebody so it's always a good idea to be friendly, uhm?

I had sorry.

Nope, Nope. Thank you for adding that the next question. What about double majoring or studying two different things at Allegany?

Yeah, so in fact you have well. So let me say every Allegany Student Studies two different things which goes back to what I was saying about the the whole reason why I told my nephews that they should look at this institution that at the time I knew very little about, um, which is that our curriculum requires every student to have.

At the very least, a major and a minor in two completely different disciplines. So in the Sciences and the humanities or the the social Sciences and the Sciences, students, if they choose, can substitute a second major for that minor, so you can double major. But again, they need to be in, and this is what I love about it, because it's about sort of the intersection of those different disciplines in different viewpoints.

So you can substitute a second major for a minor and have two majors as well. Uhm?

And Uhm.

So let's see, um.

Right oh so and let me just say so the way um are Provo says this 'cause he says it more eloquently than I do. So again, you can have two different majors in two different disciplines, or you can actually do a double major in the same discipline if you also have the minor in another discipline. So the piece that is always present, which is so fundamental to Allegany?

Is that different discipline and therefore the different viewpoints that we require students to get as they move through their studies? And then what's interesting, as many of you might know if you've done some of your research, is that the capstone experience for every Allegany student is something called the comp. It's more than a senior project, it's more than a thesis. It is a thing at Allegany an it consumes.

A lot of students, senior year. It is an independent, original researched piece or program or project depending on you know if it's in the arts or something like that, and it's quite an undertaking and we have alums who tell us all the time that you know they got into Graduate School because the work that they did on their com was comparable to what other people might do in a Masters level program so.

It is serious research guided by the faculty, uhm. And so when you have a double major, uhm, you can focus it in one. You can focus your comp in one of the two, or you can do a com that integrates the two majors as well.

And if I can add when Doctor Wink mentioned earlier interdisciplinary being big, here I I'm quick to tell students and parents very few schools do interdisciplinary at the level at Allegany, does it because we require it? Certainly A plus in that respect.

And one other quick thing Cornell. I would say 'cause I I've gone in and out of interdisciplinarity, my whole academic career. And often people think will interdisciplinarity. That just means you throw a whole bunch of things together, and you don't actually focus in any of them.

But the remarkable thing about the way Allegany does it because it's so intentional and so structured, is it you really do. Because you're writing a comp in one area, you really do go in depth in that one area. But then you simultaneously look, you learn to look at things from another viewpoint. So you see that intersectionality, while also having a serious grounding in the one discipline.

Yes, thank you great great, great, great response again. Alright So what are some of your favorite clubs on campus in and why?

Oh my goodness, um.

She's I have not gotten to know a lot of it. I mean, one thing, I will say just about the part of the reason why I'm blanking is that, UM, one of the most remarkable events that I attended in my first month or so of being president when students all came back, they host at the beginning of every year, something called the involvement fair. Now last year, because it was my first year, they they did it up. It was like a circus theme and there were people on trap he I don't even know what was going on.

By what that was actually the less interesting part to me, the more interesting part was that the goal of the involvement fair is for every student club, an organization to basically put up a table with information. Some of the current participants, and knew students, whether their transfer students or first years, or really just anyone who wants to see what else to get involved in. They can go from table to table to table.

So so part of the reason why I'm hesitating is that the number of tables an clubs and organizations was completely overwhelming. I mean, there are hundreds, so everything from you know the international students club, which you know I have a personal affection for. To all of this sort of religious groups to sports with the rugby team. They were very cute, with two of my sons.

You know, as a club sport for example. Uhm, there are students in science club there are, I mean so many community service oriented groups and medical premed society. And so it's so overwhelming I wouldn't even know what to tell you. My favorite is.

Well, I I will. I will expand a little. There are over 120 plus clubs and organizations on campus. So so presently is right. There's a ton of 'em. I do actually have a few favorite software. Ultimate Frisbee called Gamers Club and don't judge me on this one, but I'm going to dark quit it. I'm a fan as well, but don't don't judge.

Hello, in the Dark Quidditch, I'll have to check that out at the next involvement fair.

Doctor me, could you, though you mention international club, could you put you on your way, your your your new efforts with the passport day? I think it is worth noting I think people will certainly enjoy hearing about that.

Absolutely um, so when I came to Allegany. Obviously we moved from Italy and it's very different to be living in northwest Pennsylvania. Then from being let's say in a big European Hub City. But when I was in Rome. I was running a global campus.

And so working with about 700 students per year who were all studying abroad from temple but also from 30 or so other colleges and universities. And much of my administrative karere husband focused on Internationalization, International Education. And you know, my family, and I truly live what I speak of because for us, having had the opportunity to live abroad for my kids to spend.

Uh, almost six really formative years of their life living and studying in Europe completely changed us, and so when I got to Allegany, Uhm, I felt it was really important to do everything that I could, even in a small way in the first year to remove any obstacles that students have to being able to study abroad. Do an internship abroad or travel abroad. So I started something which we did for the first time.

On moving day for first years and it was a passport fair and so we told everybody this in advance and we said if you've never had a passport or if you have a passport that has expired for free, the college covered it. Uhm, we set up a passport application booth in the campus center so students could move in with their families and then come over to the campus center and apply for a passport. It helped I will. This is where living in a small town.

Is really helpful and we probably wouldn't have been able to figure this one out in in New York City, let's say. But um, my assistant, who's a longtime employee of the college local resident. Her husband works in the post, the post office for many many years and and processing passport. So we were able to set up the entire system to have your photo taken apply for your passport and then 68 or the students got their passports. And it was so.

We it was such a success. We had 82 students of our entering. First years apply. Most of them had never had passports before and we actually broke the northwest Pennsylvania record for a single number of passports process in a one day fair. So that was exciting and it was so successful that we did them. I think three additional times throughout the year for both first year students and upperclassmen, and it's just been great when students say.

Oh my gosh, I've never had a passport before and now I think I want to study abroad because again, it's a small thing, but it's removing both the financial and logistical barrier to give up students every opportunity to be able to do that.

Great Alright Doctor. Wink as a last question. As a person who was moved to meet bill from further away can talk a little bit.

Yeah, more about your life here in favorite things in town.

Sure, um.

So I will say first name first of all, uhm.

Their life here. There's something really lovely about being in in Meadville, the Allegany campus, especially in springtime, is beautiful. Fall and spring winter, you know. But uhm, falling spring. It's really. It's beautiful. An nature. Around here is so accessible and so just inspiring. And, uhm, you know, my husband and I are both hikers and we love to be outdoors, bike riding, and walking and.

So for us being so close to um mountains being close to nature has been a huge, wonderful benefit. So whether it's riding bikes or walking on the Earths Trail, which is very close to downtown or, you know, taking our kids, skiing in Cambridge Springs, which is only 20 minutes away during the winter time and they were great program night time skiing just so many opportunities to be outdoors.

And to me, that's been one of the wonderful things about it. The other thing is that you get to know people really quickly. So again, you know it's a little different when you're the president. People know you, but it's remarkable to me when I pop into the coffee shop downtown. You always run into somebody you know and that is having lived in big cities for so long where you can go weeks without running into people you know there is something really lovely.

And kind of community affirming about being here for that as well.

Thank you and we're going to looks like we've got some great comments to end from folks who are watching. So glad that they've enjoyed it. Really nice comments there that I'm imagining everyone you can see. Because Katie has put him through. If there were questions that we could not answer, will be sure to respond.

Again, within a week to get those questions answered, I have to take a moment to say thank you so much to doctor link for joining us. What a wonderful wonder. What a wonderful session and it really was just more of a conversation. So thank you, thank you too.

My pleasure, thank you for having me and please anyone feel free to you, know, send questions through and pass along any comments or questions that you might have. We're always happy to respond.

Will see you see her soon.

Yes, thank you to Katie.

Yes, my gosh yes and thank you to everyone who's watching. Certainly those seniors. We look forward to welcoming you to campus in the fall.

Take care everyone.

Have a good night.