From Interim Dean Rachel A. Walsh, June 2025
As we conclude another school year full of transformational learning and prepare to celebrate our 2025 graduates, I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge some of our accomplishments over the past year.
Our generous CAHSS donors once again enabled us to bring vital topics in the liberal arts to life within our broader community through our Livingston, Wolzien and Harper lectures. We added eight new tenure-track faculty members and four new teaching-line faculty members, will soon welcome Brian Pertl, our new director of the Lamont School of Music and integrated our new CAHSS Support Services teams.
Thanks to our talented CAHSS Advancement Team, led by Jennifer Garner, we exceeded our yearly fundraising goal of $8 million. Our fundraising results include $500,000 to support the University Art Collection, $1 million to support internships in Media, Film & Journalism Studies and $1 million for an Endowed Chair in the Study of Sexuality. We also received $25,000 for the Black Studies minor, $450,000 for a three-year Emil and Eva Hecht Visiting Professor in Holocaust and Antisemitism Studies and $100,000 to support the undergrad Mock Trial Program.
We conducted a comprehensive, collaborative search involving faculty, staff and students toward the appointment of our new Dean of CAHSS, Dr. Sahara Byrne, slated to assume her role July 1. Her thoughtful leadership partnered with our creative, talented and intelligent staff, faculty and students will bring a renewed sense of energy and possibility to our college. I’m excited to see the collaborative vision that will shape CAHSS’s future under her guidance.
As we head into graduation week and approach our undergraduate commencement ceremony on June 13, I’m especially delighted that for the first time, our CAHSS graduate student celebration on June 12 will feature a traditional hooding ceremony. The practice of wearing academic regalia to identify a graduate’s degree/field of study has deep roots in Medieval Europe and has evolved to symbolize a graduate’s transition from student to scholar. I’d like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to all our wonderful undergraduate and graduate students and their families as we gather to celebrate these joyful milestones.
Finally, as I transition out of my role as your Interim Dean, it has been an honor to guide CAHSS through a time of complexity and change that has only deepened my admiration for the resilience, heart and brilliance that each of you bring to our community. Thank you for your dedication, contributions and partnership. Amid a challenging academic landscape, I carry a deep belief in the continued impact and purpose of this extraordinary college and the pursuit of a liberal arts education. Though my role is changing, my support for CAHSS remains steadfast, and I look forward to seeing all we will accomplish together in the years ahead.
Warmly,
Rachel A. Walsh
Interim Dean, Associate Professor
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
