Dear Williams-Mystic alumni and friends,
I’m writing today with significant news about the future of Williams-Mystic.
On Wednesday, April 17, Williams President Maud Mandel emailed me to say that the senior leadership of the College is thinking seriously about not renewing a partnership agreement with Mystic Seaport Museum; doing so would end Williams’ financial support that has existed since July 1, 2015.
This would effectively close the Program as of June 30, 2025.
This message came as a shock to me because until last Wednesday, there had been no indication that the Program was on the potential chopping block. No communication, no invitation to problem solve, no dire concerns raised.
Until this recent notice, the College has showcased Williams-Mystic as an ideal for how a liberal arts education should be, appearing in the
Williams strategic plan for providing experiential pedagogy that is “life changing personally as well as academically.”
Why this abrupt about face and short timeline?
Following this alarming news, a representative Williams-Mystic team met last week in Williamstown with President Mandel and Provost Eiko Maruko Siniawer to clarify the College’s position.
President Mandel affirmed there is little question about the educational value of Williams-Mystic and praised our efforts to strengthen its financial foundation, but she also reiterated that the college is “thinking seriously about the perennial challenge of sustaining a resource-intensive program that serves relatively few Williams students,” and that nothing we had proposed had changed her perspective.
When asked why we weren’t invited to be a part of an analysis of their concerns before April 17, we were told they didn’t include us because they weren’t interested in advocacy.Williams senior staff plan to make a decision about the future of a life-changing and award-winning program in approximately 60 days, by July 1, 2024.
What does this mean for Williams-Mystic?
It means that the College may, through its non-renewal of the agreement, effectively close this signature program without fully examining all options. As Williams-Mystic has transformed the lives of many, we stand ready to engage with the Museum, College, and others to explore short term and long term solutions. Together we will work to meet new reasonable goals and metrics to address the new concerns expressed by the President and Provost. We can do so with thoughtful planning and communication, while also continuing to transform the lives of current students.
We just need time to do so. We need your help.
If you have experienced the positive impact of Williams-Mystic, I urge you to share your own story and the impact Williams-Mystic is having on the world through you.
Contact faculty you know at Williams to urge them to support the Program, voice your support for exploring all options to continue the Program, and encourage Williams leadership to extend the agreement with the Museum for three more years (this follows the normal schedule of renewal). This would provide us enough time to thoughtfully and strategically address all concerns related to resource intensity and Williams student participation.
Williams Senior Staff include:
What else can I do?
Please check in with your own Williams-Mystic community, spread the word, use your network as support, and lean into your shipmates. If you think a WM friend may not be receiving our communications, please share this message with them (and
encourage them to update their info here.)
I have more questions!
This is the first message of several.We will keep you in the loop as we learn more. For more background and detail on the information we shared above, go to
this page where we'll answer your questions as we can.
We are committed to seeing this Program continue to transform lives, and we look forward to celebrating our 50th anniversary with you in the fall of 2027.
Sincerely,
Tom Van Winkle, Ph.D.
Executive Director
