September 2025 Board of Trustees Meeting Summary

Dear Grinnell Community,

The Board of Trustees gathered for their fall meeting on campus September 25-27, 2025.  Board leadership — Chair Sheryl Walter and Vice-Chairs Christina Cutlip and Kristin Stout — arrived early to meet in person with the Executive Council, Staff Council, and Student Government Association leadership.  Connecting with these groups shapes Board discussions and is an important part of the Board engaging with campus.    Additionally, trustees whose travel arrangements allowed, participated in “Coffee with the College” in the Weingart Civic Pavillion with Trustees Sheryl Walter ‘78, Laura Sander ’84 and Julie Gosselink serving on the panel.  New Trustees [Jeff Greenberg ‘80, Melinda Lopes ‘85, Karmi Ann J. Mattson ‘97 and Saumil Parikh ‘99] spent the rest of Thursday in their orientation session.

On Thursday the Board joined members of the Humanities Division and learned from Dustin Dixon, Associate Professor of Classics what a “classic” is and how we might imagine our own connection with the literature of ancient Greece and Rome.   After dinner, trustees gathered with students in the HSSC atrium for dessert.

 On Friday morning, Trustees had breakfast with the staff from the Academic Success Center and the Math and Writing Labs and then went into executive session to hear reports from President Harris and Chair Walter.

For the remainder of the morning, the Board was in general session with members of the Executive Council, faculty that serve on board committees, Staff Council leadership, SGA leadership and members of Senior Leadership. That session consisted of committee reports, and analysis of the year-end financial report for FY 25.   Additionally, those assembled continued their focus on the College’s financial model by hearing from Bernadine Douglas, Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations, regarding campaign progress and the fundraising roadmap.  The four actions and outcomes of the campaign presented were: 

• Preserve and Expand College Access
• Champion the Liberal Arts Tradition
• Create Spaces to Foster Community
• Prepare Students for Positive Impact

The board took a break for lunch and several trustees attended the Community Friday session dedicated to “A Conversation about Generative Artificial Intelligence” led by Andi Tracy, Associate Dean for Students Academic Life and Associate Professor of Psychology, and campus partners. After lunch, JT Thayer, Chief Investment Officer, presented the College’s Annual Endowment Report and he and Exit 182 LLC chair, Yuki Narula ‘94, took questions.

After the endowment report, Vice President for Enrollment Joe Bagnoli shared data from the latest market research conducted for Grinnell, regarding enrollment trends at Grinnell and in the sector, as well as institutional responses to both through the following four topics:

• Demographic deep dive for the class of 2029 and recent classes 
• Market research on enrollment trends and factors impacting enrollments
• Market research on prospective students
• Strategic response  to all of the above

 For the remainder of the afternoon, trustees heard from Dean Ruth Feingold who shared a talk titled “Life Lessons in the Liberal Arts,” and then transitioned to a student-centered discussion about the athletics visual logo.

President Harris hosted the board for dinner and they greatly enjoyed the food prepared by Interim Chef Amber Lacina and her team of talented colleagues.

Saturday’s executive session began with a discussion of President Harris’s 2024-2025 self-assessment, followed by the following votes:

• Approval of minutes from May 2025 and the award of degrees to those eligible for December 2025 graduation 
• FY 27 Comprehensive Fee
• Approval of the Investment Policy Statement
• Establishing a Line of Credit
• FY 25 Audit

At the conclusion of the votes, the board heard and discussed a legislative update from Brad Lindberg, Associate Vice President of Institutional Initiatives and Enrollment, and Myrna Hernández, Chief of Staff and Vice President of Administration.

Thank you to all campus partners who are involved in board visits — your presence, experiences, and expertise are all deeply appreciated by the Board in their fiduciary care and stewardship of our shared endeavors for the community members of Grinnell College.

With gratitude,

Meg Jones Bair
Office of the President
Secretary of the College
641-821-5679