[W]hen Mariko Silver was first hired as the president of Bennington College, she said she was flooded with emails, letters and calls from friends, all telling her that the most interesting person in their lives had gone to Bennington. For a college with an enrollment of 700, that wasn’t something she was expecting to hear.
“I always say every interesting person has a Bennington connection,” Silver said. “I’m amazed at how much that’s true.”
After six years, Silver is stepping down from her role as the college’s president on July 1 to work as president and CEO of the Henry Luce Foundation, a private New York City philanthropic organization. But she’s leaving behind a legacy as one of the college’s most impactful and beloved presidents.
Silver’s path to the top of higher education was far from traditional. Though she does have a Ph.D. — in economic geography from UCLA — she hasn’t followed the strictly academic path that most higher education leaders tend to do.
She came to Bennington from the Department of Homeland Security’s office of international affairs, which she led under the Obama administration. Before that, she worked as a senior adviser to the president at Arizona State University, helping to lead the school through one of the biggest redesigns in its history.
She was actually about to move to Vietnam to work in reforming engineering education before Bennington offered her the job.
“When I came here, I fell head over heels for this place,” Silver said in an interview Tuesday. “And it still feels that way.”
Silver oversaw the creation of a long-term strategic plan at Bennington that stabilized the institution’s finances, renovated key campus structures, like its historic Commons building, and created a number of new institutional partnerships. Her tenure also saw commitments to Bennington’s endowment quadruple to $60 million, and the largest capital campaign in the school’s history, raising more than $90 million for the school, according to a press release from the board of trustees.
In the past year, several of Vermont’s smallest colleges — like Southern Vermont College and Green Mountain College — have announced that they’re closing their doors. Silver said though Bennington is similar in size, she’s not worried about them facing that same fate. If she was, she said, she wouldn’t be leaving.
Silver said the colleges that have faced those issues are ones that have a mostly in-state enrollment. She said it’s all connected to Vermont’s larger demographic problem — something she said she’s talked to several governors and legislators about. But at Bennington, Silver said those same problems don’t really apply.
The student body is 17% international, and among domestic students, 96% come from out of state. Silver said she’s always believed that students have a huge value to the state’s economy, and not just because of their direct economic impact for the four years they’re in school.
“There’s an extreme value in higher education, and in private higher education in particular,” Silver said. “It draws people from all over to the Vermont economy, and exposes young people to the opportunities of living in Vermont. Many of them come back, even if it’s not right away, for the vibrant opportunities here.”
Over the years, Bennington has taken some heat for the cost of its tuition. It was once the highest in the country, though it is now much further down that list — the current tuition, including room and board is $69,970. Silver said that kind of criticism comes from a place of people not wanting to understand or appreciate the work that students at liberal arts schools do.
“People like to throw that around — people who don’t understand the school,” Silver said. “People who want to say something denigrating about the arts, people who want to say something denigrating about the importance of being able to engage your full creative self in whatever work you do.”
She said the work that happens at Bennington is well worth the price.
Dean and Provost Isabel Roche will serve as interim president while the college conducts a national search for Silver’s replacement, which they expect to happen in the 2019-20 academic year.
Roche said Silver has been a great leader for Bennington — one that gave people room to work in their own ways.
“Since her arrival, and consistently through her time here, she’s pushed Bennington to claim its own strengths and to own what it does so well and so instinctively, and to continue to strengthen those areas,” Roche said. “And also know its challenges.”
Roche said moving forward, she wants to continue the work she and Silver began, both internally — with a new program for first year students and a new integrated learning approach to “connect the dots” between students’ internships, schoolwork and community experiences — and externally, with things like a $1 million grant the college just received to work with community partners studying the causes of the food insecurity that plagues Bennington County.
Meanwhile, Silver will be heading to New York to head the Henry Luce Foundation, which supports programs in higher education, Asian affairs, theology, women in science, engineering and the environment. Silver said she’s really excited to work with these areas that she’s already so passionate about.
“Their dedication to some of the core elements of what makes robust democracy and civic life possible in the United States is really amazing,” Silver said.
Silver said the work she’s done at Bennington has been as challenging as it was exciting, but that she thinks it’s some of the most important work a person can do.
“In really important and long-overdue ways, some of the demographics in higher education are changing and becoming more inclusive,” Silver said. “We’re building and rebuilding a culture of community, I hope it’s something every higher education institution is doing. And it’s incredibly gratifying and real work. It’s some of the most important work we can do.”
