2022–23 Community Announcements

Dear Campus Community,

Today, the Supreme Court of the United States announced a ruling in two cases deciding the use of race as a factor in determining college and university admissions, Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University.

The court ruled in favor of Students for Fair Admissions in both cases, which means that colleges and universities will not be able to consider race in the admission process. As a nonprofit, private institution that receives federal funding, RISD must and will follow the law. This summer we will review our admissions practices to ensure they are compliant with this ruling.

RISD will work to ensure it uses an admission process that takes into consideration the full potential of prospective students in accordance with the recent court rulings.

We will spend the next few weeks reviewing and interpreting what this decision means for RISD and will provide additional information soon after. Please know throughout this process, we will continue to hold firm to our commitment of fostering an inclusive and diverse community.

Sincerely,
Crystal Williams (she/her)
President

Dear Faculty and Staff,

On May 9, President Williams announced two initiatives that will strengthen RISD for the future and set the stage for our next strategic planning process: the Holistic Student Wellness Initiative and the Financial Optimization Initiative.  I write today to provide an update on these initiatives and announce the members of the core committees, which will drive the work and lead our community’s engagement in these efforts.

As you will recall, to provide the widest pool of candidates and build the most robust and representative committees, we invited all faculty and staff to self-nominate, and we gathered nominations from Cabinet, Deans, and managers.  With the goal of building 20-person committees that are as representative as possible of our full community, we selected members for the core committees based on stakeholder group, division or unit, subject matter expertise, personal backgrounds and experience, and other factors.

The Holistic Student Wellness Initiative aims to provide a comprehensive examination of student wellness, including the degree to which the living, learning and working environments we provide for students are consistent with our stated values concerning their physical, emotional and mental well-being. In addition to two student leaders to be named this fall, members of this committee are:Patricia Barbeito - Professor, Literary Arts and Studies

• David Carreon Bradley - Vice President, Social Equity and Inclusion
• Janice DeFrances - Senior Lecturer, Teaching + Learning in Art + Design
• Ginnie Dunleavy - Executive Director, Auxiliary Services
• Spencer Evans - Assistant Professor, Experimental and Foundation Studies
• Holly Gaboriault – Assistant Professor-in-Residence, Illustration
• Touba Ghadessi - Provost
• Alison Huff - Academic Division Manager, Fine Arts
• Bethany Jankunis - Vice President of Strategy and Planning & Senior Advisor to the President
• Tony Johnson - Associate Dean, Student Social Equity and Inclusion
• Elyana Kadish - Health Educator, Student Affairs
• Maya Krinsky - Associate Director, Multilingual Learning and Inclusive Teaching
• Deborah Levans - Director, Counseling and Psychological Services
• Khipra Nichols - Associate Professor, Industrial Design
• Jennifer Prewitt-Freilino - Dean, Liberal Arts
• Sara Rothenberger - Associate Dean of Students, Student Affairs
• Joanne Stryker - Dean, Experimental and Foundation Studies
• Brian Ulrich - Department Head and Associate Professor, Photography

The Financial Optimization Initiative aims to strengthen our long-term financial sustainability, maximize the use of our limited funds and build new and expanded revenue streams that strengthen our financial base and support our mission. Members of this core committee are:

• Alejandro Borsani - Associate Professor, Experimental and Foundational Studies
• Jennifer Bose - Deputy Director, Museum Finance and Operations
• David Carreon Bradley - Vice President, Social Equity and Inclusion
• John Caserta - Dean, Architecture and Design
• Sarah Cunningham - Vice Provost, Strategic Partnerships
• Bob DiMuccio - Board of Trustees
• Susan Doyle - Professor, Illustration
• Fabian Fondriest – Board of Trustees
• Richard Gann- Senior Critic, Illustration
• Touba Ghadessi - Provost
• Brooks Hagan - Dean, Fine Arts
• Brandon Ice - Director of Operations, Student Affairs
• Bethany Jankunis - Vice President of Strategy and Planning & Senior Advisor to the President
• Leora Maltz-Leca - Professor, Theory and History of Art and Design
• Jorge Mejia - Director, Auxiliary Business Affairs and Budget
• Rick Mickool - Chief Information Officer
• David Rosati - Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration
• Jack Silva - Vice President, Campus Services
• Nicholas Ventola - Technical Assistant III, Experimental and Foundation Studies
• Liliane Wong - Professor, Interior Architecture

Thank you to these individuals for committing to lead this important work, which will begin formally this fall. It is clear that in order to be successful and maximize the impact of these efforts we must engage the insights, expertise, passion and creativity of our full community. We will create many ways to do so throughout this process and look forward to you joining us in this work.

Sincerely,
Bethany Jankunis
Vice President of Strategy and Planning & Senior Advisor to the President

As we approach the end of the fiscal year, I am writing with an update on next year’s budget, which begins on July 1.

In my February memo about next year’s tuition rate, I discussed how RISD, like colleges across the country, is facing rising costs as prices rise on everything from energy and housing to food and materials. This situation continues to persist. And in the past three months the fiscal realities of FY24 have come into sharper view.

Next year we face the added challenge of having fewer students enrolled. The graduating class of 2023 was our largest to date due to the many students who returned after deferring during COVID. We are at the end of that COVID-related enrollment spike. And we did not hit our graduate and transfer student enrollment goals. As a tuition-dependent institution, a smaller enrollment means a particularly challenging operating budget.

To ensure that we operate in the most fiscally responsible way in FY24, we are—as I shared in February— decreasing discretionary operating costs in some areas, working with senior leaders to identify additional financial efficiencies and are beginning to consider which other short-term cost-saving measures to implement over the course of FY24. We are also launching the Financial Optimization Initiative to strengthen our long-term financial sustainability.

While we are facing a challenging financial environment, it remains critical that we recognize our staff members’ hard work and keep wages advancing with the external market. Therefore, non-union staff will receive a 2.5% salary increase effective July 1, 2023. 

Those who were at RISD last year will recall that we were able to give a 4% increase for FY23. That was because we had a budget surplus at the time, a rare occurrence in RISD’s history that was due to enrollment surpassing budget expectations, a higher-than-typical staff vacancy rate resulting in salary savings, lower-than-anticipated non-personnel spending and bond refinancing resulting in $1 million in savings. We noted at the time that we might not be able to replicate a similar increase in future years due to increasing pressure on revenues and expenses, which has proven to be the case. You may read the complete June 23, 2022 announcement here for reference.

Although challenges lie ahead, I am looking forward to FY24 and beyond with confidence and optimism. I wish you a wonderful start to the summer. 

Dear Community,

I am writing to inform you that Vice President for Institutional Advancement O’Neil Outar has decided to leave RISD to pursue new opportunities. His last day will be December 1. O’Neil has been an exceptional leader for Institutional Advancement, and his work has left a lasting impact on the college and our alumni community.

Since joining RISD in January 2018, O’Neil has rebuilt nearly every aspect of the college’s alumni engagement programs and its development operations. He and his staff rebooted the RISD Alumni Association and developed a tremendous range of opportunities for alumni to become involved with each other and with the college: for example, regional clubs have more than doubled, there are more than 20 new affinity groups, thousands of alumni have joined the RISD Network and there are reunions, travel programs, library collections, annual art sales, a podcast and two magazines. O’Neil has dramatically changed and improved opportunities for RISD’s 31,000 alumni to connect with the college, an accomplishment for which we are all truly grateful.

O’Neil’s accomplishments as a fundraiser are just as impressive. He and his team have raised $120 million since 2018 through four of the five best fundraising years in our history. These efforts have empowered RISD to steeply increase financial aid, create the Society of Presidential Fellows, establish 13 named professorships and directorships and led to the launches of the Sustainability Design Lab, the Movement Lab and a range of other new programs for students and faculty.

In addition, O’Neil has made strong contributions as an administrative leader. Because of their engagement and fundraising successes, his team has found a range of campus partners—from the RISD Museum, Continuing Education and Fleet Library to many academic departments and programs. O’Neil also led Institutional Advancement to be one of the first divisions to establish an SEI plan focused on an inclusive and diverse engagement strategy while also making RISD a national leader in sponsoring internships to promote diversity in the advancement profession.

In the months ahead, I will work closely with O’Neil to ensure a smooth transition and I will be back in touch to share details as we solidify a plan. 

Please join me in thanking O’Neil for his distinguished service and tremendous contributions to our community. 

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams
she/her

Dear Campus Community,

With crits just completed and Commencement + Reunion Weekend around the corner, the last days of the semester are upon us.

We began the year with the promise of possibility ahead of us. Visiting crits over the past week, I witnessed the remarkable ways our students have acted on those possibilities. They have embraced the opportunity to test ideas, experiment with new materials, push boundaries, hone their skills and, as a result, shape the next steps in their creative life. The innovation and rigor revealed during these studio visits reminds me of how special a place RISD is.

So much of that is due to RISD’s outstanding staff and faculty. Our staff advanced critical initiatives and, as always, went above and beyond to support our students. Faculty connected students to new people and experiences that will push their practice and learning forward, and worked together to innovate by, for example, creating a translation tool for ER patients, a symposium exploring the climate crisis and expanding the scope of the Studio for Research in Sound and Technology.

We also completed searches for four key leadership positions. With just our Museum director search remaining, we will have a nearly complete leadership team in place this summer. I am excited to see how our new leaders’ knowledge, experience, passion and perspective will enrich our incredible community.

I want to express my gratitude to all of you for how you have contributed to RISD this year and for how you have welcomed me into our community. From warmly greeting me when I arrived on campus last spring and providing suggestions of places to go and things to do as I got to know RISD and Providence, to sharing your candid feedback in listening sessions, at dinners and in passing, and at critical moments of conflict, your insight has been instrumental in helping me understand more about our community’s needs and opportunities for growth. Informed by what you have shared this year, we have exciting and important work on the horizon, such as the Financial Optimization and Holistic Student Wellness initiatives, which will help set an essential foundation for our future. In addition, as I mentioned in my email on Wednesday, our Community and Culture Assessment is underway. As we engage on these topics and others and move forward together, I am continuing to observe and listen, and I hope you will continue to share your insights with me.

Summer often gives us the chance to slow down and rejuvenate our bodies and minds. I hope this season gives you many opportunities to relax, reflect and connect with the things and people that you hold dear. I look forward to gathering with our entire community this fall, invigorated and eager for the next academic year.

But first we have a celebratory Commencement + Reunion Weekend ahead! I hope to see you then as we gather to recognize the incredible accomplishments of the Class of 2023 and welcome our outstanding alumni back to campus.

Take Good Care.

Crystal Williams (she/her)
President

In April, I appointed an advisory group charged with identifying steps to be taken to help us come to terms with and learn from the fractures that were revealed in our community as we attended to the labor strike. Since April 26, the Community Advisory Group has met weekly to discuss their personal experiences and share their understanding of the broader conditions on campus that underscore the root causes of our community’s fractures. The group has helpfully outlined their collective process and recommended both short-term and longer-term opportunities to share experiences and take action, which you can read about in their attached letter. I have appreciated their frankness and vulnerability and their willingness to share and work through difficult conversations and uncomfortable truths to help our institution take steps toward healing.

Most of the recommendations the advisory group has identified can be characterized as concerning the ways in which RISD can and should be a more inclusive, equitable and caring living, learning and working environment. Relatedly, as you know, we are currently taking steps to address and improve the living, learning and working experience of students, staff and faculty. A foundational component of that work is the Community and Culture Assessment (often referred to as a “climate survey”) we launched this spring. That assessment recently began with focus groups (completed in late April) and will be followed by the climate assessment survey that will be open to all RISD students, staff and faculty this fall. More immediately, however, will emerge a series of focus group-derived recommendations upon which we can take immediate action. We anticipate receiving those recommendations in the next month. Given these two concurrent strains of work—the focus group recommendations and the recommendations made by the advisory group—which we anticipate will inform each other and may possibly overlap, we will wait to communicate the actions items that we will undertake related to both in a single communication, which we expect will be forthcoming in June.

For now, I would like to extend my appreciation to Student Alliance Vice President Karma Johnson 26 EFS and Interim Assistant Provost of SEI Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa for co-chairing this group, and the community members, listed in the attached, who serve on it. 

These recommendations and initiatives are essential to our collective efforts to invest in the health of our community.

Thank you for your care and consideration as we work to better embody our values through action. I will communicate action items that emerge from the advisory group and focus group recommendations over the summer.

LEARN MORE

Dear Campus Community,

As you may be aware, the US Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on two cases involving affirmative action: Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University. You can learn more about these cases here.

Like colleges across the country, we are closely following these cases. I have convened a group of senior leaders to examine how the cases’ possible outcomes could potentially impact RISD, and to proactively develop related action plans as needed.

As you may know, federal law has long permitted the use of affirmative action in a variety of contexts, including in college and university admissions. Under limited circumstances, to support their educational mission, higher education institutions may use race-conscious measures to promote diversity on campus. It is this approach—using race as one factor among many for determining admission—that is now in question, and the ruling we expect soon from the Supreme Court.

RISD students are curious, creative thinkers who come from all over the world, and our admissions process reflects the diversity of their educational, life and artistic experiences.

To determine admissions decisions, we look for candidates who meet our rigorous portfolio standards and have a strong high school curriculum, letters of recommendation and involvement within their home community. Among students who meet these criteria, we also consider a host of other traits—including race and ethnicity, gender and first-generation to college status, among others. This multifaceted approach helps us ensure that our student body reflects our belief in the power of multiplicity and its valuable impact on the education of our students.

Every student accepted to RISD meets our holistic admissions criteria, and place RISD in the enviable position of having a 13% acceptance rate this year. Only 50 schools in the US have an acceptance rate below 15%, making RISD among the nation’s most selective institutions of higher education.

Once the Supreme Court issues its decisions, we will closely review them and determine what, if any, modifications to institutional practices we might make. 

No matter the outcome of these cases, our commitment to fostering an inclusive and diverse community will remain unwavering.

Sincerely, 
Crystal Williams (she/her)
President

Dear Faculty and Staff,

Today we kickoff planning for two initiatives that will strengthen RISD for the future and set the stage for our next strategic planning process. 

The Financial Optimization Initiative (formerly the Financial Sustainability Task Force) aims to strengthen our long-term financial sustainability, maximize the use of our limited funds and build new and expanded revenue streams that strengthen our financial base, and increase resources to support our core mission. The initial work will include:

• a review of the institution’s business model, including its strengths and vulnerabilities, and recommendations for alternative future models.
• a deep analysis of RISD's historical spending, including identifying and quantifying longstanding, complex academic and administratively inefficient practices and structures, along with recommendations for alternative ways of operating in these areas.
• identification and feasibility analyses of opportunities to increase revenue from non-traditional sources.

The Holistic Student Wellness Initiative aims to provide a comprehensive examination of student wellness, including the degree to which the living, learning and working environments we provide for students are consistent with our stated values concerning their physical, emotional and mental well-being. The initial work will include:

• developing an expansive definition of wellness and thriving across a student’s journey from applicant to alumni.
• using quantitative and qualitative data to measure and understand overall wellness among subsets of students.
• assessing the degree to which current systems, practices and policies support or challenge student wellness and recommendations for change
• proposing new and expanded programs and other creative approaches that foster student wellness. 

These initiatives have been carefully shaped to integrate the thoughtful feedback and advice that I have received from members of our community about their hopes for future planning. The initiatives will:

• Dig into complex institutional challenges that have been repeatedly identified and long-recognized but not fully addressed.
• Be deeply collaborative and engage all constituencies through each stage, allowing us to benefit from the great expertise, passion and creativity of our faculty, staff, students, alumni and board members. 
• Begin- not end- with a robust exploration of each topic and the development of findings and recommendations led by a core committee.  With continued community engagement, we then will prioritize from among the recommendations, develop operational plans and timelines, then implement them.
• Be transparent, including regularly sharing information and progress updates through a variety of vehicles, including email, in-person presentations and an interactive webpage. 

The work for each initiative will be led by a small, multi-stakeholder core committee of 15- 20 members charged with engaging and convening the community deeply in its work, then shaping findings and recommendations that are responsive to the initiative's charge. This work will begin fully in the fall and continue for approximately 1½ years. Core committees will include some members appointed directly because of their subject matter expertise or position and others appointed following self-nomination. Members of the Dean’s Council and Cabinet will provide input into the composition of each committee to ensure committees are comprised of a broad range of stakeholders, subject matter expertise, and experience.  Bethany Jankunis, vice president of strategy and planning and senior advisor to the president, will hold responsibility for launching and leading both initiatives.

If you would like to self-nominate for Core Committee membership, please complete this brief form for the Financial Optimization Initiative or this form for the Holistic Student Wellness Initiative by Tuesday, May 15.

I look forward to receiving your nomination and fully launching these important initiatives early this fall.

Sincerely,
Crystal (she/her)

Dear Campus Community,

I am pleased to announce that we have concluded the search for our vice president of social equity and inclusion. David T. Carreon Bradley, EdD, PhD (he/they), who currently serves as vice president for equity and justice and senior diversity officer at Occidental College, will join our community on July 1. David will oversee the Center for SEI and Equity and Compliance.

David brings an essential mix of scholarly and administrative experience that is a wonderful fit for RISD and this role. Their background, which includes administrative work and teaching at a broad range of higher education institutions, will enable them to grasp RISD’s unique culture quickly and harness the ongoing good thinking and good work of our community to create and steward a holistic, strategic framework that further bolsters RISD’s social equity and inclusion commitments.

In their current role at Occidental, David carries out structural and strategic work to increase diversity and inclusion while infusing equity and justice into day-to-day life at the college.

Earlier in their academic career, they served as vice president for inclusion, diversity and equity at Smith College and as academic diversity officer at California State University, Fullerton. At Occidental, Smith and Vassar College, they also served as an associate professor of physics. Please find more information about David here.

We conducted a robust search for this critical leadership position. I would like to extend my gratitude to the search committee’s co-chairs—Avishek Ganguly, associate professor of Literary Arts and Studies, and Renee Byas, general counsel—and its members, who are listed below. I would also like to thank those of you who participated in interviews or attended the candidate talks during the finalist stage of our search.

While this search was underway, we continued to deliver on our commitment to social equity and inclusion thanks to the exceptional leadership and tireless dedication of Tony Johnson 93 SC and Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa, who have expertly co-led this work as our interim assistant vice president for SEI and interim assistant provost for SEI, respectively. Thank you so very much, Tony and Stanley. I am grateful for all you have accomplished this year.

Please join me in welcoming David to our community!

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams (she/her)
President

VP SEI Search Committee

Avishek Ganguly – co-chair,  associate professor, Literary Arts and Studies

Renee Byas – co-chair, general counsel

Anna Brooks – director, Public Safety

Jess Brown – assistant professor, Industrial Design

Tony Johnson – associate dean, student social equity and inclusion; interim assistant vice president, social equity and inclusion

Suzanne Mathew – associate professor, Landscape Architecture

Nicole Merola – dean of faculty and professor, environmental humanities & american literatures

Conor Moynihan – assistant curator of prints, drawings and photographs, RISD Museum

Kate Sacco – director, International Student & Scholar Affairs

Joanne Stryker – dean, Experimental and Foundation Studies

Nicole Verardo – director, Disability Services & Academic Support

Dear Campus Community,

I am happy to inform you that we have hired David Rosati as our next senior vice president for finance and administration. David, who is currently Curry College’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, will join us on a part-time basis beginning May 8 and then begin full-time on August 1. Campus Services, Information Technology Services, Human Resources and Finance, which includes the Budget and Controller’s offices, will report to David.

I’m beyond thrilled that David will be joining our senior team. During the interview process, it quickly became clear that he is a proven leader and someone his colleagues admire and seek out for guidance. David’s broad experience and expertise is a great boon to RISD. And his commitment to advancing the arts, art and design education, and social equity and inclusion means we are gaining a strong leader who will foster our institutional values.

David has more than 30 years of experience in higher education finance and administration. Prior to Curry College, he served as New England Law’s chief financial officer, Anna Maria College’s vice president of finance and administration, Wheelock College’s controller and Brandeis University’s associate director of budget and planning. David has a BSBA in Accounting from Northeastern University and an MBA from Fitchburg State University. He is a member of the National Association of College and University Business Officers and its sister affiliation, the Eastern Association of College & University Business Officers, where he serves as a committee member. David is also an evaluator for the New England Commission of Higher Education and participates on a team that assesses reaccreditations for colleges and universities.

I would like to extend my deep appreciation to Kathy Chery, Tom Mattos, Rick Mickool, Liz Rainone and Jack Silva for their strong and dedicated leadership of our Finance and Administration teams during the search for this position. I would also like to thank those of you who participated in interviews during the finalist stage of our search.

Please join me in welcoming David to the RISD community!

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams (she/her)
President

Dear Staff and Faculty,

Today I am writing to inform you that, as of July 1, all non-temporary, non-bargaining unit staff will earn at least $20/hour. Concurrently, we are talking with relevant bargaining units related to their wages.

Our next focus, to be completed by summer 2023, will be to develop a plan to address pay compression resulting from establishing a new minimum rate of pay. This work will be done by area and will be included as part of RISD’s compensation project involving AON.

This week, we will communicate individually with all non-temporary, non-bargaining unit employees whose wages will change on July 1 as a result of this new minimum wage of $20/hour, and I will keep all community members informed as this collective work progresses.

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams (she/her) 
President

Dear Community,

At convocation in September, I spoke about how, in my experience, the best, most inclusive communities are those in which people with different opinions and world views, strengths and imperfections can co-exist and learn from and with one another. They do this by engaging each other with rounded edges rather than sharp elbows, and they offer each other grace, believing in a shared and genuine commitment to continue trying until the collective can get it right.

The labor strike this month brought into sharp relief cracks in our community that are in need of repair. Some of that work is very tangible, such as the initiative underway to address the wages of all of our lowest paid employees. There is also the less tangible work of asking ourselves hard questions about what type of community we want to be and what type of community we can be.

Some among us may simply want to move on and put this month behind us. But in doing so we miss an essential opportunity to work collectively to prepare for the next moment when our community is put to a test. So I write to ask that we together lean into this difficult and uncomfortable space, and that we do this as an investment in our community.

As one approach, I have appointed an advisory group charged with identifying immediate steps to be taken to help us come to terms with and learn from recent events, and to reconcile. This group will determine immediate and longer-term opportunities to share experiences and take action as we heal together. I thank Interim Assistant Provost of SEI Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa and Student Alliance Vice President Karma Johnson 26 EFS for co-chairing this group and the community members listed below who will serve on it. 

In this challenging moment, I urge us to carry what we have learned and experienced with us as we build a stronger community together.

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams (she/her)
President

Community Advisory Group

This list is current as of publishing this message. Any new names will continue to be added.

Co-Chairs:

• Karma Johnson 26 EFS, vice president of Student Alliance, co-chair
• Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa, Interim Assistant Provost for SEI, co-chair

Members:

• Zaineb Aljumayaat 25 IL, Department Representative—Student Alliance
• Douglas Borkman, Technical Assistant III, Sculpture
• Lizzie Brown 24 FAV
• Jeanette Cosentini, Technical Assistant II
• Clara Delgado MFA 24 PH
• Alexis Garcia, Event Specialist & R25 Administrator
• Bethany Jankunis, Vice President of Strategy & Planning/Senior Advisor
• Tony Johnson, Associate Dean for Student Social Equity & Inclusion; Interim Assistant Vice President for SEI
• Sarah Knarr, Director, Center for Student Involvement
• Mariani Lefas-Tetenes, Director, School & Teacher Programs, RISD Museum
• Alicia Luzón, Senior Talent Acquisition Partner
• Jasmine Mahoney, Associate Director, Residential Education
• Liz Maynard, Assistant Professor, Theory & History of Art & Design
• Cole Messinger 25 FD, Department Representative—Student Alliance
• Jennifer Prewitt-Freilino, Dean, Division of Liberal Arts
• Jamesly Saint Louis 25 FD
• Helen Santana, Custodial Supervisor
• Christopher Specce, Department Head, Furniture Design
• Rachael Swain, Academic Division Manager, Architecture & Design
• Craig Taylor, Department Head, Painting
• Eric Telfort, Department Head, Illustration
• Ran Wei 26 EFS

Dear Community,

I am pleased to report our movers, custodians and grounds services staff members in Teamsters Local 251 voted to accept RISD’s proposal today, and we have completed the formal process of ratifying their contract. This concludes our negotiation process and the union’s strike. 

This contract, which is detailed in the attached chart and on the HR website, reflects and advances our commitment to social equity and inclusion.

Further, last week, I committed that we would take immediate and long-term action to better embody our values and priorities concerning base wages for our lowest paid employees. This includes the initiative announced in my April 13 email to increase wages for all of our non-temporary employees who make less than $17.52 per hour. That work is underway, and we will soon begin speaking with the most impacted departments.

In addition, I am convening an advisory group to recommend immediate steps to help address and repair the fissures that the events of the last two weeks deepened and/or created. The group's members and charge will be announced as soon as they are finalized. 

RISD is an extraordinary place filled with extraordinary people. Thank you again for your passion, dedication and care for each other and for our institution.

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams (she/her)
President

Dear Community,

Today RISD leadership met with union leadership to discuss the proposal RISD presented on Thursday, April 13.

I’m pleased to report that late this evening the union tentatively agreed to our proposal, and tomorrow they will be presenting the terms to their bargaining unit members for a vote. I will be back in touch afterward to share an update.

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams (she/her)
President

Dear Community,

I am so thankful for your feedback, insight, and input, and for your expressed hopes for the way in which our institution might better embody our principles. In meetings with students, staff, faculty, department heads and deans, I have heard your frustrations and concerns, and your anger.

I have said all along that RISD is an extraordinary institution full of extraordinary people. And I hold to that. My vision—like many of you—is to have an institution we all feel good about, in which joy manifests, and equity is evident in the way we work together and on behalf of each other. These goals and outcomes have instigated a larger thinking that I want to share with you. But first, an apology.

I have taken too long to communicate with you transparently about the current negotiations, and I apologize for that. My delay has been multifold. One, we tried to keep to the fidelity of traditional negotiation processes wherein the details of negotiations aren’t made broadly public beyond the groups negotiating (the bargaining unit members and the institution). Two, I underestimated how fully the vacuum created by our silence would be filled with misinformation. Three, and most importantly, my delay has, in part, been based on developing the kernel of an idea for all of RISD’s non-temporary employees who make less than $17.52 per hour*. This idea is independent of the current—and ongoing—union negotiations, which we hope will conclude soon. So, I want to share the idea with you now.

Our intention is, over the next two years, to address the wages of all of RISD’s non-temporary employees who earn less than $17.52. 

Because of the complexity of our workforce and the many types of jobs and required skills reflected among our employees, this will also mean addressing the wages of a subset of other employees whose compensation will be closer in proximity to the lowest-wage employees. This will be a multi-year project that we will begin to implement in academic year ’24. It is a major endeavor with broad institutional ramifications and will take a great deal of careful planning. But it is a commitment I am making that will enable us all to feel better about our collective principles and will serve our employees. Because of the magnitude of this endeavor—and in service of transparency—we require time to work through the details and consult across the college and museum, especially in areas that will be most impacted. I expect we will continue to update you on this over the next several months.

This commitment will make even more important the upcoming work focused on financial sustainability, which over the next year-and-a-half to two years will work to ensure that operational efficiencies are attained.

Finally and again, the current union negotiations with Teamsters 251 on behalf of our custodians, groundskeepers and movers are ongoing. And we hope to reach a conclusion soon. The endeavor outlined above is separate and wide-ranging and, as I noted, requires planning. These two issues, while both related to wages, are different and will evolve on different timelines.

RISD: Thank you again for your good thinking. Thank you for your candor. Thank you for your care for each other and our institution. As always, I am buoyed by RISD and our possibilities.

Sincerely, 
Crystal Williams (she/her) 
President

Dear students, staff & faculty,

I want to update you on the status of RISD’s negotiations with Teamsters Local 251.

I am happy to report that today, we had a productive meeting with union leadership and are scheduled to meet tomorrow. We will follow up with specific details about the status of negotiations and any proposal we may submit once it’s presented to the union.

In the meantime, I have heard your critiques and requests for more transparency. You can find details and helpful context that explains how we’ve gotten to this point here. I will follow up with the community tomorrow about the union negotiations or Friday, as possible.

Sincerely,
Crystal Williams (she/her)
President

Dear students, faculty and staff,

We have completed the search for our next provost. I am thrilled that Dr. Touba Ghadessi, provost and a professor of the history of art at Wheaton College, will join our community on July 10 as Rhode Island School of Design’s provost.

During our search process, Dr. Ghadessi quickly emerged as a leading candidate. She revealed herself as someone with an uncanny ability to synthesize complex ideas and as a deeply collaborative colleague who believes in the power of deploying thoughtful action to achieve equitable outcomes for students and faculty alike.

Community members who interviewed Dr. Ghadessi spoke enthusiastically about her student-centered focus; her expertise navigating institutional cultures, policies and practices and advancing innovation; her emphasis on the power of interdisciplinarity; and her global perspective on moving SEI commitments forward. People also appreciated her proven track record of working collaboratively across institutions to create impact and her deep engagement with organizations in our city and region. You can read more about Dr. Ghadessi here.

Dr. Ghadessi’s scholarship focuses on early modern art history and the examination of difference, expressed through human monsters. Her recent research explores alternate bodies and their implications for how we make meaning and understand the world. She is ideally positioned to be a powerful advocate for all art and design disciplines at RISD, as she understands the value of interdisciplinarity for cultivating expansive and elastic thinking that shapes our world.

The international search that led to Dr. Ghadessi’s selection was chaired by Namita Vijay Dharia, associate professor in HPSS. I extend my gratitude to her, to Chris Roberts, assistant professor in EFS and THAD, who stepped in when the original committee co-chair had to step down, the members of the search committee listed below and the many members of our community who participated in interviews or attended the candidate talks during the finalist stage of our search.

I would also like to extend my deep appreciation to Anais Missakian, who has expertly and passionately served as our interim provost since last summer. Her long-standing dedication and commitment demonstrated through faculty mentorship and leadership service has contributed much to the cohesiveness of our community. Her leadership and partnership this year has been of essential importance–and a great source of joy.

I am excited to welcome Dr. Ghadessi to RISD and look forward to benefiting from her keen intellect, collaborative model of stewardship and incisive vision. As we continue the important work that Interim Provost Missakian has been leading and embark on new planning and strategy work, having Dr. Ghadessi in our midst as an advocate for art and design education, student learning and faculty development and research will be a boon to us all.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Ghadessi to the RISD community!

Sincerely, 
Crystal Williams (she/her)
President

Dear students, staff & faculty,

I appreciate the support extended by so many members of the RISD community, including students, faculty and staff, to these hard-working and valued employees; RISD leadership appreciates and values them too. I recognize that it is especially challenging to see a protracted strike that so deeply impacts these employees’ livelihoods. I know that many of you—as am I—are experiencing a series of complex personal and professional feelings, which, in the aggregate, further complicates this moment for our community.

Our primary goal has been—and continues to be—to work with the leadership of Teamsters Local 251 to come to a fair and sustainable wage and benefits package and, in so doing, to close the contract.

It remains the case that many of the behind-closed-doors discussions cannot be shared publicly, which may be frustrating to some, but RISD leadership has held to this principle in its negotiations with all the unions that support our faculty and staff, and we will remain consistent in respecting the privacy of union negotiations.

Yesterday RISD returned to the negotiating table with Teamsters Local 251, along with the federal mediator. Unfortunately, those discussions did not result in an agreement. While we remain willing to discuss the contract and are committed to finding a resolution, it’s important to reiterate that this requires good faith negotiations, which has been and continues to be our ongoing commitment.

Further and more broadly, over the course of the last two weeks I’ve had numerous conversations with individuals and groups. Those conversations have been particularly illuminating and have drawn my attention to broader issues about culture and dignity on campus. In the coming days, my goal is to meet with small representative groups, among them elected student leaders, department heads and staff council leadership, to solicit their insights on how we can collectively ensure that all members of the RISD community feel heard and are treated respectfully.

In the meantime, as the strike on campus continues, it is important to reiterate that ultimately, the best support of our staff members is to come to resolution and close the contract, which requires both sides to operate in good faith and with the goal of achieving a fair and sustainable outcome in this, and all of our union negotiations.

Sincerely,
Crystal Williams (she/her)
President

Dear students, faculty & staff,

As many of you know, the union representing our movers, custodians and grounds services staff members conducted a strike yesterday, which has now concluded.

Students, some of you stood alongside our union members to support them. I want you to know that I hear you and respect that you used your voice to empathetically advocate for fellow community members. I hope that in the days and months to come you continue to support our fellow community members emphatically in your day-to-day interactions with them. Each act of dignity and respect matters and bolsters our collective commitment to fostering a supportive RISD community.

To the staff and faculty who helped maintain a continuity of services and support for our community members—especially for our students—during this union action, thank you. RISD is an amazing place and your commitment and work to ensure continuation of services was buoying and so appreciated.

Because this situation is complex, I want to make sure that you have a full understanding of where things stand. On February 16, RISD presented the union with a proposal that would provide members with what the union has identified as a “living wage” as well as the strong benefits package they currently receive. If you would like more information about our offer to the union, please visit the Human Resources website.

It should also be noted that this proposal included compensation increases retroactive to July 1, 2022 if our proposal was accepted by March 1, 2023. The union did not respond to our proposal by this deadline, and instead, sent a counter proposal on March 18 that, like their previous proposals, included excessive demands for wages and benefits.

While we are committed to reaching an agreement with these valued employees that fairly compensates them for the services they perform, as a nonprofit we must steward our resources responsibly and in accord with our compensation and benefits philosophy for all staff members.

As I have said, I am eager to have this contract resolved for our employees in a way that both positively impacts their lives and aligns with our financial responsibilities. The movers, custodians and grounds services staff members are an important part of this wonderful place and help us provide an exceptional educational experience. I hope the union’s leaders will be willing to have more reasonable discussions with us soon.

Again, I have appreciated hearing your honest thoughts about RISD —the positive and the negative, especially from those of you with whom I have had meaningful and productive conversations. I look forward to learning more about what’s on your mind and how we can continue to make RISD a place where everyone feels seen, valued, and heard. In the meantime, I return to what I wrote at the very top of this letter. Each act of dignity and respect between us—whether in our residence halls, studios, offices, or public spaces—matters and bolsters our collective commitment to fostering a supportive RISD community.

Have a wonderful weekend and, students, a relaxing spring break. Take good care.

Sincerely, 
President Crystal Williams (she/her)

As promised in Tuesday’s 2023-24 tuition increase communication, this memo addresses how we will collectively undertake a long-view strategic financial planning initiative. As I stated on Tuesday, we are committed to achieving a balanced budget and operating within our means, while raising tuition and room and board as little as possible. We are also committed to continuing to support our most financially disadvantaged students, expanding our financial aid program as possible, and investing in and ensuring the exceptional quality of our students’ RISD experience.

To achieve this vision in the year ahead, we have to raise tuition and identify manageable ways to reduce discretionary operating costs, which the Budget Office will work with departments to do. This is not an unfamiliar situation for us; for many years, RISD has faced financial challenges and expenses that have outweighed revenues. This is partly due to the expense of the unique form of education we provide, characterized by small class sizes, high faculty-to-student ratios, studio and material practices, supporting organizational infrastructure and specialized and historic facilities. Another factor is an enduring set of unaddressed or unresolved administrative, academic and cultural complexities that have resulted in unsustainable practices and inefficiencies.

I believe the time has come for us to address and solve these complexities once and for all, and this is work that we must undertake collectively. Today I am announcing two ways we will do this: first by creating an Efficiency Innovation Fund and second by convening a Financial Sustainability Task Force. We are in the early stages of developing both but, in the meantime, I want to give you a sense of what each of these approaches will entail.

Efficiency Innovation Fund

Over the past several years, there have been multiple operating budgets decreases, which have left many units operating very leanly. And this year again we need to decrease discretionary operating costs in order to achieve a balanced budget. I recognize that this can be disheartening and interrupt necessary initiatives designed to augment our efficiencies. So, we are creating the Efficiency Innovation Fund as a source for funding initiatives that increase operational efficiency and effectiveness. I anticipate that we will be back in touch by the end of spring semester to provide more details about this fund and inform you of how your unit can apply for this funding.

Financial Sustainability Task Force

This spring I will create the Financial Sustainability Task Force charged with broadly identifying and assessing the administrative, academic and cultural factors that point to opportunities for heightened efficiencies and developing and recommending interventions based on what is possible, practical, sustainable and necessary. Such work is challenging because of the complexities, interconnections and interdependencies of the RISD ecosystem and because it will require that we grapple with and challenge some longstanding practices and structures. The work is also exciting because it will elicit our best, boldest and most innovative creative thinking and will facilitate and enable RISD's ongoing fiscal health. I believe it is work rooted in optimism, given our strength in art and design education, global reputation, student experiences and alumni satisfaction rates.  I will be forming the task force in the coming months and be back in touch to announce its members.

The work of the task force and the implementation and integration of initiatives that emerge from the results of its work will be an ongoing effort for at least one year and likely two. In the meantime, once our new senior vice president for finance and administration is hired and acclimated, the Budget Priorities Committee will continue to undertake its more localized work and collaborate with the task force as appropriate.

I look forward to the complex, collective work ahead because we will make way for new possibilities by grappling with these persistent questions. One of the things I have loved about being at RISD is the ambition we all have for this institution and for our students—and that we ask difficult questions of ourselves and others and iterate to ensure superb outcomes. My belief is that by tackling these hard questions now—in earnest, with courage, and with a pragmatic and strategic eye—we will further enable our ambitions. As we look to our future with hope and optimism, we have an opportunity to shed the practices and structures that do not fully amplify our excellence but at times inhibit it. We’re at an exciting time in RISD’s history, and I’m thrilled to be here with you now as we work together to achieve the good things to come.

My primary goals as president are to ensure the continued strength of RISD, the continued excellence of our academic program, and the education and advancement of the world's most promising creatives. With that in mind, I write to inform you of the tuition, fee, room and board rates for the 2023–24 academic year, which the Board of Trustees approved at their recent meeting.

We are committed to achieving a balanced budget and operating within our means, while raising tuition and room and board as little as possible. We are also committed to continuing to support our most financially disadvantaged students, expanding financial aid when possible, and to investing in and ensuring the exceptional quality of our students’ RISD experience.

This year, as costs have risen significantly on everything from energy, housing, food, materials, and staffing, the cost of the education we provide has also increased. As a result, next year we will increase tuition and room and board charges by 4% (see rates below), which is the minimal amount we believe is fiscally responsible. Student fees will not change. To ensure that our most financially disadvantaged students are not impacted, we will increase the financial aid budget by approximately 7% next year.

Relatedly, to keep our tuition increase as low as possible, we are decreasing discretionary operating costs in some areas by approximately 3% and will begin working with faculty and staff to determine how those cost savings can occur over the course of the next academic year. Faculty and staff, the budget office will be in touch with your department over the next month to help with this endeavor and I will be in touch to outline our plan to undertake strategic, long-view budget planning.

Finally, we will continue to invest in endeavors and areas that advance our strategic priorities and are focused on operational efficiency, effectiveness and revenue generation.

The cost of higher education in our country is a significant challenge for students and families and you have my commitment to keep cost increases as low as possible while ensuring that we provide an  exceptional RISD experience.

Students, I wish you an invigorating and rewarding spring semester.

Sincerely,
President Crystal Williams (she/her)

Rhode Island School of Design Tuition and Fee Schedule
2023–2024 Academic Year
Effective Summer 2023

With the upcoming March 1 arrival of Bethany Jankunis, our incoming vice president for strategy & planning / senior advisor to the president, I am writing with news of administrative moves related to the strategic initiatives area she will lead.

Our Continuing Education program has been a crucial externally-facing gem of RISD. Over the years, we have served thousands of children, pre-college artists and lifelong learners. CE provides essential access to quality art education to non-degree-seeking students of all ages, significantly expands our institution’s reach and reputation and, in the case of pre-college students, serves as a critical introduction to RISD to many young people who later are accepted into our undergraduate program at much higher rates than non-pre-college applicants.

Moreover, we recently launched Expanded Education. When fully mature, Expanded Education will provide courses, training and consultancy to executives, corporations and individuals interested in learning new leadership skills utilizing uniquely RISD ways of thinking and making.

The success and growth of Continuing Education and the emerging Expanded Education programs are very important to our future for the above reasons concerning access, reputation and revenue growth.

Given this importance, I have decided to move EE on April 1 and CE on September 1 to the new Office of Strategic Initiatives to enable several things in the immediate term:

1. Emphasize the importance of these endeavors to internal and external constituents.
2. Catalyze growth.
3. Situate these endeavors as close to the decision-making locus as possible while we grow and extend the reach of both.

CE, under the leadership of Interim Director John Murphy, and EE, under the leadership of Director Sean Kennedy, will continue to work closely with the Office of the Provost, particularly Vice Provost Sarah Cunningham and her group focused on external partnerships.

I want to thank Sarah Cunningham for her leadership of these essential endeavors and John Murphy for seamlessly stepping in to lead CE after Sarah Caggiano’s recent departure. In addition, I thank the members of our departments and shops who play a role in supporting CE endeavors. CE and ExEd’s success is very important to RISD’s success.

In addition, we are also moving Institutional Data and Research to the Office of Strategic Initiatives to ensure absolute alignment of strategy and planning with our invigorated focus on data and data-informed decision making. Executive Director of Accreditation and Institutional Effectiveness Jennifer Roberts and her team will move on March 1.

TO: RISD Faculty, Staff and Students
FROM: President Crystal Williams
DATE: February 13, 2023
CONCERNING: Withdrawing from U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings

I am writing to inform you that RISD will no longer participate in U.S. News & World Report’s annual “best colleges” rankings.

Principally, Rhode Island School of Design does not measure the value of our students or our academic programs based on the same factors used by U.S. News & World Report. Our educational model is predicated on three primary ways of learning: visual, material and intellectual. The value of our unique form of education can be seen and felt in the daily impact our students, alums, faculty and staff have on the world. In a recent survey, more than 80 percent of our alums said they were proud of and happy with their RISD education. And 90 percent believe their RISD education has been essential to their professional success. Alums also tell us that, on average, two-thirds of their work “makes the world a better place to live”—a powerful reminder of the altruism inherent in the RISD community on campus and beyond. We believe that these outcomes speak to the impact and effectiveness of a RISD education.

Until last year, U.S. News & World Report categorized RISD and other art and design schools as “Specialty Schools: Art.” Under this heading, our undergraduate programs (reflecting 80 percent of our matriculants) were unranked as the publication’s criteria cannot accurately assess art and design institutions or education. However and as a result of small curriculum changes to some of our programs, last year RISD was categorized as a “regional school.”

As is often the case, change triggers important reflection and opportunities to reassess and revise a course of action. So, while we ranked #3 out of 181 schools in the “Best Regional Universities North,” a category placing us in comparison to institutions with which we share very little in common, this change by U.S. News catalyzed our deeper thinking about the ranking system overall, its relevance to RISD and our work as educators and the criteria used to create it. Many of those criteria have been written about in critical terms and publicly questioned, and are unambiguously biased in favor of wealth, privilege and opportunities that are inequitably distributed. 

Our institutional commitment to embodying the principles of social equity and inclusion also means that, where possible, we eschew participation in systems that strongly rely on exclusion and inequity.

Various other higher education institutions—most recently, Duke University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Law School, Stanford University School of Medicine, Yale Law School, University of Pennsylvania Law, University of Michigan Medical School and the University of California at Berkeley’s law school—have also decided to withdraw from these rankings. I hope many more will follow.

Dear students, faculty and staff,

Since I arrived at RISD last April, I have made it a priority to learn as much as I can about how each of you experiences RISD. From the listening sessions and many other conversations we’ve held across campus in the last year, I have gained an anecdotal sense.

But to ensure RISD is a place where everyone can thrive - which I believe is my charge as president to do - we need more nuanced and sophisticated data to better understand what aspects of living, working and learning at RISD are going well and in what areas we can improve. 

As a result, I’m pleased to share that we are launching a campus-wide climate assessment. A climate assessment looks at the attitudes and behaviors of the members of a campus community as well as institutional policies and procedures, which together influence the level of respect for individual needs, abilities and potential. A campus’ climate is often shaped through personal experiences, perceptions and institutional efforts.

Our climate assessment will begin with focus groups, to be held this spring, followed by an all-campus survey distributed in the fall. Information gleaned from the focus groups, and the survey will allow us to articulate our challenges and strengths with great accuracy and identify meaningful opportunities to achieve the vision of a RISD where everyone is thriving.

Your input will inform how we go forward together, not only in how we enhance and replicate programs and policies that support our community, but also in how we develop new programs and policies and implement strategies to grow inclusivity in areas where that is needed.

We have partnered with Rankin Climate, LLC to help lead this rigorous year-and-a-half-long effort. Rankin Climate has conducted more than 250 campus climate assessment projects over the last 22 years. We have convened a working group of RISD students, staff and faculty to work with Rankin Climate to develop and implement the assessment. I have asked Tony Johnson, associate dean for student social equity & inclusion and interim assistant vice president for social equity & inclusion, and Jennifer Roberts, executive director of accreditation & institutional effectiveness, to chair this committee. I thank them and the below listed committee members in advance for devoting time and care to leading this critical initiative.

In addition, as this work gets underway in the spring, we will create a section on risd.edu where you can learn more and track the assessment’s progress. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please reach out to climate@risd.edu.

Too often, people make changes based on anecdotes and feelings alone. By incorporating qualitative and quantitative data into our process, I’m confident we will be able to pinpoint our successes, challenges and opportunities with great accuracy and, where necessary, create real change. I’m excited for us to embark on this journey together.

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams
President | she/hers

Climate Survey Working Group

Tony Johnson, Co-Chair | Associate Dean for Student Social Equity & Inclusion and Interim Assistant Vice President for Social Equity & Inclusion

Jennifer Roberts, Co-Chair | Executive Director, Accreditation & Institutional Effectiveness

Tila Adams | Director, RISD Store

Becky Ebeling | Special Assistant to the President

Brandon Ice | Director of Operations, Student Affairs

Bethany Jankunis | Vice President, Strategy & Planning and Senior Advisor to the President

Deborah Levans | Director, Counseling & Psychological Services

Alicia Luzon |  Talent Acquisition Partner, Human Resources

Jeremy Radtke | Director of Digital Initiatives, RISD Museum

Sylvia Rodriguez IL 24 | Undergraduate student representative

Rachel Rosenkrantz | Assistant Professor, EFS and member of the Faculty Steering Committee

Kerci Marcello Stroud | Chief Marketing & Communications Officer

Dinh Truong BArch 24 | Undergraduate student representative

TBD | Graduate student representative

TBD | Provost

TBD | Vice President, Social Equity & Inclusion

Happy new year! I hope that you all had a relaxing and rejuvenating winter break. I’m writing to share several updates about the team in my office.

Vice President of Strategy & Planning/Senior Advisor to the President

I am pleased to announce that we have completed the search for our vice president of strategy & planning/senior advisor to the president. Bethany Jankunis will join our community in this role on March 1.

As I’ve mentioned in previous communications, the VPSP’s core charge is to advance our strategic priorities, drive new and cross-cutting initiatives, and advance operational effectiveness and efficiency. Additionally and as with all senior positions, embedded within the core work Bethany will oversee is also a charge to ensure that her work effectively advances our social equity and inclusion goals. A member of the Cabinet, the VPSP will work in partnership with people across our campus to help us realize our collective vision for RISD.

From my conversations with Bethany and the feedback I received from those who interviewed her, it is evident that she is uniquely and strongly qualified to take on this vital leadership role. Bethany most recently served as the chief of staff and executive director of strategic projects at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, where she was a key partner and advisor to the dean and a member of the school’s leadership team. During her decade-long tenure at Columbia, Bethany worked closely with faculty, staff and students, as well as board members, alumni and donors, on a broad scope of work that had a far-reaching impact across the school. On multiple occasions she took on leadership roles during key transitional moments, which included providing interim oversight for the offices of Diversity, Culture and Inclusion; Communications; Operations; and Development and Alumni Relations. In addition, Bethany played a central role in advancing Columbia Mailman’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Prior to joining the Columbia community, Bethany served as the assistant vice president for administrative planning and initiatives at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering (formerly the Polytechnic Institute); as the chief of staff to New York State Assemblymember and Higher Education Committee Chair Deborah Glick; and as a policy advisor on children and family issues in the office of the New York City Comptroller.

I would like to extend my gratitude to everyone who participated in this search process, and especially the members of the search committee – Renee Byas (chair), Robert Brinkerhoff, Richard Gann, Kerci Marcello Stroud, O’Neil Outar and Liz Rainone. I am tremendously excited to welcome Bethany to RISD and to see the impact that she will have on our community in this critical role.

Additional Changes in the President’s Office

As many of you know firsthand, Becky Ebeling has served as my interim chief of staff while also serving as our director of trustee relations since my arrival last April. Given the exceptional job Becky has done leading my office, driving a number of key initiatives and taking on an expanded scope of work, I am pleased to announce that she now serves as special assistant to the president. In this role, which will report to Bethany Jankunis, Becky will oversee trustee relations, special events and projects for the President’s Office, and manage the President’s Office staff.  Please join me in congratulating Becky on her new role.

Further, Shana Vanderweele Ortman was recently appointed to the position of house manager. She replaces Pat Brown who served in the role for many years and who retired in 2020. Pat helpfully returned on a temporary basis to help manage the house and its myriad events during my onboarding and transition. Shana brings years of exceptional experience in event management and has served in multiple roles while at RISD–including in dining and conference and events. Bringing a breadth of internal and external knowledge to bear, Shana has already proven a strong member of our team and will in years to come continue to strengthen our work. 
Finally, Lee Ann Norman will join us on January 23 as executive communications writer. Reporting to Kerci Marcello Stroud in Marketing & Communications and working closely with me, Lee Ann will create communications from my office that help us foster and strengthen engagement, and mobilize support for RISD. A writer, editor and communications specialist, Lee Ann most recently worked as a consultant at the Taproot Foundation and before that as the director of learning & leadership programs for the League of American Orchestras. I think Lee Ann will be a wonderful addition to our community and I am looking forward to welcoming her later this month.

While it has taken some time to assess what is needed in the President’s Office, I am confident that we are now moving towards a fully staffed office that will not only enable our work but bolster it.

Below are updates on leadership searches in the following areas (in alphabetical order): Finance & Administration, Human Resources, RISD Museum, Provost’s Office, Social Equity & Inclusion, and Strategy & Planning.

Finance & Administration

Jim McGill, interim senior vice president of Finance & Administration, has been with us since mid-July and will remain at RISD through the end of February. His leadership has been instrumental and has provided expertise, stability and good humor. We will miss him.

This summer, I forecasted we would launch the search for our new SVP in mid-spring. However, given Jim’s imminent departure, we have escalated our timeline and begun the search. Unlike other searches and because of the nature of the role, this will be a manager-driven search. This means that we will run a national search, identify finalists and host finalists on campus to engage in an interview process without first establishing a search committee. Instead, I will work closely with Dan Rodas of the search firm Isaacson Miller to formulate a finalist list and then seek extensive key stakeholder input once finalists visit campus. This type of search allows us to work quickly, keep in line with the market (which is particularly fast-moving) and benefit from key stakeholders’ valuable insights.

Human Resources

We are placing a pause on hiring our next VP for Human Resources until several of our other leadership searches are complete or moving toward completion. We are grateful to have Director of Employment Liz Rainone step in as interim VP for Human Resources, as was announced in an October 18 email to the community. We will likely undertake that search sometime next year.

RISD Museum

RISD Trustee Bob DiMuccio, Interim Provost Anais Missakian and I co-chair the national search for RISD’s next museum director. Ben Tobin and Sarah James of Issacson Miller are leading the search. Together, they bring many years of experience and have deep connections in this field. We feel fortunate to have them helping with the search. Joining the committee co-chairs are committee members:

Dennis Congdon, Painting
Jameka Hartley, History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Kate Irvin, RISD Museum
Robert Mitchell, Museum Board of Governors
Kajette Solomon, RISD Museum
Todd Waterbury, Board of Trustees
Toots Zynsky, Museum Board of Governors

As with all leadership searches, Issacson Miller will undertake a process of discovery through key stakeholder interviews. The information gleaned in the discovery process will inform the position description. Ben and Sarah are beginning their discovery work now and will continue it through the beginning of the year. We anticipate the search publicly launching in mid- to late-January.

Provost’s Office

The provost search is underway. I am grateful to Namita Dharia, associate professor of History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences, and Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa, interim assistant provost for Social Equity & Inclusion and associate professor of Photography, for their joint leadership as co-chairs of the search.

The committee members are:

John Caserta, Architecture + Design
Kathy Chery, Finance & Administration
Peter Dean, Architecture
Sarah Ganz Blythe, RISD Museum
Brooks Hagan, Fine Arts
Winnie Lambrecht, History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences & Theory and History of Art and Design
Margot Nishimura, Library
Chris Roberts, Theory and History of Art and Design & Experimental and Foundation Studies
Eric Telfort, Illustration
Crystal Williams, President

A student advisory committee roughly reflective of the composition of the undergraduate and graduate student body has also been formed. At the end of this week, the committee will begin in earnest its evaluative work. The position description can be found here.

Social Equity & Inclusion

This summer, I wrote that we would likely begin the search for RISD’s new vice president for Social Equity & Inclusion in mid- to late fall. We are on track. The search firm Koya Partners/Storbeck Search is undertaking a discovery process that includes meeting with key stakeholders and soliciting feedback from the community about our aspirations for SEI work at RISD. Information gleaned from those meetings and solicitations will inform the development of the formal position description. In advance of that description being created, we have posted a brief ad to signal to prospective candidates that the position will soon be open. This search will fully launch early next year.

I am indebted to Avishek Ganguly, associate professor of Literary Arts and Studies, and Renee Byas, general counsel, who have agreed to co-chair the search. Other committee members are:

Anna Brooks, Public Safety
Jess Brown, Industrial Design
Tony Johnson, Center for SEI
Suzanne Mathew, Landscape Architecture
Nicole Merola, Academic Affairs
Conor Moynihan, RISD Museum
Kate Sacco, International Student & Scholar Services
Joanne Stryker, Experimental and Foundation Studies
Nicole Verardo, Disability Services & Academic Support

Strategy & Planning

Last semester, we launched a search committee composed of Renee Byas (chair), Robert Brinkerhoff, Richard Gann, Kerci Marcello Stroud, O’Neil Outar, and Liz Rainone. I appreciate all community members who attended the finalist interviews on campus and provided valuable feedback. We are in the final stages of this search and plan to make an announcement soon.

I again thank all of you who have been so helpful and encouraging during this time of great transition. As you know, I am optimistic about our future and what this moment represents for RISD. The opportunities ahead are profoundly exciting. Thank you for your patience and interest in these searches. We’ll keep you posted as we go.

Dear students, faculty and staff,

I am saddened to share that Trustee Vikram Kirloskar P12 has passed away.

Vikram was a stalwart supporter of RISD. Soon after his daughter Manasi graduated in 2012, Vikram and his wife Geetanjali established the Kirloskar Visiting Scholar program with the goal of exploring, strengthening and developing dialogue that connects RISD with South Asia-based artists and practices. This program has since brought a number of exceptional artists to RISD.

In 2017, Vikram joined the Board of Trustees. Our institution has benefited greatly from the expertise he lent us through his work on the Finance Committee, Committee on Trustees and Governance, and the Campus and Facility Planning Subcommittee.

He is survived by his wife, daughter, son-in-law Neville Tata and grandchild Jeh.

I know I speak for all of us when I say that Vikram’s generous, gentle presence and wisdom will be missed. He leaves a powerful legacy as a RISD parent, supporter and trustee.

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams
President | she/hers

Dear students, faculty, and staff,

As we continue to mourn the tragic passing of Xinzhou Yu, I would like to invite you to a memorial service tomorrow,

November 9 at 2 pm in the Fleet Library (15 Westminster Street). Alongside Xinzhou’s family, we will honor and celebrate her life. Sincerely,

Crystal Williams (she/her)
President

Support resources

For students: Student Affairs staff are here to support you with anything you may need, and through Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) you can access mental health support 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling 401 454-6637.

For faculty or staff: Please contact Coastline EAP, our Employee Assistance provider, for confidential counseling and referral/resource services 24 hours a day at 800 445-1195.

If you are concerned about a RISD community member's well-being, contact RISD Public Safety at 401 454-6666, our counseling office at 401 454-6637, or submit a Concern Assessment Response Evaluation (CARE) referral.

As October draws to a close, I will complete my sixth month as RISD’s president. During these past months, I have learned, seen and heard so much about our institution and museum, students, staff, faculty and alumni. It has been my pleasure to meet so many of you.

Now that I am entering the second half of my first year in this role, I am hosting a series of listening sessions, the first of which is next week. These sessions are designed to help us all better understand the reality of RISD of today and begin envisioning a RISD of the future.

The first of the series will focus on the question, “What makes RISD RISD?” The dates and times for the listening sessions are below. I hope that if your schedule allows, you will join me. Please note that due to space constraints we have a cap on participants for each session. The first 75 registrants will receive a confirmation and calendar invite.

Staff Session (Snacks provided)

Thursday, October 27, 10-11:30 am
Register Here by Tuesday, October 25

Student Session (Lunch provided)

Wednesday, November 9, 12-1:30 pm
Register Here by Monday, November 7

Faculty Session (Lunch provided)

Friday, November 18, 12-1:30 pm
Register Here by Wednesday, November 16

All Community (Lunch provided)

Monday, December 5, 12-1 pm
Register Here by Thursday, December 1

Dear students, faculty and staff,

I write to inform you that Vice President of Human Resources Candace Baer will retire at the end of this calendar year after more than 16 years at RISD. Liz Rainone, our director of employment, will serve as interim vice president upon Candace’s retirement.

During her time at RISD, Candace has built a strong team of professionals who together have modernized the institution’s human resources function. Under her leadership, Human Resources has expanded its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts to recruit and retain employees from diverse backgrounds and fields, and enhanced and increased access to benefits such as tuition remission and vacation time while also introducing new benefits.

In addition, Candace has expanded opportunities for employees by championing a number of engagement initiatives such as RISD Learns professional development programs, staff development days, staff and service recognition programs and employee engagement surveys. And, together with Tony Johnson, Candace launched the award-winning RISDiversity Community Narrative project. Over the course of five years, 100+ faculty, staff and students participated in this initiative, using their voices to inspire others and show the impact our lives can make on one another.

Please join me in thanking Candace for all she has done to build and support our community.

In time I will outline our plans for the search for our new VP for Human Resources. In the coming months, however, Candace will work closely with Liz Rainone to plan for a smooth transition. I extend my appreciation to Liz for stepping in to lead our human resources team.

Finally, we will host a reception to celebrate Candace and wish her well in retirement later this semester. More information regarding the retirement celebration will be forthcoming.

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams

Dear RISD Community,

I write briefly to announce the members and leadership of the Provost Search Committee. I am enduringly grateful to all Faculty who submitted their names as nominees via the Faculty Steering Committee’s nomination process.

The committee will soon meet and make some immediate decisions, including 1) how we will engage students in the process, 2) by what means updates will be shared and 3) how will questions about the search process be addressed.

I am also grateful to all who have agreed to serve on this important committee. And I look forward to working with them over the course of the year as we collectively work to identify an exceptional list of candidates for Provost.

Thank you again, all, for your interest. From here on, the Co-Chairs will lead the way.

Best regards, Crystal

Provost Search Committee Roster

Co-Chairs
1. Namita Vijay Dharia; Co-chair, Associate Professor, HPSS
2. Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa, Co-Chair, Associate Professor, Photography and Asst. Provost for SEI (' 22-'23)

Committee Members
1. Sarah Ganz Blythe — Interim Museum Director
2. John Caserta — Associate Professor, Graphic Design, and Dean of Arch + Design
3. Kathy Cherry — Finance and Administration
4. Peter Dean — Senior Critic, Furniture Design
5. Brooks Hagan — Professor, Textiles, and Dean of Fine Arts
6. Winnie Lambrecht — Senior Lecturer, THAD
7. Margot Nishimura — Dean Libraries
8. Christopher Roberts — Assistant Professor, EFS, and THAD
9. Eric Telfort — Associate Professor, Illustration, Department Head
10. Crystal Williams — President

I am pleased to announce an update on RISD’s continued pursuit of creating a more inclusive and welcoming community free from discrimination and harassment.

On September 1, the Office of Institutional Discrimination and Bias will receive a new name and adjustments to responsibilities. Newly named Equity & Compliance, the staff will continue to provide the same support to the RISD community as it has previously while also being charged with addressing compliance with federal and state regulations relating to certain aspects of Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It will continue oversight of College-wide compliance regarding RISD’s Non-Discrimination Policy, ADA/504, Title IX, and VAWA/Campus SaVE Act.

Simone Tubman will continue to lead the department, now as executive director of Equity & Compliance. Sydney Lake remains Title IX coordinator and institutional discrimination officer; they are joined by Alyssa Roush, the newly hired assistant director, and SEI student advocates whose roles focus on campus engagement.

Equity & Compliance will remain in its current location on the third floor of 20 Washington Place. This new alignment of campus support, services, and dedicated staff will continue our advancement and collective work toward fulfilling RISD’s social equity and inclusion mission.

As we have begun preparing for the next academic year, recent conversations and requests have underscored multiple challenges and opportunities related to administrative and academic spaces at RISD.

We are a complex organization with varied space needs and uses. These complexities, which significantly impact space usage at RISD, include:

Evolving needs for student services and academics;
Departmental changes through growth, contraction, or reorganization; The advent of hybrid work models; and
The need for collaborative spaces, among others.

As an institution, we must ensure our space is employed as effectively and efficiently as possible. Doing so helps to guarantee success in our mission to educate the next generation of artists, designers, and scholars.

Currently, RISD does not have an official space policy to govern and guide space allocation. A policy is the first step in finding a way forward that systematically and strategically addresses space requirements, desires, and requests. Given this, I have charged Vice President for Campus Services Jack Silva to work with his team and the RISD Capital Planning Committee —and through a consultative process—to first assess how we currently utilize our space and then to develop recommendations for a space policy. As stated above, the policy will help us govern and guide space allocation going forward.

To start, Jack and his team will focus on the administrative spaces policy and process, saving academic spaces for the second phase of this work. We expect the administrative phase to be completed in the fall semester.

Ultimately, this project will inform some of how we work and possibly where we work. In the meantime, we will continue to operate as has been directed by department heads and managers.

I look forward to the results of this work. It will help us organize and orient ourselves to the work ahead.

Dear Students, Staff, and Faculty,

As you know, we have recently experienced several significant administrative transitions. I write with a holistic update about leadership changes and administrative developments as well as some plans in progress.

Broadly, I am confident and optimistic that while next year will involve a good deal of transition and change, we will emerge poised to move forward ambitiously to advance our collective goals.

Because of the number of transitions, I have been thinking carefully and consulting broadly regarding the strategy for and sequence of searches. While there is no perfect way forward, I aim to ensure that we maintain operational excellence, work with sensitivity to optimum market timing, and stagger searches to enable as much participation and engagement as possible.

Below are updates on the following areas (in alphabetical order): RISD Museum, Provost’s Office, Social Equity and Inclusion, Strategy and Planning, and Student Affairs.

RISD Museum

As many of you know, the 2022 search for a director of the RISD Museum was suspended until RISD’s 18th president was hired. Since that time, Sarah Ganz Blythe has done an admirable job serving as the Museum’s interim director and we are infinitely grateful for her leadership.

In keeping with RISD’s commitment to holding national searches, we will reignite the Museum director search this fall with a new search committee, the membership of which we will begin to develop in late August. This committee will be smaller than the 2022 committee and will reflect some combination of faculty, museum staff, and Board members. We are currently in the process of identifying a new search firm to run this search. Trustee and Board of Governors Chair Scott Burns and I are working together to plan the search with the intention to launch it as early in the fall semester as possible.

Provost’s Office

In May, I wrote to the community about searching for RISD’s new provost. At that time, I hoped and asserted that we would comprise the search committee by the end of the spring semester. Alas, I was overly ambitious, and the summer was too quickly upon us. Nevertheless, I am grateful to the Faculty Steering Committee, which valiantly tried to finalize its election processes in accord with my ambition.

The FSC has created a preliminary list of search committee nominees and in the first weeks of the fall, they will return to this project to 1) hold an election based on that preliminary list and 2) ultimately, provide me with a list of elected nominees from which I will select several committee members. Other committee members—including staff, additional faculty, and students—will be added to ensure that the committee is crucially representative.

To the FSC, I have committed: to divisional representation, FT and PT faculty representation, and that I will select no fewer than four of the elected FSC nominees to the committee. And while there will be more than four faculty members on the committee, this collaboration will allow me to account for the range of perspectives, experiences, and expertise I believe will be needed to help us select our next chief academic officer. While I am committed to holding a confidential search process (an industry norm that ensures we get the highest caliber candidates), I have also committed to ensuring that finalists we bring to campus engage with the broad faculty meaningfully. I cannot report who I will appoint as the committee Chair because the committee is yet not constituted. However, it is important to note that, true to Cabinet-level searches, the committee will serve in an advisory capacity, and I will make the final decision.

In the immediate term, and to make sure we’re continuing to move this process along, our search firm Issacson Miller, led by Sheryl Ash, is hosting a series of listening sessions with staff this summer. Based on these and the results from the survey we launched late in the spring, they will develop a very preliminary position description, which will be further refined once additional listening sessions with faculty and students occur at the outset of the fall semester.

Social Equity and Inclusion

After consulting with colleagues about the Social Equity and Inclusion portfolio, priorities for this year, and long-term goals, I have appointed two interim co-leads of RISD’s SEI work for the upcoming academic year. Tony Johnson now serves as Associate Dean for Student SEI and Interim Assistant Vice President for Social Equity and Inclusion, reporting to me. He will focus on advancing SEI-related goals and objectives related to students and staff. Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa now serves as Interim Assistant Provost for Social Equity and Inclusion, reporting to me and with a dotted line to Interim Provost Anais Missakian. He will focus on advancing SEI-related goals and objectives related to faculty and academic affairs and work closely with leadership in Academic Affairs and the SEI committee. AD and Interim AVP Johnson and Interim AP Wolukau-Wanambwa will work closely to ensure contiguousness and coherence and that their strategies, while different based on constituent base, are aligned.

Both will join my Cabinet this year to ensure that SEI remains at the leadership table. And both will work with the deans and critical stakeholders as appropriate to help advance, thought-partner, support, and resource this essential work across our campus. Further, Interim Provost Missakian, Interim Dean of Faculty Nicole Merola, AD and Interim AVP Johnson, and Interim AP Wolukau-Wanambwa will work closely and in an ongoing and strategic way to ensure that we continue to advance RISD’s commitment to SEI goals, frameworks, and outcomes.

To prepare to launch a search for our next Vice President and Associate Provost for SEI, I am in the beginning stages of researching which firms have been most successful at other institutions. I anticipate that this search may begin in mid-to- late fall or the early spring. Ideally, our new colleague will join us by next summer.

Strategy and Planning

I created a new position that combines expertise in strategy, planning, and organizational effectiveness and efficiency and the more strategic functions of the Chief of Staff role. That position is VP for Strategy and Planning and Senior Advisor to the President (for now; it may change slightly). This new colleague will, among other things:

1. Advance RISD’s operational excellence by helping to identify and improve operations.
2. Work collaboratively with community stakeholders to deepen and broaden our existing RISD: Next 2020-2027 plan,
   including overseeing the development of initiative implementation plans.
3. Develop new data metrics, including key performance indicators.
4. Will serve as my senior advisor and manager of the President’s Office.

Last semester, we launched a search committee composed of (in alpha): Renee Byas (Chair), Robert Brinkerhoff, Richard Gann, Kerci Marcello Stroud, Liz Rainone (HR rep), and O’Neil Outar. We initially ran the search ourselves in hopes of moving nimbly and staffing up quickly, but we are now looking to relaunch the search with a search firm (TBD). I anticipate the search relaunching soon with a slightly revised committee roster and with the intention to have our new colleague begin as soon as possible.

Student Affairs

VP Jamie O’Hara has been assiduously addressing vacancies and bolstering the Student Affairs division. Joining us as Interim Associate VP for Student Affairs is Dr. David Milstone, who takes over for Ron Martel who left RISD last month. Interim AVP Milstone comes to us from UMass Dartmouth and has led work in this area for over 40 years. Also joining us to ensure we begin AY’22-’23 strongly are new hires in the division, including:

Becky Cole - Assistant Director, Center for Student Involvement
Chelsea Crossett - Associate Director, Center for Student Involvement
Ty Haley - Assistant Director of Center for Student Involvement, Orientation
Brandon Ice - Director of Operations
Josh Jones - Director, Residential Life
Sarah Knarr - Director, Center for Student Involvement
Jasmine Mahoney - Associate Director, Residential Life

The arrival of these colleagues means that we’re nearly fully staffed in Student Affairs, which is vital to the overall student experience and excellence of RISD. I want to thank Jaime for his ongoing efforts and Alicia Luzón in Human Resources for her support of these hires.

A Brief Timeline for Searches

Immediate-to-Early Fall: Provost

Museum Director
VP for Strategy and Planning and Senior Advisor to the President

Mid-to-Late Fall:
Vice President and Associate Provost for Social Equity and Inclusion

Late Fall to Early Spring:
SVP Finance and Administration

Conclusion

I want to thank all of you who have sent thoughtful, encouraging notes about the magnitude of transitions we face. As I said at the start of this update, I am energized and optimistic about our institution, our future, and what this moment represents for RISD. Our opportunities are profoundly exciting. Thank you all for your patience and goodwill, and willingness to partner. I appreciate it all and will continue to update you along the way.

Best regards,

Crystal Williams
President | she/hers

Dear Students, Staff, and Faculty,

It was good to see so many of you at Dave’s services over the weekend. The strong RISD turnout is further reflection of Dave’s incredible impact on our community. I know I speak for so many of us when I say that we will miss Dave dearly.

I write today to share the continuity plan for our Finance and Administration area.

Today Jim McGill, who served in an interim capacity several years ago after an esteemed career leading finance and administration units in higher education, returns to RISD as Interim Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration. He will oversee the Budget Office, Campus Services, the Controller’s Office, Human Resources, and Information Technology Services.

Many of you will remember Jim fondly. His admiration for RISD and its people lured him back to us, and I am indebted to him for his leadership and willingness to join us at this especially crucial time. Jim will work closely with Budget & Financial Planning Director Kathy Chery, who will serve in an elevated role on an interim basis, making the best use of her administrative experience overseeing finance and administration functions before joining RISD.

We will run a national search for a permanent finance and administration lead sometime in 2023.

Two areas that were previously in Finance and Administration will now have a new reporting structure. Risk and Emergency Management, led by Director Jen Howley, will now report into Campus Services, overseen by Vice President Jack Silva. This move reflects the long-time and close working relationship between these areas.

In addition, General Counsel Renee Byas will now report directly to me, which reflects the industry norm.

I extend my gratitude to the Finance and Administration team for coming together during this difficult time to help us move forward.

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams
President

Dear RISD community,

I write as we continue to reel from the tragic passing of Dave Proulx.

In the short time I worked with Dave it was immediately clear how deeply he cared about RISD and its people, and how much our community loved and appreciated him. This has been echoed in beautiful remembrances about Dave we have received over the past few days. He listened. He asked how someone was doing. He offered to help. He was the leader, colleague, and friend so many knew they could depend on.

The mark Dave leaves on RISD is indelible. As our interim president and senior vice president of finance & administration, Dave made transformative changes for the better in partnership with people across our campus. He did big things - like leading the community safely through the enormous challenges of COVID-19, improving RISD’s financial and administrative processes, and promoting transparency in our financial management and budget. And from the stories many of you have shared, I know he also undertook many less visible actions that were profoundly meaningful to those he touched.

If you would like to pay your condolences to Dave’s family, visiting hours will be held this Friday from 4 to 7 pm at the Fagan-Quinn Funeral Home, located at 825 Boston Neck Road, North Kingstown, RI. A celebration of Dave’s life will take place this Saturday at 12 pm at Peace Dale Congregational Church, 261 Columbia Street, South Kingstown, RI. More information is available here.

We are collecting notes for Dave’s family. If you would like to share a memory or offer condolences, you may drop them off at my office (20 Washington Place, 4th floor) or email them to president@risd.edu.

As we fondly remember and honor Dave and process this loss, please be good and kind to yourselves and be good, kind, and supportive to others.

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams
President | she/hers

Dear RISD community,

It is with profound sadness that I share the news that Senior Vice President of Finance & Administration Dave Proulx passed away unexpectedly last night due to what we believe to be natural causes. This is a tragic loss for Dave’s family and friends. And it is a devastating loss to our RISD community where he was much beloved. He will be dearly missed.

In the coming days, we will write more fully about his profound impact on RISD and with details about how we can pay our respects to Dave’s family and celebrate his impact at RISD.

In this moment of intense sadness, please remember that there are many resources available to you listed below.

Crystal Williams
President | she/hers