Haverford College's next president will inherit a campus where alumni want the Honor Code preserved, the U.S. News ranking restored, and the college's sticker price, approaching $100,000 a year, addressed.
Those were among six priorities identified after more than 1,000 community members weighed in on the search for the college's 17th leader.
The search exists because President Wendy Raymond is preparing to leave office, according to the committee's listening sessions synopsis. The Board of Managers formed the Presidential Search Committee in February, appointing Jim Kinsella '82 and Charley Beever '74 as co-clerks.
The 21-member committee conducted 22 listening sessions in cities across the country, plus three sessions accessible globally, drawing direct conversations with more than 650 alumni. Separate sessions with students, faculty and staff, along with online surveys, pushed the total past 1,000 participants, the committee reported in its July 8 update.
Six priorities for the next president
The listening sessions synopsis, co-authored by Kinsella and Beever, identified six challenges the incoming president must tackle:
Values: Preserving the Honor Code, Quaker heritage, and academic excellence. Students rewrote the Honor Code, which was adopted in December 2025, emphasizing trust, concern, respect and honest confrontation.
Rankings: Haverford's U.S. News ranking fell from 9th in 2010 to the mid-20s in the most recent cycle. A Board Task Force on Reputation and Rankings pointed to graduation rates for Pell Grant recipients and faculty salaries as key factors.
Campus climate: How the college handled antisemitism following Oct. 7, 2023, drew sharp criticism. The Board has since added a dedicated Title VI and Title IX Officer.
Civil discourse: The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression gave Haverford's speech policy its highest rating but gave the college a failing overall grade based on student reports of political intolerance.
Affordability: Haverford is no longer a need-blind institution, a fact that surprised many alumni during the sessions. The college says 44% of students receive a college grant.
Endowment: The endowment is insufficient relative to the college's ambitions and peer institutions, the committee wrote. Since 2022, the Board has contracted with Investure, an outsourced management firm, and is exploring a more ambitious fundraising campaign goal.
Timeline and what's next
The committee said the search, guided by Spencer Stuart, remains on track for the new president to assume office on July 1, 2027.
The 1,420-student college sits on a 200-acre campus in Haverford and maintains academic partnerships with Bryn Mawr College, Swarthmore College and the University of Pennsylvania. The search committee includes student members Anjali Agarwal '27 and Mena Kazista '28, along with Lorelei Vargas from the Bryn Mawr College Board of Trustees.
Community members can submit nominations or expressions of interest to [email protected].
