Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff Members,

I am writing today with an update related to Swarthmore Forward.

In the summer of 2021, I appointed Denise Crossan as director of community and strategic initiatives to help develop and implement a planning process focused on strengthening and supporting the College’s mission.

Denise has recently informed me that, due to unforeseen circumstances, she must step away from her current role at the College. I’m grateful to Denise for her dedication and commitment to a thorough, inclusive, and highly consultative strategic planning process, resulting in Swarthmore Forward, approved by the Board of Managers in December 2023.

As we move into the work of implementing Swarthmore Forward, I am delighted to announce that Elizabeth Drake will assume oversight of that work in a newly configured position of assistant vice president for sustainability and strategic initiatives.

Elizabeth will continue to envision, lead, and implement the College’s sustainability work. In her new role, she will serve as a consulting advisor to the president and other campus partners in the planning, implementing, and monitoring of projects to facilitate strategic change at the College. She will prioritize the goals and initiatives outlined in Swarthmore Forward, ensuring they are translated into actionable steps, assigned to implementation teams, and monitored for progress.

Elizabeth joined the College in 2019 as a climate action advisor and then became the director of sustainability in 2022. During the strategic planning process, she co-chaired the working group focused on leadership in a mulitracial democracy and the world and chaired the cross-cutting theme committee on sustainability.

Prior to her time at Swarthmore, Elizabeth managed sustainability and regenerative development for Fetzer Vineyards, the largest B Corp-certified wine company in the world. Elizabeth holds a B.S. in environmental science and sustainability from Cornell University and a master’s in environmental studies from the University of Pennsylvania.  

Please join me in congratulating Elizabeth on her new role.

Sincerely,

Val Smith
President