Emerson College president to visit Marlboro campus Wednesday

Emerson+anticipates+massive+losses+during+the+2020-21+fiscal+year%2C+ranging+from+%2433+million+to+%2476+million%2C+President+M.+Lee+Pelton+said+in+a+letter+to+faculty+Monday.

Jakob Menendez

Emerson anticipates massive losses during the 2020-21 fiscal year, ranging from $33 million to $76 million, President M. Lee Pelton said in a letter to faculty Monday.

By Jacob Seitz, Staff Writer

BOSTON—Emerson College President M. Lee Pelton plans to visit Marlboro College Wednesday, his first trip to the campus since the Boston institution announced plans to acquire the small liberal arts school in Vermont.

Pelton is slated to arrive at Marlboro around 11:30 a.m., according to an email to The Beacon. The visit was announced to the Marlboro community at a Nov. 13 Town Meeting.

Marlboro College President Kevin Quigley said Pelton would be accompanied by senior staff from Emerson, according to Marlboro Town Meeting minutes.  Provost Michaele Whelan, Dean of the Institute for Liberal Arts Amy Ansell, Vice President and Dean of Campus Life James Hoppe, and Vice President and Special Assistant to the President Anne Shaughnessy are all slated to attend as part of the Emerson delegation. 

“[The visit will include] a meal of some sort with faculty, and an opportunity for them to meet with students next Wednesday,” Quigley is quoted as saying in the minutes.

Town Meeting is a weekly forum of the Marlboro campus and the surrounding townspeople, where the community makes recommendations to the college through Selectboard, a group of Marlboro students and faculty who get elected to lead the meeting.

The merger between the two colleges includes tentative plans for Marlboro College to donate its $30 million endowment to the Emerson College Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies program. Emerson will also acquire the Vermont campus, valued at $10 million. 

Marlboro students previously raised concerns surrounding future plans for the Potash Hill campus and the degree to which they would be able to participate in any decision making.