Dear Bentley Community,

This has been a semester, and year, of change for Bentley. But over the past few months, in the face of unprecedented adversity, the members of this community have shown their excellence, resiliency and mettle. We are so proud of how this community has proven its ability to adapt and thrive when faced with extraordinary challenges. It is because of you—the students, faculty, staff and alumni who make up this community—that we are certain of our ability to flourish in the months and years ahead.

By now you have read the message from Paul Condrin. We are all grateful for the leadership and strategic direction Alison Davis-Blake has offered over the course of her presidency. Bentley is a better and stronger institution because of her vision, and we are grateful for the opportunity to have worked with her as members of the president’s cabinet.

While transitions are never easy, we all remain committed, dedicated and optimistic about Bentley’s future. Paul has served on the Board of Trustees for seven years and we’ve all had a chance to work directly with him as chair over the past year. He is one of Bentley’s greatest champions and he has been a true partner in advancing many of the initiatives and programs you have seen enacted and announced. We look forward to working with him in the weeks ahead while the Board identifies an interim president and the steps for naming a search committee to identify Bentley’s 9th president.

As Paul outlined in his note, we are squarely focused on a few university-wide initiatives that will impact all of us in the months ahead.

Bentley’s commitment to racial justice, equity and inclusion stands at the top of the list. Systemic racism and inequality exist in our country and at Bentley. We must acknowledge this reality and continue to explicitly say that Black lives matter if we are to make progress towards a more racially just future. This moment is calling all of us to action. And therefore we must ensure that Bentley, and this community as a whole, works in active opposition to continued oppression. We must be, as we were powerfully reminded at last Tuesday’s vigil, an anti-racist university. We look forward to sharing some specific initiatives and measures to address this effort very soon, in addition to the task force on racial justice that was announced last week.

The healthy, safe and secure return to our Waltham campus is another top priority. While the Cabinet has piloted the return to campus over the past month, we are eager and excited to bring back our faculty and staff as Massachusetts moves through its stated reopening phases. We still anticipate offering on-campus classes this fall and we remain committed to announcing our intentions for fall instruction and campus living arrangements for students at the end of June. Please know that we continue to meet daily regarding the topic of COVID-19 and our safe return to campus. Bentley’s Director of Emergency Management will soon share more with faculty and staff about our approach to reopening offices and classrooms.

Related to our anticipated return of students this fall, the Cabinet and many university colleagues are hard at work ensuring our seamless transition to a trimester academic calendar. While there remain many specific details to be determined by a faculty and staff Trimester Working Group, we are confident that this new schedule offers the best opportunity for our students to build a flexible and personalized schedule, allowing them to pursue the academic journey of their choice. Additional details about this transition will continue to be rolled out this summer.

Finally, we want to recognize the remarkable commitment we’ve seen over the past two years from faculty and staff to build a positive organizational culture within this community. So many of our colleagues have worked to encourage and embody the principles of positive leadership in classrooms and conference rooms, and even in individual meetings. Believing in this approach, and living it daily, continues to make a difference in this community. We commit to you our continued support in this principle moving forward. It will guide our mindset as a Cabinet, and it will make us a stronger university for years to come.

Please know our doors, phones line and Zoom meeting codes are open to you, as always. We believe as strongly as ever in the people that make up this institution and we look forward to Bentley’s next chapter.

The Bentley University Cabinet 

Donna Maria Blancero
Josh Brand
George Cangiano
Carolina Figueroa
Maureen E. Flores
Maureen Forrester
Christopher J. Joyce
Amanda King
Judy Malone
J. Andrew Shepardson
Ian Thomas Wall