Our message to Williams College: Don't close Williams-Mystic
If you know how I feel about my experience at Williams-Mystic, you’ll understand how devastated I was to hear that Williams College was considering shutting it down for budget-cutting reasons. Fortunately, there are a whole lot of people who don’t want this to happen, so there’s a chance the program will survive the vagaries of higher-ed administrative decisions.
I co-wrote an op-ed with some of my classmates from Spring 2024, which was published in the Williams student newspaper. All members of the S’24 class signed the letter.
The funny thing is, I don’t think I would’ve even thought of writing directly to people in authority without my experience at Williams-Mystic. They were the ones who taught me how to advocate for what I believe in. That is a skill I will use over and over again for the rest of my life.
You can read the op-ed or my other posts gushing about Williams-Mystic to know all the other reasons why it’s so important for this program to keep offering the same amazing experience to other students. I’ll post an update when a decision is made, and I can only hope it’s the right one.
UPDATE (June 21, 2024): We’re not done yet! Williams has announced that they will form a working group this summer to attempt to develop a new financial model for Williams-Mystic.
UPDATE (August 30, 2024): Williams-Mystic will continue! Thanks to efforts by members of our community to reach out to the administration, the program will continue with some changes intended to make it financially sustainable. The heart and soul of Williams-Mystic will remain intact.