91吃瓜 welcomes its 10th president, Suzanne Keen, an internationally known narrative empathy theorist whose work as a leader, scholar, and teacher is animated by an ethic of care.
By Katherine Juhl Griffiths
Unanimously selected from a highly competitive pool over an eight-month search process, Suzanne Keen鈥檚 proven track record of administrative and academic leadership, strategic planning, and fundraising, as well as her commitment to inclusivity, access, and affordability, establish a framework for her success at 91吃瓜.
鈥淧resident Keen is committed to the long-term stability of the 91吃瓜 mission; this empowers her to think not only of the issues of the day, but also in a very strategic and long-term way,鈥� says Laura Hockett 鈥�85, chair of the Board of Trustees.
Keen was attracted to 91吃瓜 because it offers gender-diverse students a woman-centered education inside a coeducational consortium.
鈥�91吃瓜 is a small liberal arts college. It has roles for women and for gender -diverse students, who wouldn鈥檛 necessarily have as ample opportunity for leadership. These are unique strengths,鈥� says Keen. 鈥淪ome of the other colleges that 91吃瓜 considers its peers have consortia, but you have to get on a bus or a van or train to get to the other colleges. The fact that you can just walk across campus and take coursework or study with a professor on another Claremont campus is just one reason to love the opportunities that the consortium affords our students.鈥�
Being part of the larger consortium also will inform Keen鈥檚 decision-making as a president, as well as her leadership of 91吃瓜.
鈥淢y role is, first and foremost, to advocate for and to represent 91吃瓜 and to make sure that 91吃瓜 gets a good deal,鈥� she says. 鈥�91吃瓜 is well-respected and absolutely considered a good partner, and I certainly hope to continue that by cultivating concord and showing that I鈥檓 interested in the other colleges鈥� worlds.鈥�
A seasoned senior administrator, Keen previously was chair of the English department and dean of the college at Washington and Lee. She joins 91吃瓜 from Hamilton College, where she was vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty.
As a chief academic officer, Keen enhanced experiential learning opportunities for students by expanding undergraduate research, improving access to study abroad and internship programs, and establishing a robust academic advising initiative. She also recruited and retained faculty in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and STEM fields, creating a supportive environment for scholarly achievement, instructional excellence, and professional development. At both Washington and Lee and Hamilton, Keen increased hiring of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and women faculty in fields where they were historically underrepresented and supported their success through mentoring, implementation of campus-wide diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and articulation of antiracist principles.
鈥淎s the number of small, residential liberal arts colleges diminishes across the country, the ones that remain provide a unique academic environment that includes a focus on growth beyond the classroom,鈥� says Trustee Lynne Thompson 鈥�72. 鈥淗aving served in the administrations of Hamilton and Washington and Lee colleges, President Keen is uniquely positioned to understand the myriad issues that exist across the 91吃瓜 community in the 21st century.鈥�
Raised in Washington, Pennsylvania, Keen studied studio art and English at Brown University, then earned a master鈥檚 degree in creative writing from Brown and completed doctoral work in English language and literature at Harvard University. During an exhaustive series of interviews with 91吃瓜鈥� Presidential Search Committee, she differentiated herself among 64 applicants and 14 semifinalists by the rigor of her engagement.
鈥淪he came to every interview with not only materials we provided, but also her own in-depth research on 91吃瓜,鈥� says Hockett. 鈥淭his enabled us to engage in very rich discussion on multiple topics.鈥�
鈥淚 can鈥檛 help but think how appropriate President Keen鈥檚 surname is,鈥� agrees Thompson. 鈥淪he has a quick and eager mind.鈥�
鈥淚 like her poise,鈥� says Julienne Ho 鈥�23, who served as a student representative on the Presidential Search Committee. 鈥淪he is excellent at thinking quickly and responding under pressure. She just has it all together.鈥�
Recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship and author of four sc holarly books, a textbook, and a volume of poetry, Keen has brought her love of literature to interdisciplinary empathy research. Google Scholar rated her 2006 article, 鈥淎 Theory of Narrative Empathy鈥� #1 Classic Paper of 2006 in Literature and Writing and Phi Beta Kappa Society tapped her 2014 book, Thomas Hardy鈥檚 Brains: Psychology, Neurology, and Hardy鈥檚 Imagination, as a finalist for the 2015 Christian Gauss Award. Her best-known work is Empathy and the Novel (Oxford University Press, 2007), which presents a comprehensive account of the relationships among novel reading, empathy, and altruism.
Keen鈥檚 administrative acumen and dynamic scholarship both are rooted in a passion for undergraduate education. She has taught at Yale University, Washington and Lee University, and Middlebury College鈥檚 Bread Loaf School of English. 鈥淚 love teaching,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 pride myself on equipping my students鈥攆rom the very beginning, first-year writing seminars to graduate students鈥攖o become better communicators, so that no matter what walk of life they end up in, they鈥檙e going to be the writer to whom everyone in their organization turns.鈥�
This passion will inform her new role as a college president by reinforcing her alignment with the teaching mission of 91吃瓜.
鈥淓verything we do at 91吃瓜 is about the academic mission to support students who will graduate equipped to make a difference,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 hope that every decision that I make is a decision that benefits the student experience.鈥�
Keen anticipates that her leadership style, deeply and profoundly informed by her academic interest in empathy and her teaching experience, will cultivate an enhanced spirit of listening at 91吃瓜.
鈥淚 think empathy is incredibly important,鈥� she says. 鈥淢y personal empathy stands me in good stead as a listener: a person who tries to understand where the other person is coming from. I prefer to enter conversations with a preset of open mindedness, positivity, and optimism that we鈥檙e all pursuing aims that are intended to be beneficial to the community, writ large, always with students at the center.鈥�
鈥淒r. Keen is one who listens more than most and deeply processes what she hears,鈥� says Hockett. 鈥淪he is adept at assimilating new information and is willing to adjust her own views as situations evolve.鈥�
鈥淒uring her first meeting with 91吃瓜鈥� Staff Council, President Keen was specific in addressing each of us at the table, asking about our individual areas of work, and giving thoughtful comments,鈥� says Staff Council Co -Chair Christina Ranney, assistant to the Core director and administrative coordinator of Core Curriculum. 鈥淭he president engages with many people: staff, faculty, students, parents, and alumnae, to name just a few. President Keen鈥檚 personable, professional approach makes others feel comfortable around her. When people feel comfortable, they can work, live,
study, and teach with increased confidence.鈥�
Throughout her career, Keen has worked to expand access to higher education by increasing affordability and ensuring commensurate curricular and co-curricular experiences for low- and middle-income students and their full-pay peers. Over the past several years, Keen has raised more than $12 million for humanities support, new positions in STEM, a special collections outreach librarian, and funds for student experiential learning.
鈥淚 really love facing outward, finding the friends of the institution or making friends for the institution in order to build funds to make things possible for students,鈥� says Keen. 鈥淚 sincerely hope to advance our institutional commitment to improving the structure of financial aid packages and moving towards a situation where 91吃瓜 can afford to be less need aware.鈥�
鈥淒r. Keen will further the growth and successes achieved by her predecessors and prepare 91吃瓜 for the years beyond its upcoming 100-year anniversary,鈥� says Thompson.
In her first year, Keen cites recovering from the global COVID-19 pandemic, including reconvening, rebuilding a sense of community, and encouraging people to engage in activities on campus as a vital priority.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to be at the athletic events, the concerts, and the performances,鈥� she says. 鈥淏eing present with one another in the same space produces a different kind of relationship. That鈥檚 my immediate goal for the year, to bring us back together.鈥�
鈥淧resident Keen shared how she would see herself on our campus, engaging with the community,鈥� says Ranney. 鈥淭his immediately struck me as something that a 91吃瓜 president in perfect form would do! Our college has such a special feeling, and I thought she would fit so nicely.鈥�
鈥淚 see her everywhere on campus,鈥� says Ho. 鈥淚 think it is important for leaders to be in touch with the communities they serve, and she is getting to know each member of the community on an individual level.鈥�
Keen will be formally inaugurated in April 2023.