November 2024 Board Meeting Update

The Board of Trustees held our fall meeting November 14–16, 2024, on the College campus. We gathered in the Library’s Marshall Brooks Room overlooking the Chapel Green.

Administrators and staff presented updates, including presentations on enrollment trends at the School and College, financial modeling, and details about curriculum shifts on both campuses. Trustees appreciated the opportunity to ask questions of Head of School Dr. Merry Sorrells, College President Dr. Daniel Norton, and their leadership teams. We also engaged in dialogue and Q&A with the Executive Team on topics including finances, investments, human resources, legal, advancement, marketing, and strategic planning. 

Opportunities to Connect 
We are particularly grateful that our agenda for this meeting included robust opportunities for interacting with students as well as faculty and staff. One of the key takeaways from our review of Board operations at the June meeting was a clear desire on the part of all Board members to increase opportunities to spend time with students and to engage with faculty and staff. This visit was rich with a range of ways to connect with all three groups at the College:

• We had lunch with the Resident Counselors and Resident Assistants from each House on campus. 
• A reception for the entire College faculty and academic staff in the School of Government Commons allowed for one-on-one conversation and meaningful dialogue. We particularly appreciated this opportunity to express our gratitude to the faculty for all their ongoing work to reimagine the curriculum and update General Education requirements.
• We joined students in the Pub where we served more than 200 free milkshakes and had free-flowing conversations. 
• Lunch with Facilities, Housekeeping, and Dining Services staff was a delight, and we enjoyed getting to know this hard-working, long-serving, good-humored, and inspiring group of Principians.
• We attended the African Student Association-sponsored “Afro-Feast: A Taste of African Foods” in Holt Gallery on Saturday afternoon, getting to know more students and appreciating the music and food from North, South, East, and West Africa. 
• A dinner with the Executive Team and their spouses was another opportunity to engage in conversation and get to know Principia leaders better.
• A highlight was attending the College’s contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night: The Musical in the renovated space at McVay Center for the Performing Arts.

LGBTQ+ Faith in Action 
Friday’s Faith in Action event, “LGBTQ+ and a Life of Faith,” featured a panel discussion marking the 10-year anniversary of Principia openly welcoming LGBTQ+ students, faculty, and staff. All Trustees were grateful to be able to support this event and to recognize the progress made in the last decade. No one is outside of God’s expansive love, and everyone is included in Principia’s embrace.

As the Principia-wide Belonging and Mattering Statement puts it so beautifully, “We are a community based on prayer, integrity, respect, trust, and love. Together, we foster and sustain inclusive learning, living, and working environments where everyone feels they belong and are valued.” Principia’s LGBTQ+ community members are valued, loved, and appreciated.

It was inspiring to hear from this panel of LGBTQ+ Principians who shared their journeys of living their Christian Science faith openly and courageously. Being part of this healing event and bearing witness to the decade of progress at Principia was meaningful and profoundly important. We are aware that there were too many decades in which Principia did not welcome and support our LGBTQ+ students, faculty, and staff. This Board deeply regrets the harm done during those years and wholeheartedly supports the inclusive work taking place on both campuses today.

Final Revisions to Principia Policies
The Ad Hoc 23 Policy Review Committee, a group of Trustees and administrators appointed by the Board to update and modernize Principia’s foundational Policies, completed its work, and the Board now has approved updates to all 23 Principia Policies. The Policies were originally ratified by the Board of Trustees in 1944 and have been only slightly modified previously in 1962 and again in 1983. The revised Policies as well as the previous wording for the Policies are available for review on our website. 

The committee began this iterative work in 2021. The initial review modernized the language in each Policy to be gender neutral and to support diversity and inclusion across Principia. Then the committee broke into subcommittees and began the more substantive review to ensure each Policy reflects how Principia has evolved and changed and to avoid ambiguity. Operational language was removed since more detailed policies are now contained in the Employee Handbook, Student Code of Conduct, and other policy documents. 

A great deal of prayer and thoughtful consideration has gone into this process. We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Committee Chairs Allan Marquardt, Chestnut Booth, and Kristin Jamerson—and every member of the Ad Hoc 23 Policy Review Committee who spent many hours of consecrated work on this project.

Values Alignment Framework
In September, during a special, online meeting, the Board ratified the administration’s Values Alignment Framework to guide hiring and student enrollment. 

Board Conflict of Interest Policy
We approved a strengthened Board Conflict of Interest Policy as recommended from the Audit Committee. 

Tuition, Room, and Board for 2025–2026
The Board approved tuition, room, and board (TRB) rates for the 2025–2026 academic year. School TRB will increase 4.0 percent, and College TRB will increase 3.5 percent.

Trustee Emeritus
At this meeting, the Board recognized the significant, dedicated contributions of former Trustee Steve Shaper (US’54), who retired from the Board in November 2023 following a full nine-year term of service. The Board voted to grant him the honorary title of Trustee Emeritus. The Board greatly appreciates Steve’s exemplary service, and we are grateful that he is continuing to serve as an outside member of the Investment Committee of the Board. Steve was a student on the Principia School Page and Belt campus and has found a multitude of ways—many anonymously—to support and to serve Principia ever since. He has been a member of the Committee of Seventy, served on the Alumni Board, and remains an exceptional ambassador for Principia today. 

Inspiration and Gratitude 
As Trustees, we embrace our daily responsibility and privilege to prayerfully support Principia. It’s always a pleasure to begin each day of our meetings with readings, followed by the sharing of individual inspiration. 

On a particularly foggy morning during this three-day meeting, the readings included this verse from Hymn 245 in the Christian Science Hymnal, offering clear guidance and support for our work: 

"O tender, loving Shepherd,
We long to follow thee,
To follow where thou leadest, 
Though rough the path may be,
Though dark and heavy shadows
Enshroud the way with gloom,
We know that Love will guide us,
And safely lead us home."

We loved being on the College campus , sharing meals, conversations, and a great deal of joy with so many of you who are working diligently to uplift and serve Principia. During this week of Thanksgiving, our hearts are overflowing with gratitude for each of you and for all the good you are doing on behalf of Principia and the Cause of Christian Science.