This letter, signed initially by 12 college presidents, is being sent to hundreds of presidents. Please see the growing list of signatories at the bottom of this page May 10, 2007 Dear Colleague: We are writing to seek your commitment (and the commitment of your institution) to a new approach to rankings of colleges and universities compiled by U.S. News and World Report. We believe these rankings are misleading and do not serve well the interests of prospective students in finding a college or university that is well suited to their education beyond high school. Among other reasons, we believe this because such rankings
We ask you to make the following two commitments: 1. Refuse to fill out the U.S. News and World Report reputational survey. 2. Refuse to use the rankings in any promotional efforts on behalf of your college or university, and more generally, refuse to refer to the rankings as an indication of the quality of your college or university. Each of us has already made these commitments. We ask you to do the same. In accord with these commitments, you may want to provide a link on your website to information about how you are ranked by U.S. News and World Report, but to do this in a way that simply provides information, not in a way that suggests you value the specific ranking or support the ranking project. Similarly, in answering questions from students, parents, reporters, alumni, or prospective students and parents, these commitments would lead you to answer such questions factually, but not in a way that suggests you value how you are ranked or that suggests support for the ranking project. Other publications also provide rankings of colleges and universities, and the commitments stated here may also guide you in deciding whether or how to respond to requests from or inquiries about these other rankings. As we go forward, we will also be working with the Education Conservancy and with other groups to develop clear explanations of what rankings of colleges and universities do and do not mean, and to develop better approaches (including ones that assess student learning) to helping prospective students find and evaluate colleges and universities that will serve well their education beyond high school. Will you join us in these endeavors? Sincerely yours, Douglas C. Bennett, Earlham College William G. Durden, Dickinson College Jackie Jenkins-Scott, Wheelock College Ellen McCulloch-Lovell, Marlboro College Patricia McGuire, Trinity (D.C.) University Christopher Nelson, St. John's College (Annapolis) Michael Peters, St. John's College (Santa Fe) Kathleen Ross, Heritage University Jake Schrum, Southwestern University G. T. "Buck" Smith, Bethany College Robert Weisbuch, Drew University Daniel H. Weiss, Lafayette College |
Additional Signatories: | ||
William Bloodworth, Augusta State University Walter M. Bortz III, Hampden-Sydney College R. Judson Carlberg, Gordon College F. Javier Cevallos, Kutztown University Thomas V. Chema, Hiram College J. Timothy Cloyd, Hendrix College Joan Develin Coley, McDaniel College Thomas B. Coburn, Naropa University Robert A. Corrigan, San Francisco State University Alan S. Cureton, Northwestern College (MN) Gary Dill, College of the Southwest Donald R. Eastman III, Eckerd College Mark Erickson, Wittenberg University Julius E. Erlenbach, University of Wisconsin-Superior Brother Ronald Gallagher, Saint Mary's College of California Philip A. Glotzbach, Skidmore College John V. Griffith, Presbyterian College George J. Hagerty, Franklin Pierce College Tori Haring-Smith, Washington and Jefferson College Peyton R. Helm, Muhlenberg College Ralph Hexter, Hampshire College Dean Hubbard, Northwest Missouri State University Mark W. Huddleston, University of New Hampshire James F. Jones, Trinity College (CT) David C. Joyce, Ripon College Walter Kimbrough, Philander Smith College |
Stuart Kirk, College of Santa Fe Dale Thomas Knobel, Denison University Ruth A. Knox, Wesleyan College Alton Lacey, Missouri Baptist University Sylvia Manning, University of Illinois at Chicago Michael McFarland, College of the Holy Cross Lex O. McMillan III, Albright College Carolyn W. Meyers, Norfolk State University John W. Mills, Paul Smiths College Elisabeth Muhlenfeld, Sweet Briar College S. Georgia Nugent, Kenyon College Oscar C. Page, Austin College James Phifer, Coe College G. David Pollick, Birmingham-Southern College William Craig Rice, Shimer College, Chicago Stephen D. Schutt, Lake Forest College Rebecca Sherrick, Aurora University David Shi, Furman University Larry Shinn, Berea College John Strassburger, Ursinus College Tim Summerlin, Schreiner University Christopher M. Thomforde, Moravian College Baird Tipson, Washington College Richard L. Torgerson, Luther College Mitchell Thomashow, Unity College (ME) Saundra Tracy, Alma College W. Craig Turner, Hardin-Simmons University Sanford Ungar, Goucher College |