November 20, 2008

Dear Parents,

As you gather with family and friends for Thanksgiving, I write to share a few thoughts about the College’s financial position and our efforts to support our students in these challenging economic times.

Wooster is well positioned to weather this economic storm. We have very, very modest amounts of debt on our balance sheet and are unimpeded by the liquidity problems that have bedeviled some colleges who invested their short-term cash through the Commonfund. Moreover, our endowment investment strategy was engineered to hold up well in just this kind of market downturn. The endowment has suffered losses, but not of the magnitude experienced by many of our peers. We also are working diligently across campus to contain costs and conduct our operations ever more efficiently.

That the College’s financial position is stable and our program strong, however, is of limited comfort if you have stretched your resources to send a son or daughter to Wooster, and now find yourselves at a point where you can stretch no further. Despite the fact that Wooster provides more than $30 million in financial aid to our students each year, we know that some families are now finding themselves in just this position.

My colleagues and I are committed to helping good students remain at Wooster. This fall, we have been assisting those whose families are experiencing unanticipated financial hardship through our emergency financial assistance program. Now, thanks to the generosity of a member of our Board of Trustees, we have another tool at hand as well.

The Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams Jr. Emergency Student Aid Fund will provide loans to full-time, continuing students who have experienced an unanticipated change in family financial circumstances and face financial hardship that jeopardizes their ability to continue at the College. This loan program is for U.S. students in good standing, academically and socially, who have exhausted all other sources of aid, including federal and private bank loans, and campus work study or student employment. (Assistance is available for international students through our long-standing Jenny Student Aid Fund.)

You can get more details about the emergency loan fund and other resources available to our students at http://www.wooster.edu/financial_aid/Financial_Resources.pdf or by contacting the Office of Financial Aid at 330-263-2317 or financialaid@wooster.edu.

I am deeply grateful to Ruth and Morris Williams for their generosity in establishing this fund. But I am no less grateful for the sacrifices so many of you make each year to make a Wooster education possible for your daughters and sons.  Your investment in them is one that will pay off over the course of a lifetime: a lifetime of intellectual curiosity, creativity, achievement, and service, thanks to the transformative experience of a liberal education at The College of Wooster.

Sincerely,

Grant H. Cornwell
President