Jean Bordewich believes Guilford can resolve its financial issues without jeopardizing its strong liberal arts reputation.
It’s easy to spot Jean Bordewich on Guilford’s campus this week. She’s the blur of scarves and skirts, moving from one building to another, dashing off to one meeting after another. She’s the bundle of energy speaking with students, faculty and staff–anyone, really, who wants to talk about one of her favorite subjects: Guilford College.
Jean had a 20-year career as a U.S. Senate and House Representative staff member, and served as staff director of the Senate Rules Committee. Jean also is a playwright and former program officer at the William Flora Hewlett Foundation. Her latest move seems less a job and more a calling. Ever since Kyle Farmbry’s resignation earlier this year, Jean has been serving as Guilford’s Acting President. She has served on the Board of Trustees and attended Guilford for two years as an undergraduate. Jean took a few minutes this week to talk about her first week on campus, the students, faculty and staff, and why she’s confident Guilford is going to soar in the coming years.
“My role is in part to identify Guilford's great strengths and assets and use them to help address the College’s serious financial problems. The job is made a lot easier by the other trustees who are here working together, bringing extra capacity to the excellent team of people who are already here at Guilford."
What have you learned in your first week on campus?
I’ve learned a tremendous amount. Meeting all the faculty and students and staff–even people from off campus–has shown me many perspectives on a place we all love. I learned that the cafeteria has great food. I can't wait to go there for lunch every day and maybe breakfast. On a different note, I’ve also realized some people are still feeling scarred by the difficulties that the College has had in recent years and that makes it hard for them to think about change again. But they too have a desire to maintain Guilford as a place that provides an excellent education and is a community for everyone. Every day I find out something interesting. On Wednesday I was at the radio station, WQFS, and learned about their collection of 5,000 vinyl records. They have volunteers who organize them and people can borrow them and return them, and then they get properly cataloged and shelved again. I thought that was cool. Everywhere I go, I discover something idiosyncratic, interesting and fun. That's Guilford.
How do you envision your role as Acting President?
My role is in part to identify Guilford's great strengths and assets and use them to help address the College’s serious financial problems. The job is made a lot easier by the other trustees who are here working together, bringing extra capacity to the excellent team of people who are already here at Guilford. We also have many alumni and friends who are getting involved in this community project of re-inventing Guilford.
"There's tremendous drive and motivation in the Guilford community to make this work and move into a future where the College will thrive.”
Do you think that the College can meet SACSCOC’s requirements?
Yes. I believe we can. I believe we will. We're going to have a rough time getting there because of the short time frame we now have. We should have been working on this more over the last two-plus years, but it's not too late. There's tremendous drive and motivation in the Guilford community to make this work and move into a future where the College will thrive.
What was it like meeting students this week?
I had lunch in the Caf with several students the first day I was here. It turned out that they were members of the golf team. It was a fun conversation, hearing about why they came to Guilford, how they were recruited to the golf team, where they were from. Last week the Guilford Student Body Association hosted an open meeting with students and trustees. Students told us about problems they faced, such as funding for student clubs. We got to work on solving that problem, but may not have known about it if the students hadn’t told us.
Would you talk a little about your conversations with faculty and staff?
I’m so impressed with all of them. They are thoughtful and passionate about Guilford. They are full of ideas. They focus on making magic moments in the classroom and also out of the classroom with students. There's a real sense of knowing what they're here for. They know their purpose, and they love engaging with students in a way that is going to make a difference in the students' lives.
"We are not closing, we are changing. We are going to become a model of higher education for the world as it is... (Students) will leave Guilford better equipped to be somebody who has a sense of meaning and how to be themselves in the world.”
What would you tell prospective students and parents?
I would tell them that if Guilford is the right place for their son or daughter, they should come here. We are not closing, we are changing. We are going to become a model of higher education for the world as it is, and as it will be during your student’s life. I would tell them they will not find an environment like this at any other college or university. I would tell a prospective student that Guilford is rooted in ethics and teaching values that will permeate not only what they do professionally, but what they do with their entire life. Do other schools look at the whole person, the whole student? Do other schools do as much to support their desires and goals in life? Guilford does. I’d tell prospective students they will leave Guilford better equipped to be somebody who has a sense of meaning and how to be themselves in the world.
What can alumni do in the coming months?
We need our alumni. They are our ambassadors. They are the voices that amplify Guilford and its importance to the world and to the students who come here. Sometimes in the past alumni have felt like the College doesn’t want to hear from them, or all the College does is ask for money. That's not good. We’re working with existing alumni groups that want to become more active and more involved in supporting the students and supporting the College. There are many, many ways in which they can do that. One of the groups, Alumni and Friends of Guilford College's (AFOG) is organizing a skills bank of alumni volunteers. That will be a tremendous resource for us. The Black Alumni of Guilford College (BAGC) really works hard to connect the Black alumni with activities here on campus and offer scholarships for Black students. So there are many different ways in which alumni can spread the word about what a great place Guilford is and to help sustain our work here. I hope Guilfordians will reach out to one or both of those groups because we need you, and our students need you.