Vision Statement

We—members of Goddard College Faculty Union, Goddard College Staff Union, Goddard College Faculty Council, Goddard Alumni Association, and Goddard College Student Council—have come together to form an organization for the purpose of restructuring the College Corporation into a cooperative entity that will ethically and sustainably fulfill the purpose and role of Goddard College for the 21st century.

This effort is in line with the founding practices of the community meeting, a gathering of all stakeholders to discuss and make decisions about the College’s operations, campus-based projects that were designed to repair, build, and/or develop the College’s assets, contribute to the wellbeing of the College community, and create a united collaboration between students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Drawing from Goddard College’s founding principles and the experimental ideas of John Dewey and Tim Pitkin–including learning by doing, democratic participation in decision making, inquiry and project based learning, critical reflection, and dialogue and community building–we intend to renew Goddard’s place in higher education as an innovative college in progressive education for the 21st century. We will honor those origins while also recognizing the value that other progressive movements in education (such as culturally responsive education, pluralism, decolonization, and reindigenization of knowledge) have contributed to Goddard’s academic program, specifically its ability to foster educational opportunities of empowerment and recognition for students of diverse backgrounds, cognitive abilities, and cultures.

To that end, we invite you to:

• Read and share information about Goddard’s Cooperative Collaborative;

• Attend an upcoming gathering of stakeholders;

• Pledge a donation to the renewal fund, which is dedicated to restructuring the College; and/or

• Participate on a working group.