More Questions with President Weinman
President Kevin Weinman answers more student questions. Photo by Elizabeth Baumgardner '25
Editor’s Note: These questions, submitted by Marist University students, have been edited for length and clarity.
With the theater program and productions growing more and more, will there ever be plans to expand the Nelly Goletti to make room for growing audiences?
We are always looking to enhance the quality of our facilities. We will soon be publishing a Campus Master Plan that will highlight wishes and opportunities for a variety of possible campus enhancements. A master plan is an ambitious articulation of an institution’s opportunities to shape the campus and its facilities to meet future needs in an evolving world, and as such won’t be implemented in full overnight. That said, one of the items on the wish list is a larger theatre that can not only better serve the performing arts, including theatre, but also admissions visits, lectures and presentations, alumni gatherings, and community events.
How are you addressing the separation of trash and recycling in residence halls? And are their initiatives to make the landscape more sustainable?
I am excited that a yearlong effort to develop a sustainability plan for Marist is nearly complete. We will have much more to say soon about specific ideas to make Marist, its facilities and its operations more sustainable.
Would you rather have wings or four arms?
Hmmm…neither?
What would be your elevator pitch for a student on the fence about coming to Marist?
The elevator ride isn’t long enough, so I’d have to talk fast. It’s not one thing that makes Marist so special, it’s everything rolled together. I often call it the power of AND, not OR. We don’t settle, ever. In the classroom, students blend the very best of the liberal arts AND dozens of pre-professional programs that will prepare them for a lifetime of success. Students study here in Poughkeepsie AND at our campuses in Florence and Dublin. Student-athletes on our 23 Division 1 teams lead their conference in all-time athletic championships AND academic honor roll selections. In and out of the classroom, Marist prepares students not just for their first job, but their entire career. Or, more likely, careers. On top of that, Marist is a warm place. The recent Princeton Review “happiness” rankings where our students themselves voted Marist the happiest school of all schools in the Northeast only scratches the surface. We will always have much work to do to improve campus climate, a feeling of belonging, and general satisfaction, but Marist is in a very strong place relative to many other colleges and universities on this important point.
How are you planning to accommodate housing for the increased number of incoming students?
First, to be clear, Marist is not growing, has not grown in recent years, and has no current plan to grow. We aim to admit 1,275 new students and 125 transfer students each year and have for some time. That said, housing has been tight for a few reasons. Housing demand and requests for specific housing options have been increasing given the quality of housing we offer, which has made it more difficult to always provide students the housing of their choice and as early in the selection process as they would like. Also, we have a growing imbalance in the timing of study abroad, with many more students studying in the fall than the spring, which makes the housing (and parking) crunch greater this time of year. As we look forward, we are considering adding housing stock to meet the demand for on-campus living, as well as options to better balance study abroad patterns.
What has been your favorite memory from your time as Marist’s President?
I don’t know if I have a single favorite memory, but I can say that the time between Spring Break and commencement (so, now) is my favorite time of the year! There is so much energy on campus and tremendous events to go to as students wind down their year – music, theatre and dance performances; great events like Silver Needle Runway and Mon Afrique, athletics senior days, CURSCA and honors thesis presentations, community celebrations like Riverfest, and so on. As the weather gets warmer, it’s even more fun to be out and about and connecting with students.
How do you think Marist could serve the greater Poughkeepsie community?
I think the Marist University community already does a terrific job engaging with Poughkeepsie and the Hudson River Valley. So many students and faculty work closely with non-profits, our education majors teach and support students in the local schools, and we welcome the community to this beautiful campus for so many events and performances. We just held the 55th annual Marist Community Breakfast, for example, which brought over 100 public servants, civic leaders, and industry/non-profit professionals to campus to honor several distinguished community members who have made a difference. I am always touched by student organizations that organize service events and fundraisers for local non-profits, as they seek to make a difference in the place they call home for four years.
If you could only take 3 items with you to a desert island, which 3 items would you take?
A Marist hat, shirt, and jacket. Well, not really…my wife Beth, son Alex, and daughter Brooke, and we’d sneak in our dog Cody in a backpack and hope nobody would check.