Crystal Williams

Dear students, staff, and faculty,

Welcome to RISD, Class of 2029, new staff and faculty, and welcome back to our returning community members! I am thrilled to be back on campus with all of you as we begin the 2025–26 academic year.

A great deal has happened over the past few months. Below, I provide a few updates and additional information as we embark on a new semester.

New Federal Policies and Their Impacts

Last spring, the current administration announced new federal regulations and policies, with profound implications for the higher education sector.

Changes to financial aid access, including new limits on the amounts and kinds of financing available to students and parents, proposed changes to the Federal Work-Study Program, as well as new eligibility restrictions to Pell Grants, which support students with the least financial resources, will affect who has the ability to pursue higher education. International students face additional challenges, including new visa fees and changes to requirements.

Limiting options students and their parents use to pay for college and restricting access to international students can lead to a less inclusive campus community and culture. I continue to believe that our diversity is our strength. Members of the RISD community hail from nearly every continent across the globe, practice myriad faith traditions, and embody multiple identities that span race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and more. Our international students bring unique perspectives and contributions that make our learning environment more vibrant. And as a result of such admixture of learning and exchange, our community is made richer.

Artists and designers shape nearly every aspect of our world. Therefore it matters greatly who is able to imagine themselves as an artist or designer. Recognizing the broader purpose of higher education—to produce critical thinkers and problem solvers who are engaged citizens of the country and the world—implies that diversity of thought and approach is crucial to creating solutions to the world’s most complex challenges and to societal advancement. Art and design education is and remains central to this critical work. The impact of many of the new and changing policies is still unfolding, but be assured that I and senior leaders continue to monitor developments closely.

Looking Ahead

Federal Landscape: We continue to focus on strategic priorities centered on our students, stabilizing our operations and finances, and strengthening our community. To keep everyone informed of developments, Senior Vice President for Finance David Rosati, Provost Touba Ghadessi, and Vice President for Enrollment Management Jamie O’Hara will once again offer open sessions in which community members can learn about the college’s current financial position and future plans. Dates and calendar holds will be sent soon. We will also hold forums to informally discuss current events in the federal policy landscape for students, staff, and faculty. Additional details will be shared shortly.

Strategic Initiatives: We are moving forward with some recommendations that emerged from the three working group initiatives—Holistic Student Wellness, Preparedness for Life After RISD, and Financial Optimization. Implementation plans based on the working group recommendations have been created; additional details will be shared in an upcoming message.

Planning Overview: In addition, these next two years will be full of impactful engagement. First, we are approaching our 150th anniversary. Second, we are in the midst of focusing our fundraising efforts very keenly on student success, which will strengthen the student experience. Thirdly, we are on the precipice of developing RISD’s new strategic plan. While distinct endeavors, they offer us an opportunity to integrate not only our thinking, but also our actions, so that the work of one effort can strengthen the outcomes of another.

As we approach our 150th anniversary, we are called to envision our highest collective aspirations as aligned with our mission, vision, and values. This anniversary provides us with an important opportunity to celebrate—boldly, creatively, joyfully, and ambitiously—while simultaneously laying plans to ensure that RISD will be here and thriving for another 150 years. In the midst of all of that momentum, which we are building even as I write this, we are focusing on expanding financial aid coffers, ensuring RISD students have access to the high-impact practices and resources that we know inform their post-graduation outcomes, and can be full participants in the RISD experience no matter their financial status. The strategic planning process affords us an opportunity to reflect, both in celebration and contemplation, and to consider what we wish RISD’s future institutional impact to be. Listening sessions will begin later this month, and more information about the process and how community members can be involved will be shared soon.

Accreditation: To maintain accreditation, RISD is required to conduct a substantial self-study every 10 years, of which we are in the midst. This self-study must rigorously and honestly examine all areas of college operations to demonstrate compliance with the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) standards. Last fall, RISD initiated its reaccreditation process by convening eight working groups, comprising community members from across the college and led by chairs, to focus intently on each NECHE standard and gather information on RISD’s compliance with these standards. The working groups submitted detailed sets of bullet points that demonstrate compliance, citing appropriate documentation when possible. Using those reports, accreditation co-chairs Provost Ghadessi and Executive Director of Accreditation and Institutional Effectiveness Jennifer Roberts, with Director, Center for Arts & Language Jennifer Liese, drafted a comprehensive report (currently under cabinet review and available to the RISD community later in the fall semester). In late October, the chair of the visiting team, Trinity College President Emerita Joanne Berger-Sweeney, will conduct a preliminary visit to campus in anticipation of the full team visit that concludes the self-study process in March 2026.

The start of a new academic year is a wonderful time to reset, explore new perspectives, and imagine possibilities without limits. The collective work before us—whether helping to envision our new institutional strategy, participating in planning or evincing of events and interactions for the sesquicentennial, helping to raise new funds in service of expanding access, or engaging in the reaccreditation process to ensure we’re critically evaluating and reflecting our strengths and adequately and effectively addressing our challenges—all call us to amplify this amazing place and its people. In this, I find an enormous amount of hope and joy. I look eagerly forward to the year ahead. And I wish each of you a joyful and abundant beginning, too!

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams (she/her)
President

Dear RISD Community,

In the final weekend of May, we celebrated Commencement and Reunion Weekend where friends, families and beloveds cheered as graduates crossed the stage and turned their tassels to mark the official transition from student to graduate. Hundreds of alums returned to campus to reminisce about their time at RISD while they reconnected with old classmates and made new friends. As we transition from campus to our summer locales, once again, I want to recognize the passion, hard work and dedication the Class of 2025 has displayed throughout their time at RISD as makers, scholars and thinkers. We look forward to learning more about where this next chapter of life takes them.

As I shared with the graduates on Commencement Day, the work that we endeavor together at RISD has never mattered more. We have witnessed, throughout history, that investment in the arts, artists and designers generates lasting, exponential value, especially in the most challenging times. The skills a RISD education nurtures and teaches—iteration and experimentation, questioning and critique, close looking and deep thinking, collaboration and teamwork—are crucial for rendering the world we wish to inhabit, building alternative systems and structures and fostering and nurturing a community that uplifts the collective good. 

RISD Community, I wish you a summer of leisure and rest, filled with time for reflection and contemplation. May you feel renewed through your making, studying, work or research. May your spirit be restored and your purpose made more clear.

Take good care.

Crystal Williams (she/her)
President

Dear Students, Staff, and Faculty,

I write to share additional information and resources regarding federal policies.

International Student Visas

You may have seen the widely reported news that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has restored the legal status of many international students whose visas were revoked in April. As of today, RISD has no student visa records with a status marked as terminated. RISD will, however, continue to remain vigilant, and the International Students and Scholar Affairs (ISSA) will monitor students’ status in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) for any disruptions. In addition, ISSA will contact international students and scholars directly with any relevant updates. 

Information Session 

RISD will host Through the Legal Lens: Making Sense of Immigration Law Today, an information session with expert immigration lawyers, Leon Rodriguez and Dawn M. Lurie. The session will provide clarity on topics including enforcement actions, visa scrutiny, travel restrictions, and access to resources. It will be offered on Thursday, May 8, 2025 at two times: 12 –1:30 pm and 2 – 3:30 pm in the 20 Washington Place Auditorium. 

The event is open to all RISD students, staff, and faculty. Food and beverages will be provided.

Registration is not required. For accommodations or to submit questions for the live Q&A, please email risdlegal@risd.edu.

Guidance and Resources

In addition to the risd.edu/guidance website, which is updated regularly, the Office of General Counsel has prepared a printable FAQ with answers to common questions in response to immigration enforcement actions on campus. 

A wallet-sized “Know Your Rights” card with important RISD contacts and information will be distributed to attendees to the May 8 information session. It is also available to download and print.

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams, she/her 
President