When I visited Proctor in the spring of 1976 for a job interview, I had lunch in the Cary House dining room, and a senior said to me "The problem with this place is that it's changing too fast." With the hindsight of a quarter century, it occurs to me that there is no problem with institutional change as long as it is organic and human, and therefore natural. Proctor has changed subtly yet significantly in the last three months. I can't trace the causal factors. The new Meeting House must have something to do with it. One way to observe the transformation is to witness the new role of artistic expression in the community.
With the world threatened by unknown terrors, a village community in a remote valley offers some semblance of safety and sanity. People are here to improve themselves, which is a good thing to do.
Maybe the change I sense is the product of the new "ensemble block" in students' schedules, or dance as an major afternoon activity, or expanding the staff in the Music Department.
Whatever the causes, change happens within us. It's not a problem.
