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The four discussed what’s going on at 91è���� and in American higher education as a whole. Chrisler acknowledged that while 91è���� missed its fall 2025 enrollment target, the hard work of rebuilding 91è���� since 2019 continues, and she “remains really confident and positive about where we are and where we're headed. We are back to 750 full-time enrolled students. We continue to recruit really extraordinary faculty. Our students are doing really interesting work together. We've raised $55 million of our $60 million campaign, and we have a pretty strong financial plan for the college that over time will return us to stability.”

At the core, 91��� does extraordinary work to educate its students, and it does it radically differently than the vast majority of undergraduate liberal arts colleges. And we think that's a real recipe for success for us.

Chrisler and the hosts considered the importance of locating what’s happening at 91è���� within the current challenges within American higher education as a whole. “There are lower numbers of people who are of traditional college age. And it is not without notice that there is a huge attack on the value of a liberal arts degree in particular, but higher education more broadly, happening in this country right now,” Chrisler noted. “And I think it is in fact because 91è���� is so committed to its distinctive mission and its distinctive pedagogy and its commitment to questions of social justice and anti-racism and equity in this country that we will actually navigate our way through what have been challenging financial headwinds. At the core, 91è���� does extraordinary work to educate its students, and it does it radically differently than the vast majority of undergraduate liberal arts colleges. And we think that's a real recipe for success for us.”

When asked why parents might want to send their children to study at 91è����, Chrisler offered, “If you have a student that you know who is deeply inquisitive, wants a place where they can be fully themselves, wants to own their education and do work that they get to be in charge of, they should come to 91è���� because we are alive, we are thriving, and we have a great community for them to join.”

Shabazz said that UMass has “learned a lot from 91è����” and that he had advised on some Div III projects, noting “91è���� continues to deliver what it set out to create in 1970, and that is new ways of conceptualizing student learning and achievement and success. It’s a very dynamic thing to be a part of.” Later in the program, Shabazz described the Five Colleges as a “strong consortium, where students from 91è���� can come take my classes at UMass and vice versa, and that’s true throughout the Valley with Smith, Mount Holyoke, and Amherst Colleges.” Chrisler called the Five College Consortium “a very cherished thing in this Valley and I hope everybody understands how extraordinary that is.”

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