Nestled on the second floor of Parrish, next to the Admissions Office, the Aydelotte Foundation is a dynamic hub of interdisciplinary research at Swarthmore College. Despite its central Swarthmore location, the foundation takes a broad, innovative approach to liberal arts education — one that reaches far beyond campus. Inside its offices, whiteboards flow with ideas for new initiatives and projects, exploring the role of the liberal arts across different contexts and institutions nationally.
Ayedelotte was originally founded in 2012 through the generous gift of Jim and Anahita Naficy Lovelace. It was part of a strategic planning process led by then-President Rebecca S. Chopp, which envisioned a research center that aligned with the ethos of the liberal arts rather than serving purely instrumental purposes.
“It was established so that our faculty could have a research center or a space for programming and curricular ideas that wouldn’t necessarily focus on expanding the college’s programs, but rather on exploring ideas in the liberal arts and the conditions under which the liberal arts are unfolding,” said Patricia White, current director and film and media studies professor.
While deeply connected to the Swarthmore community, the foundation was also designed for broader liberal arts exploration. Its mission extends beyond campus, engaging with institutions and scholars across a wide range of educational landscapes.
“We were deeply invested in exploring liberal arts education distinctly as it forms at institutions that are not necessarily like Swarthmore,” said Senior Associate Director Andy Hines. “A key part of our mission is to examine the liberal arts in its broadest possible range of interpretations and its broadest possible range of institutions.”
One of the core questions the foundation continues to explore is what the “liberal arts” truly encompass. In an era of uncertainty and rapid change, its research delves into the past, present, and future of liberal arts education. Over the last fifteen years since its establishment, the foundation’s philosophy has evolved alongside shifting social and political climates.
“In the beginning, the center started off more interested in advocacy around a definition of liberal arts that colleges like Swarthmore were defining,” Hines said. “I think it went from the defense of liberal arts as an educational tool that was offered by a distinct set of institutions to defining the liberal arts as a much more existential, structural concern. If the liberal arts were to exist in the U.S., for instance, it would have to exist in some form through the university system. And it seems like the university system as we know it is largely under threat.”
This evolving concern is particularly pressing given broader political shifts. As the Trump administration continues to cut federal funding for educational and scientific institutions, the traditional university system faces significant challenges. However, small, privately funded liberal arts colleges like Swarthmore may be better positioned to navigate these uncertainties.
“Swarthmore is, from the institution’s perspective, well positioned for today’s particular crisis,” Hines said. “It has a very healthy endowment. It’s very small. It’s not overly reliant upon federal grant funding for its operation. That makes the institution a little more nimble around some of these broader concerns.”
However, for larger institutions, the situation may be more complex. This challenge is one that the Aydelotte Foundation seeks to explore through its broader examination of the liberal arts.
“We’re really interested in grappling with the full dimensions of how institutions try to make up for the lack of state funding,” Hines said. “How does it lead larger universities like UPenn into things like health care rather than education? It pushes us to ask these types of questions.”
While recent trends reflect a larger historical pattern of defunding in higher education since the late 1960s, the foundation remains committed to fostering dialogue and innovation. One of Hines’s proudest moments at Aydelotte was organizing a Tri-College symposium at Haverford, titled “Universities and Democracy,” which brought together a wide range of voices to discuss the future of higher education.
“We brought together a diverse group of people working to improve higher education — making it more accessible, addressing student debt, and improving jobs in academia,” Hines said. “We gathered researchers, politicians, labor organizers, and members of the Debt Collective at that event. One of the most special things we’ve done at Aydelotte is creating spaces for different groups who don’t typically have opportunities to connect with similarly invested communities.”
Beyond engaging different campus community experts, the foundation provides interdisciplinary programs, student research fellowships, and courses that encourage critical reflection on the role of higher education.
“The ‘Race, Racism, and the Liberal Arts’ series has been successfully organized for about five years now, alongside other interdisciplinary projects,” White said. “In the past few years, we also taught a class called ‘Why College,’ a first-year seminar designed to help students reflect on why they are at Swarthmore — or in college at all. As we undergo the process of reshaping our curriculum, there’s a real push to consider what we can do for first-year students. We believe that ‘Why College’ is an excellent opportunity for them.”
As the landscape of higher education shifts in times of uncertainty, the Aydelotte Foundation remains steadfast in its mission — bringing together scholars, students, and institutions to ask difficult questions, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and imagine new possibilities for the future of liberal arts education.
^ Marié Abe ’01, Shalini Ayyagari ’00 and Lei Ouyang in conversation at their simultaneous book launch and discussion sponsored by the Aydelotte Foundation in September, 2023. Photo credit: Bob Williams
^ Alejandra Azuero-Quijano discussing her book,The Strike as Theory at Marking Worlds Bookstore and Social Center sponsored by the Aydelotte Foundation in October, 2023. Photo credit: Patricia White
