Claremont McKenna College formally inaugurated William C. Dudley as its sixth president last Saturday, Nov. 7. The event was among a weekend of celebrations celebrating Dudley’s investiture, including a panel on leadership in higher education and a dedication ceremony for the Sports Bowl, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’ newest set of athletic facilities.
The investiture ceremony, held on Parents Field, brought together CMC community members and individuals close to Dudley — including a roommate from his undergraduate years and a close mentor — to usher Dudley into the presidency, though he formally took the mantle from former president Hiram Chodosh on July 1. Dudley received the presidential medallion and academic hood during the ceremony.
In his inaugural address, Dudley reflected on CMC’s founding mission of preparing students for responsible leadership, emphasizing the importance of preserving the college’s educational values while responding to challenges facing higher education.
Dudley also affirmed expanding access to a CMC education as one of the college’s primary concerns.
“Because talent is everywhere, we will recruit widely and ensure that every admitted student can afford CMC,” Dudley said.
His remarks came one day after students held a financial aid forum on Nov. 6, where attendees discussed concerns about affordability and shared their experiences navigating financial aid at CMC.
Amrit Dhaliwal CM ’27, CMC’s student body president, said she was encouraged by Dudley’s general emphasis on financial accessibility. She also described his willingness to meet with students during his first months in office as an important starting point in addressing the student body’s concerns.
“Accessibility to students who just have a concern and would like to talk is super important,” Dhaliwal said. “I’m really glad we’ve seen that already, and I hope that’s able to continue.”
Dhaliwal said she hopes Dudley’s administration will move beyond simply identifying affordability as a priority to making concrete steps to expand financial aid, particularly for the most in-need students who still face unexpected out-of-pocket expenses.
“The [hope] is that we have some movement on affordability … especially for students that are on full rides, working to alleviate the extra costs they end up taking on after being promised they’re going to pay no expenses,” Dhaliwal said.
Rahamatou Maurou-Dikeni CM ’29, who attended the financial aid forum, said Dudley’s remarks about the importance of financial accessibility in supporting a diverse student body were reassuring.
She emphasized that collaboration between students and the administration would be necessary to build an environment that better supports students from different backgrounds and perspectives.
“I think it’s important that we work together as [a] community to face these challenges that are ahead of us,” Maurou-Dikeni said.
In a speech during the inauguration ceremony, CMC professor of government Hilary Appel also cited concerns about affordability, listing rising tuition costs and other barriers to educational access as some of the major challenges facing higher education today.
Appel also mentioned emerging technologies like AI as a factor changing the higher education landscape. Georgia Gersh CM ’27 agreed, and said she hopes Dudley addresses AI usage by CMC students.
“AI is becoming a big crisis,” Gersh said. “Dudley can enforce a way of using higher ed to build upon those tools rather than having these tools substitutes.”
Gersh emphasized the importance of Dudley continuing to engage with students across campus organizations and academic departments.
“I want him to get to know a lot more students,” she said. “I want him to engage in a lot of these student groups or student associations, clubs and departments.”
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