When our philanthropic founder Stephen Van Rensselaer wrote the charter for RPI on November 5, 1824, he specifically called for a new educational paradigm. He asserted that students “are not to be taught by seeing experiments and hearing lectures, according to the usual method. But they are to lecture and experiment.” This represented a radical departure from the norms of higher education of that day, which required students to sit at the back of the classroom, listening passively to their professors. But this new model of hands-on learning was so successful that it was copied by other technical institutions founded after RPI.
Throughout its history, RPI continued to lead in educational innovation. RPI “flipped the classroom” for introductory physics in the early 1990s—an educational model that significantly improved learning outcomes and was rapidly adopted by our peers. RPI has always had state-of-the-art computing resources and made them unusually available to all students. This tradition has continued with our AiMOS supercomputer and last year’s launch of the IBM Quantum System One, which made RPI the first university in the world to have an IBM quantum computing system on campus. And just as our founding professor Amos Eaton did, we encourage our upperclassmen today to expand their own mastery of a subject by teaching it to their fellow students.
Because of these educational innovations, we have always attracted a very special kind of student—independent-minded, persistent in realizing a vision, and eager to change the world.
Investing In New Learning Models That Blend Rigor and Creativity
To continue offering an education that unlocks powerful opportunities for our students, we should be uncompromising in continuing RPI’s tradition of rigor, but equally uncompromising in supporting our students to achieve their goals. Among RPI’s most important assets is an unusually high degree of cross-school collaboration.
This culture of interdisciplinarity, the ubiquity of computing on campus, and the example offered by 200 years of paradigm-breaking alumni offer us an important opportunity to differentiate RPI from its peers. We can move one step beyond STEM and integrate an expectation of creativity into everything we do, whether in science, engineering, architecture, business, or the humanities, arts, and social sciences.
Supporting Scholarships to Reduce Barriers for Talented Students
The founding vision for RPI is fundamentally democratic. In 1824, Stephen Van Rensselaer imagined his new school as a vehicle for bringing the applied sciences to “the sons and daughters of farmers and mechanics.” He saw it as perfectly in keeping with the spirit of a young United States to “place the advantages of useful improvement equally within the reach of all.”
In our third century, we want to stay within reach for brilliant students from all backgrounds. As the sticker price of a college education continues to rise around the country, RPI will do everything possible to remain affordable for first-generation students and others who need financial aid. Our success depends on increasing scholarship support for our students.
Committing to Developing the Whole Student
RPI offers a rich experience both inside and outside the classroom, with an exceptionally vibrant extracurricular life. We are proud to say that 33 fraternities and sororities are now celebrating their 160th year at RPI, with more than one thousand students calling these houses home. We have hundreds of clubs and club sports in our 135-year-old Rensselaer Union. RPI Athletics is a source of excitement, joy, and community pride–not just for our student-athletes, but for the whole campus.
It is vital for us to support all of these lively additions to the student experience for a third century. Support for students starts with increasing our support of undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships to continue to meet Stephen Van Rensselaer’s ambitious challenge. Additionally, we must secure funding to enhance the student experience by supporting our intercollegiate athletic programs and more than 200 student organizations.