Letter from Ned Brown '82

January 23, 2011

Dear President Falk,

Though I am a class of 1982 graduate of Williams, I have not stayed actively involved with the college for many years.  I have not submitted updates to the alumni review, and the sole occasion I contributed financially to the college (since my rather substantial contribution during enrollment) was to a memorial fund upon the death of former Moo-Cow Marching Band Director Francis Cardillo, many years ago now.  On the one hand, my lack of involvement with the college for so long gives me little credibility as a source of input on its administration.  On the other, the fact that I choose to speak out now will perhaps emphasize with what importance I consider the issue at hand.

I have recently learned from fellow Williams alums that Sheafe Sattertwaite is not to be offered a continuing contract at Williams.  This disappoints me greatly, and hence this missive.

I was not an exceptional student at Williams.  I did not come from a preparatory background, nor even an especially good public schooling background. I did not have strong study habits and my B-level grades reflected that.  I grew up in Colorado, and had never seen a pair of khaki pants or Topsider shoes prior to arriving at Williams.  My only officially sanctioned extra-curricular activity at Williams was participation in the Marching Band, of which I was a Student Director my senior year.  In brief, I was not an especially typical Williams student, either academically or socially.  I did not fit in.

In my four years at Williams, there was only one Professor with whom I "connected" and who took the time to connect with me:  Sheafe Sattertwaite.  More important than the two of Sheafe's courses which I took was the personal, individual interest Sheafe took in me.  Sheafe appreciated my differences and encouraged me to continue on an individualistic path.  The support and advice Sheafe provided, the unique perspectives he encouraged all of us in his courses to investigate, helped me gain the confidence to pursue a career path which has varied widely from the Williams norm. 

In the years since leaving Williams, I have done everything from ditch digging to executive hotel management to helping build and run a resort in Independent Samoa.  I have traveled extensively and currently run a scientific research station on a remote Pacific Atoll. My varied and wide ranging career has allowed me to build a network of friends and colleagues around the world and, if there's one thing they all would say of me, it is that I think independently.  Sheafe Satterthwaite's unique and personalized approach had a great deal to do with the course I've taken through life, a course I've found extremely rewarding, interesting and, not least of all, entertaining.  With the hope that others might benefit from Sheafe's attention as I did, I add my small voice to the chorus of those requesting reconsideration of the decision not to renew Sheafe's contract at the college.

Thank you for time and consideration.

Best regards,

Ned Brown, '82