Accomplishments Timeline

During Cassidy's presidency, the College has hired 108 tenure-track and continuing non-tenure-track faculty members. It created new majors in environmental studies, international studies, biochemistry and molecular biology, and neuroscience, as well as new minors in health studies, museum studies, and data science. Both education and creative writing transitioned from being minors to majors, and the innovative 360° program has continued to challenge faculty and students to examine topics in exciting new ways.

A monument addressing the College’s legacy of exclusionary practices has been commissioned and will be installed in the Old Library cloisters during the 2024-25 academic year as part of the ARCH Project.

The Student Life and Wellness Building, opened in 2022, is a permanent testament to the value Former President Cassidy has had for caring for students in every way. By putting the Health and Wellness Center, the Impact Center for Community, Equity, and Understanding, and the Career & Civic Engagement Center under one roof, the College has created an innovative model that understands student health and well-being as a complex combination of self-care, community engagement, and career satisfaction. 

Cassidy led the most successful fundraising campaign in the College’s history. The Defy Expectation campaign, which ended in 2021, raised $301 million including the College’s single largest gift of $25 million.

Cassidy created Bryn Mawr’s first in-house investment team in 2020 to manage the endowment. Returns since have been strong, and as of mid-2023 the College's endowment stood at $1.3 billion.  Under Cassidy, the College has had positive operating results in each of the last 10 fiscal years.

In 2019, Cassidy and the Board of Trustees revised the College’s mission statement to include a recognition that “Equity and inclusion serve as the engine for excellence and innovation” and that “a commitment to racial justice and to equity across all aspects of diversity propels our students, faculty, and staff to reflect upon and work to build fair, open and welcoming institutional structures, values, and culture.”

The Community Building Honor Roll honors those students who make important contributions to the quality of campus life. It started as a student concept in 2017 and was launched by Cassidy in 2018.

In 2017, Cassidy placed a moratorium on the use of M. Carey Thomas’ name in reference to what, at the time, was known as Thomas Library and Thomas Great Hall. The following year, the Board voted to permanently change the names of those places to Old Library and Great Hall, and last year, the Board of Trustees voted to remove Thomas’ name from the building.

Completed in 2015, “New Dorm” was the first residence hall built on campus in more than 45 years. With 110 single rooms and 10 doubles, New Dorm increased the College's bed capacity by more than 50 students.

In recognition that standardized test scores may not fully reflect academic preparedness or potential, the College adopted a test-optional policy for prospective students in 2014.

During Cassidy’s presidency, the College’s 360° Program of interdisciplinary course clusters, many of which include student travel opportunities funded by the College, went from being a pilot to a well-established signature program that allows students to participate in a cluster of courses designed to focus on common problems, themes, and experiences.