Meet Richard Gillin
Related or Not, You'll Be Family Here
The Gillins are a Washington College family. Richard and Barbara both teach at WC. Erin '99 and Chip '98 Merrick with Olivia, and Courtney '01 and Frank Fitzgibbon, with Aine, launched their careers here. Enlarge photo.
As I traveled the well-worn route from college to college with my eldest daughter, looking for the "right" college for her, and listening to a wide variety of presentations touting the programs at various colleges, I kept thinking: "We do that program better at Washington College." In time my eldest daughter Erin, and her younger sister Courtney, came to see that Washington College had much to offer. They both enrolled.
What made them choose Washington College was the way that they were immediately taken up by other students. They made fast friends and, now several years after graduation, remain strongly connected to their classmates. The courses they took opened their perspective on the world because they had first-rate teachers who genuinely cared about their learning. I think that they were somewhat concerned that as a faculty member and a father I would be too close, too meddlesome in their lives on campus. As it turned out, I usually only saw them when they needed money. Small as Washington College is, it is large enough to offer privacy as well.
As undergraduates, each of my daughters participated in intercollegiate sports. Through their participation, my wife and I came to know the parents of the other players fairly well. I cherished the many games, home and away, where we could celebrate a victory or bring consolation in defeat.
It often happens that parents think that involvement in a child's life more or less ends at high school graduation. Perhaps the most surprising element of being a Washington College parent was continuing that involvement in the lives of my children, their friends and their parents. Their web of friends and former classmates is richly complex and far ranging. It has been a privilege to see firsthand how all their lives remain intertwined with Washington College.
— Richard Gillin, Professor of English
Meet Meredith Olt
Meredith Olt and her daughter, Jackie, enjoy an annual Washington College tradition: George Washington's Birthday Ball.
Come to Chestertown to See the World
My daughter, Jackie, and I had never heard of Washington College when we began her college search four years ago. Her friend suggested that we include Washington College on her list of schools to look at—so we did. Her initial list was long, as is typical with high-school seniors today. We traveled coast to coast and visited countless schools. Seeing all those schools helped Jackie develop her priorities. Once her priorities were set, the process of elimination took over. Ultimately, Washington College was the only name on her list.
Jackie’s criteria were: a kind and caring environment that starts at the top, committed and engaged professors, the promise of great friends and a fun social life, and—her top priority—ample opportunity for international travel. We were surprised at how difficult it was to fulfill her top priority. We thought that “study abroad” would be a standard offering. But many programs are too restrictive, too confined or too competitive.
We became more discerning and less tolerant as we advanced in our search. We unintentionally developed a private glance that meant “Let’s excuse ourselves early from this tour.” At one school, after our usual drive around campus, we went to the admissions office and cancelled our appointment, despite the fact that we had flown 3,000 miles, stayed in a hotel and rented a car just to go there.
Then we got to Washington College. We found the most well-established, broadest and most inclusive study abroad program of any liberal arts college that we looked at. It was readily apparent that this historic college in Chestertown was entering a period of re-discovery under the capable leadership of its new president, Baird Tipson, who immediately gained our admiration as a scholar, educator and administrator. We saw professors interacting with students at the ice cream station in the dining hall. Everyone was so genuine. Jackie got a real sense that this was a community in which she could thrive. She applied Early Action and was thrilled to be accepted.
Four years later, Washington College has exceeded our expectations in every way. Jackie’s experience has been transformative. She has studied in Tanzania, Milan and South Africa. She just returned from Geneva, where Washington College sent her and another student, all expenses paid, to the Model U.N. They were the only Americans there. Two weeks prior to that, she spent spring break in Amsterdam.
She started as an international studies major, but during her sophomore year she had an art professor who changed her life. Instead of changing majors, she decided to double-major in art history and international studies. Last summer she interned for the head of the Opposition Party in Parliament in Cape Town, and over semester break she interned in the jewelry department of Sotheby’s in New York. Her senior capstone project is a combined thesis.
In a few weeks Jackie will earn her diploma, but she’s reluctant to leave Chestertown and her great friends, so she’ll stay until her apartment lease is up. She doesn’t know yet what her future holds, but whatever it is, thanks to the solid preparation she received at Washington College, she’s ready.
— Meredith Olt, Oyster Bay, New York