Webb prides itself on a culture built upon respect and generosity. These principles are embedded in our honor code and flow down from our founder William H. Webb. We strive to embrace our differences and through dialogue and collaboration, build a campus community where everyone feels appreciated and empowered. Notwithstanding our best efforts, we sometimes fall short of these goals. The key is to make sure that those times serve as learning experiences, encouraging us to redouble our efforts to ensure a welcoming environment where each student can flourish.  At Webb, we recognize and value the role that diversity and inclusion play in enriching the educational experiences and quality of life of our students. As Board chair Bruce Rosenblatt explained in a recent email to the Webb community, our collective aspiration to enhance diversity and inclusion are incorporated in our Strategic Plan and have led to changes in our Admissions processes and scholarship programs. Our students, alumni and staff have offered suggestions for new initiatives for advancing inclusiveness on campus. I promise that we will carefully consider each of these ideas as we develop actionable plans in the coming months. 

In 2017, the Board established a Diversity Committee tasked with informing the Board’s discussions on diversity and related strategic planning objectives. The Committee’s newly appointed chair, Dr. George Campbell, has a long history of advocating for diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education. George is past president of Cooper Union and his wife is currently president of Spelman College. The Committee’s membership includes Trustees, the president of the Alumni Association, the President and Dean, staff and students. The Committee will work collaboratively with the Administration and report regularly to the Board. The charge of this Committee includes:

• developing a Diversity and Inclusion Plan that builds upon ongoing initiatives,
• promoting surveys and listening sessions, to ascertain the views and ideas of all Webb constituencies and to understand their needs,
• helping to prioritize our actions, and,
• evaluating metrics to ensure accountability.

Higher education has a critical and necessary role in building a more equitable and tolerant society. At Webb, our first step is to reaffirm our commitment to seeking out the distinctive viewpoints that come from a diverse population, including differences in race, religion, gender and socioeconomic status. I look forward to learning from all of you and being an advocate for change, as we work to make a difference on the Webb campus and in our broader community. 

Please post your ideas on the Community Portal or directly contact me or other members of the Webb community. In the interest of privacy, I ask that you please avoid mass emails.  

Thank you for your interest and continued commitment to Webb and our mission. 

Webb Institute is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Below is a message from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Bruce Rosenblatt, about Webb’s current initiatives and strategic plan.

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A MESSAGE ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION AT WEBB

The topics of diversity, equity and inclusion have been an ongoing commitment of the Webb Institute Board of Trustees and Administration and are common themes throughout the recently adopted Webb Strategic Plan. Recognizing that inclusivity, mutual respect and integrity are fundamental to Webb’s Mission, the Strategic Plan calls for consideration of diversity and inclusion in all aspects of Webb governance and operations, including the makeup of the Board, faculty, staff, and student body.

Two goals of the Plan that relate to enhancing the diversity of the student body are:

“To develop a comprehensive student recruitment program to ensure a highly-qualified, diverse student body in future years”, and,

To meet the demonstrated financial need of every student, in keeping with Williams Webb’s goal of serving students with limited resources.”

A significant step towards progressing our commitment to diversity in the student body was the hiring of Lauren Carballo as Director of Admissions and Student Affairs. Being one of the few non-English speaking, Hispanic students in her elementary school, Lauren has personal knowledge of the challenges that young people with differing backgrounds face growing up. Early in life, she developed a passion for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion – a trait that has served Webb and our students well. In her four years at Webb, Lauren has reinvigorated our student recruitment processes

Some recent initiatives aimed at increasing the number of underrepresented students at Webb include:

• building bridges to organizations and high schools with large populations of underrepresented students,

• placing greater emphasis on applicants overall academic records, strength of character, extra-curricular and leadership interests, and less emphasis on SAT/ACT scores, and,

• establishing a room & board scholarship program to meet demonstrated financial need. This program originated with a grant from the Robert D.L. Gardiner Foundation. Over 200 gifts from alumni and friends of Webb have been received over the last three years as we seek to establish permanently endowed scholarship funds to perpetuate the program.

These initiatives are already reaping rewards, with significant increases in the number of minority and socio economically disadvantaged students being realized in recent years. For example, the percentage of ALANA (Asian American, Latino American, Native American, and African American) students in the freshmen class has averaged 28% over the last two years, up two-fold from the ten-year average. Similarly, underrepresented minorities (Latino, Native American and African American) comprise 12% of these classes, up three-fold. We are pleased with these improvements in the diversity of our student body while recognizing that there is more that we can do.

The aforementioned initiatives have been a factor in the steady increase in the application pool and the qualifications of our freshmen over the last five years. At the same time, we have achieved record graduation rates and now boast a student body of 101 students. Of particular significance, the graduation rates of our women and ALANA students have been comparable to or higher than their counterparts. These outcomes are consistent with research indicating the superior performance of diverse communities.

We continuously strive to provide a Webb experience that is safe and enjoyable for all students, regardless of their race, national origin, gender, or religion. Goals in the Strategic Plan related to equity and inclusivity include to:

“Reinforce the strong moral and ethical awareness of Webb students, and the principles of Webb’s Honor Code, so that the college is regarded as a model of inclusivity, respect and integrity”, and,

“Develop programs that further raise the cultural awareness of the student body, faculty and staff, and provide support for the different needs of a diverse student body.”

A number of student clubs provide support for the minority populations at Webb. External speakers on diversity/acceptance/inclusion are invited to present their ideas at Leadership Week. Earlier this year, a webinar hosted by Lauren Caballo on the topics of diversity, equity and inclusion garnered participation from three-fourths of the student body. Psychologist Dr. Michelle Stein has become an integral part of our efforts to enhance student health, meeting weekly with Webb students to discuss all aspects of student wellness.

A year ago, the Board of Trustees established its Diversity Committee, with trustee, faculty, staff, and student representation. Chaired by Jen Waters ’91, the Committee is tasked with exploring ideas on enhancing diversity and inclusivity at Webb. The chairmanship of the group has recently transitioned to Dr. George Campbell. This Committee will be reporting to the Board at its regular meetings and tracking our progress in enhancing diversity, equity and inclusion at Webb.

We are constantly on the lookout for new ways to improve the environment at Webb. Should you have suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact Board Chair Bruce Rosenblatt at ude.bbew@ttalbnesorb, President Keith Michel at ude.bbew@lehcimk, or Director of Admissions and Student Affairs Lauren Carballo at ude.bbew@ollabracl. Should you wish to assist in these efforts by visiting high schools in your region, let us know. The “demonstrated need” scholarship program has been a resounding success but needs more resources. Should you wish to contribute to this effort, please contact the Director of Development Anthony Zic at ude.bbew@ciza.

We are hopeful that our Homecoming in May can be an in-person event. If so, please join us on campus and exchange ideas with our students, faculty and staff on these important issues.

Sincerely,

Bruce S. Rosenblatt
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Webb Institute

Maintaining the Webb Legacy

This is not an achievement of mine, but just one case, out of 1,722 graduates so far, of achievement of William Webb. After graduating from Brooklyn Tech High School in 1942, I was drafted into the Navy, and spent a year at sea. I was a Quartermaster 2nd class on the Luzon ARG-2, a cargo ship converted into a repair ship in Baltimore. I helped put it in commission in 1943. Using the V-12 program, my captain then sent me back home, to attend college and become an officer. Mr. Webb provided a castle in the Bronx to play games and do homework in the towers. At the castle, I remember Admiral Rock the administrator, who was tall and thin with a thick head of white hair, and a loud whistle to warn the neighborhood kids “to get off my property.”

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Webb Institute is one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduates to earn their college degree, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company profiles and recommends Webb Institute in the 2021 edition of its annual college guide, The Best 386 Colleges (Penguin Random House, August 18, 2020, $24.99).

Only about 14% of America’s 2,800 four-year colleges are profiled in the book, which is one of The Princeton Review’s most popular publications. The company chooses the colleges for the book based on data it annually collects from administrators at hundreds of colleges about their institutions’ academic offerings. The Princeton Review also considers data it gathers from its surveys of college students who rate and report on various aspects of their campus and community experiences for this project.   

“We salute Webb Institute for its outstanding academics and we are truly pleased to recommend it to prospective applicants searching for their personal ‘best-fit’ college,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s Editor-in-Chief and lead author of The Best 386 Colleges.  

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About Junior Class Small Vessel Design Project (SD1):

As a part of Professor Bradley D.M. Golden’s ’99 Ship Design 1 (SD1) class, the juniors spent the first two-and-a-half months of the spring semester preparing their first complete concept designs.

Using the knowledge they’ve gained in their nearly three years studying at Webb and the experiences from their winter work periods to date, this was the students’ first opportunity to apply the naval architecture and marine engineering principles they’ve studied including stability, ship’s structures, main machinery systems, auxiliary systems, resistance and propulsion, and electrical engineering.

Working in small groups of three and four, the students selected one of the vessel types and took their first couple of spins around the design spiral to prepare vessel concept designs. To help make the project as realistic as possible, members of industry familiar with each of the vessel types helped prepare the statements of design requirements that each of the designs had to meet. To challenge the students even further, one or two “curveballs” were thrown into each design statement to make the students think long and hard about how they would achieve their objectives.

At the end of the spring semester, the students presented their final designs to their fellow students, faculty, and members of industry who served as part of an evaluation team. After three years at Webb, the Junior class can now say with confidence that they’re familiar with the design process and are well on their way to joining the fields of naval architecture and marine engineering.

Visit our Junior Class Small Vessel Design Project page to view all of this year’s projects.

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