The Office of President Stephen Spinelli Jr., PhD

I arrived at Babson College prepared to lead change. With higher education on the precipice—facing widespread disruption, accelerating change, and foreboding market dynamics—our community recognized the essential need for evolution.

Last year, on March 10, 2020, Babson College announced the decision to temporarily close our physical campus and shift all classes online.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, during his recent video conference testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, described a “Shark Tank”-like process in which the National Institutes of Health urged scientists and innovators to compete in a $500 million race to create new COVID-19 tests. 

Last week, the world witnessed an appalling act of violence in Minneapolis. The death of George Floyd represents the latest in a long, horrific, unacceptable pattern of unequal treatment and violence against the black community.

Since I last communicated on the pages of this magazine, Babson College, the world, and all of our lives have changed dramatically.

Arthur M. Blank ’63, H’98 is a founder, a doer, a leader, and a philanthropist. Best known as the co-founder of The Home Depot and the owner of the Atlanta Falcons, he has a broad family of businesses as well as a family foundation.