Our Community

The process which would eventually lead to the development of the Center was started by former Director Kerill O’Neill in 2009. At the time, he was serving as the Humanities Division Chair, and had become alarmed by the decreasing amount of apparent interest in the humanities at colleges across the country. Less funding was offered, fewer tenure track faculty positions were available, and it seemed that the humanities were being pushed further and further to the periphery. Kerill wrote a letter to his colleagues in the division arguing that they had to work together to come up with something big, something that would draw attention back to the humanities. In the ensuing discussion, the idea of the Center was born. With the help of many other humanities faculty members, Kerill applied for and received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund the initial development of the Center. The Center for the Arts and Humanities opened in fall of 2012, and has been a part of the fabric of Colby’s identity ever since. Over the years, it has grown in size and scope, incorporating a wide range of programs which impact every aspect of life at Colby.