L&AD is F&M’s bold and strategic five-year plan (2022-2027). It is so named to capture not only our community’s ambitions for the College, but also, with its ampersand, F&M’s mission, identity, inclusivity, and core values. The plan was created with the input of hundreds of faculty, staff, students, trustees, and alumni, and is designed to advance the College and secure its position, in perpetuity, among the finest liberal arts institutions in the country.

Together, by leveraging excellence and accelerating discovery, we will achieve five key goals:

    1. Revitalize our curriculum to respond to and guide students’ evolving needs, goals, and interests.
    2. Empower students to engage in an inclusive and joyful community.
    3. Advance our aspirations through the highest and best use of all our resources.
    4. Center community and belonging as institutional values.
    5. Ignite a strong culture of philanthropy, service and rewarding engagement.

 

L&AD Goals

Academics

Student Experience

Institutional Sustainability

F&M student holding LGBTQ+ flags

Community & Belonging

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F&M graduates standing beneath the Lux et Lex arch

Alumni, Parent & External Engagement

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L&AD Outcomes 

L&AD is accompanied by a living and flexible implementation plan designed to promote significant progress toward our goals in three to five years. Each activity will lead the community towards greater viability, visibility, and vitality.

Viability: We must revise our financial model by promoting innovation and securing institutional sustainability.

Visibility: We must enhance and explain the value of an F&M education to inspire potential students and families, alumni, donors, and other partners to engage with F&M and the opportunities we offer for the future. 

Vitality: We must better and more consistently engage all members of our community by nurturing their sense of belonging and living the College’s values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility

 

F&M's Strategic Plan in Action

October 3, 2025

Ken Mehlman ’88 Gift Creates Pathway for Leadership & Performance Lab at F&M

Ken Mehlman, Franklin & Marshall College Trustee and Board Vice Chair, is paving the way for future Diplomats to lead and perform at the highest level. With a $500,000 gift from Mehlman, F&M will develop and pilot a new Leadership & Performance Lab.

October 3, 2025

DesChamps Named Board of Trustees Chair-Elect

Franklin & Marshall College is pleased to announce that Matt DesChamps ’93, P’28 has been elected to become the next chair of the F&M Board of Trustees. His three-year term as Board chair will begin July 1, 2026.

July 14, 2025

F&M’s New President on Getting to Know the College: ‘The First Priority is to Listen’

As he steps into the role of president of Franklin & Marshall College, Andrew “Andy” Rich is spending time with members of the F&M community and learning what they value about being Diplomats. Rich was named Franklin and Marshall’s 17th president earlier this year, and his first official day in that role was July 12.