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Officers Melissa S . Kibler Chair Charles A . Beckham , Jr . President Karen A . Giannelli Vice-President Hon . Craig Goldblatt Vice-President Hon . Laurel M . Isicoff Vice-President Prof . Elizabeth Tashjian Treasurer Annette W . Jarvis Secretary Paul E . Harner DEI Committee Liaison
Board of Directors Patrick Ang Hon . Lisa G . Beckerman Hon . Janet E . Bostwick Robert M . Charles , Jr . Hon . Roberta A . Colton Charles T . Coleman Douglas M . Foley Laura Davis Jones Robert J . Keach Demetra Liggins Taft A . McKinstry Cynthia Nelson Timothy F . Nixon Sandeep Qusba Alexandra CC Schnapp George T . Snyder Berry D . Spears
Ex Officio Directors Mark D . Bloom Jan M . Hayden
Board of Regents Patricia A . Redmond Chair , Board of Regents John J . Monaghan ( 1st Cir .) Kelley A . Cornish ( 2nd Cir .) Derek C . Abbott ( 3rd Cir .) Michael St . Patrick Baxter ( 4th Cir .) Deborah D . Williamson ( 5th Cir .) Rozanne M . Giunta ( 6th Cir .) Brian L . Shaw ( 7th Cir .) Eric W . Lam ( 8th Cir .) Debra Grassgreen ( 9th Cir .) Mark A . Craige ( 10th Cir .) Elizabeth A . Green ( 11th Cir .) Randall S . Eisenberg At Large Hon . Clifton R . Jessup , Jr . At Large Prof . Robert M . Lawless At Large Hon . Erithe A . Smith At Large
Scholar-in-Residence Richard B . Levin
Of Counsel R . Patrick Vance
Executive Director Shari A . Bedker
College Columns Dec . 2023 Editors Melanie L . Cyganowski Dion W . Hayes
Layout Michelle Foster
From the Chair
Melissa S . Kibler , Accordion Chair , American College of Bankruptcy
This is my last column as College Chair . It seems appropriate , then , to look both backward and forward .
At the beginning of my tenure in March 2022 , we were just emerging from the pandemic and starting to resume the inperson interactions that are so essential to us as Fellows and as professionals . Unfortunately , my first communication as Chair was an email informing you that several Fellows had tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after the spring meeting . I am thankful that we have moved past that stage , returning to in-person circuit programs and celebrating our return to Washington DC in March 2023 for the first time since 2018 , with record attendance and fantastic programming ( see this year ’ s educational retrospective by Rich Levin ). And I am looking forward to gathering in Washington DC again this March .
I can ’ t look back on my time in College leadership without acknowledging that diversity , equity and inclusion has been a centerpiece of my tenure . I didn ’ t begin with that expectation , and I didn ’ t know that events in the summer of 2020 and the College Columns essay I would write as President , “ A Thoughtful Path to Diversity for the College ,” would help spawn the Select Commission on DEI and then the DEI Committee . It was a mission that found me , and I would like to think that I was the right person at the right time . I am so proud to have been a part of what these groups have accomplished , changes that permeate everything we do as the College – our mission , governance , selection of Fellows , recognition of excellence , delivery of education , recording of history , financial support – and perhaps most importantly , our mindset . There has been a profound shift , but it is only the beginning . Our societal shortcomings in DEI require long-term solutions , and it is organizations like the College , which is dedicated to enhancing the diversity of the profession , that will be critical to accomplishing real change in the future .
Another outgrowth of the DEI Commission that deserves commendation is the Freshman Fellows program , which has