The Dede Thompson Bartlett Center for Admission and Career Education Heralds a New Day—and a Better Environment

The center is named for Dede Thompson Bartlett ’65, a retired senior-level corporate executive and philanthropist, who launched the project with a $10-million donation in 2021. Bartlett has long been an important supporter of career development at Vassar, funding more than 140 internships in science, technology, mathematics, and economics for students over the past 14 years.

“I began underwriting internships at Vassar in 2012,” Bartlett recalled recently. “My goal at that time was to encourage more women to focus on high-paying fields that had been previously closed to them. I wanted women to be empowered. But I realized that the internships weren’t enough and that we had to change the paradigm.”

A paradigm shift is exactly what the new center is, according to Stacy Bingham, Associate Dean of the College for Career Education. “The Dede Thompson Bartlett Center represents a truly transformational moment for Vassar and for the Center for Career Education, made possible by Dede’s extraordinary vision and generosity,” said Bingham. “We are incredibly excited to move into this state-of-the-art facility, which is the perfect foundation to build on our excellent outcomes.”

Those outcomes include: nearly 90 percent of seniors participating in an internship by the time they graduate (compared to 50–65 percent nationally); 94 percent of graduates working, participating in a fellowship/year-of-service, or continuing their education within six months of graduation; a law school acceptance rate of 88 percent for applicants over the past three admission cycles (compared to a 70 percent national acceptance rate for the same period); and a medical school acceptance rate of 80 percent for applicants over the past three admission cycles (compared to 48 percent nationally).

Yet the physical environments in which career development and admissions take place have never been ideal. “The career staff were doing some remarkable work in terrible conditions,” said Bartlett. “The facilities were uninspiring to current students. They were uninspiring to prospective students. And they were certainly uninspiring and off-putting to prospective employers.” Bartlett hopes the beautiful building will underscore the fact that career education is now a real priority for Vassar.

Fostering top-notch career development is a deeply personal mission for Bartlett. When she graduated from Vassar with honors, she found few opportunities open to her compared to her male counterparts. Rising to be the highest-ranking woman in two Fortune 25 companies took considerable grit. But her mother had it even worse.

“My mother, Emilie Thompson, graduated from high school in Delaware at age 15 with the highest grades ever recorded in the state,” said Bartlett. “But she was forbidden to go to college by her father, who did not believe in education for women.” Three decades later, Emilie’s husband, George Thompson—a research scientist at the Brooklyn Navy Yard—took an extra job as an instructor in electrical engineering at New York University to fund his wife’s undergraduate education.

“After going to college at night for eight years, my mom graduated with honors from NYU,” said Bartlett. “And she said it was the happiest day of her life.” She compares her father’s generosity to that of her husband, Jim, also a funder of the Bartlett Center. “I am so grateful to my husband for helping me realize this dream, the way my mom was so grateful to my dad for helping her earn that long-sought, long-delayed college education,” she said.

In seeking to elevate career education at Vassar, Bartlett said she found the perfect partner in President Elizabeth H. Bradley. “Betsy Bradley was the change agent I’d been looking for,” she said, adding that once they joined forces in 2021, they worked out a plan for the new center in 48 hours. Architect Maryann Thompson P’17 was engaged to design the building and, on a recent morning, Bartlett found herself walking through the manifestation of her vision.

“When I walked through, I felt two things: I felt thrilled, and I felt vindicated,” said Barlett. “This building represents what the women in my class and so many of the women in the previous all-women’s classes had to overcome—women whose superior education was devalued in the workplace, women who were harassed, humiliated, discriminated against, and who had to fight to get into professional graduate schools. Given the current climate in this country, this building is a powerful symbol. Inspired by a woman, designed by a woman, financed by women and the men who care about them—this building will benefit all Vassar students for years to come. And that touches me deeply.”

Sonya Smith, Vice President and Dean of Admission and Student Financial Services, said her team is eager to move into the new center. “Last year, we welcomed more than 14,000 Admission visitors to campus,” she said. “Thanks to generous donors such as Dede Bartlett, we will soon have a beautiful new space that will easily accommodate the high demand as well as provide a warm and inviting environment. We know this will be a game-changer for the visitor experience, and we are all very excited and grateful.”

“To me, admissions and career educations are the bookends. They are part of a continuum,” noted Bartlett. “It starts when the student is introduced to Vassar through the admissions process, bridges to career education, and continues the learning journey for the rest of their life. It puts career education on par with the excellent teaching that Vassar is so renowned for. For 160 years, Vassar’s been in the forefront of liberal arts education, and it puts career education on that same plateau.”

Barlett also said the new center and its services will help students remain resilient and adaptable in an uncertain world. “People need hope, and this building is about hope,” she said. “I believe it’s going to be helping our students remain invigorated, lifelong learners. And they are going to learn in this building how to take the skills they’ve acquired and adapt to changing circumstances that none of us can foresee.” —Kimberly Schaye