Winter Park Institute

Dear Winter Park Institute Friends,
 
It is with great sadness that I announce the Winter Park Institute will not be returning as part of Rollins College’s future programming. We began in September 2008 with our inaugural speaker, two-term U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, and it seems fitting that he was our final presenter in March 2020. We did not realize it then, but the experience has come full circle.
 
Over the years, it has been my distinct pleasure as the Institute’s executive director to meet and greet so many of you who became familiar faces and friends, patrons always eager and enthusiastic about those we brought to campus. I am particularly proud you came to trust us—that even when the name was unknown, you felt assured if our guest was a Winter Park Institute speaker, he or she would be interesting, would challenge contemplation of new ideas, and you would take away something of value from the experience. This is a heritage of which the College can be proud, as I am, having been lucky enough to engage in this way.
 
It has been our pleasure in the past two months to share videos from the last twelve years’ programming. Over the summer, we will continue to provide speeches from more luminaries with the hope that you have chances to enjoy the vibrant, thought-provoking messages they bring.
 
Thank you dear friends in the community and on the campus for the marvelous support you have given the Institute. We will remember you with great affection, as we hope you will remember us.
 
With warm regards,

Gail Sinclair
Executive Director