Dear CC Community,
With deep appreciation, I share the bittersweet news that Mark Hatch, Vice President for Enrollment, will retire from his role at Colorado College at the end of this academic year.
Mark has served the CC community for more than 22 years. During that time, he has demonstrated unwavering commitment and outstanding leadership in the Enrollment Division.
Since 2001, the applicant pool at Colorado College has tripled in size, a testament to Mark’s role in expanding our reach and attracting remarkable students from across the globe.
Under his leadership, the yield on offers of admission — the percentage of students who enroll at CC after receiving an offer — has increased from 25 to 40 percent. The percentage of domestic BIPOC students at CC rose from 11 percent in 2001 to more than 26 percent in 2023, and international student enrollment grew from 1 to 6 percent in the same timeframe. The number of Pell Grant-eligible students on campus also increased from 9 to 14 percent.
Mark has brought several impactful partnerships to the CC campus, including the Davis United World College Partnership in 2005 and the QuestBridge program in 2013. He was also the primary architect of the Colorado Pledge initiative, a bold affordability plan that has increased Colorado enrollment by 30 percent in the last three years. Finally, he has served on many national committees and boards, including as President of the Common Application in 2005.
Above all, Mark has been committed to expanding access and opportunity through the admission and financial aid process. In 2015, he and his wife Anne established the Mark and Anne Hatch Family Scholarship Endowment, which will serve students from low- and middle-income families attending CC in perpetuity.
Mark has spent nearly four decades in the college admission field, including leadership roles at Bates College and Occidental College prior to joining our CC community. He also served as a teacher and college counselor at Harvard-Westlake and Marlborough schools in Los Angeles.
In reflecting on this time at CC, Mark shared, “Working together to support students through this incredible medium we call the Block Plan has felt deeply rewarding as an educator. In terms of the enrollment division, I can say that I have hired, sometimes mentored, and always collaborated with dozens of passionate and brilliant admission and financial aid staff. They have inspired and taught me far more than I taught them. The talent within this community is extraordinary, and I have benefitted personally and professionally through my various interactions with so many exceptional individuals.”
Mark’s solutions-oriented mindset and dedication to students have left an indelible mark on the CC community, and I am so grateful to have worked with him.
In the year ahead, we will have the opportunity to celebrate Mark’s contributions to building a diverse, talented, and motivated student body, year over year, for nearly two-and-a-half decades. In the meantime, please join me in congratulating him on his plans and an exceptional career.
Sincerely,
