| Elizabeth Coleman has been the president of Bennington since 1987, so she really can't be called new. In 1994 she (and the board) fired several professors and did away with presumptive tenure for new professors. Many students at the time were angry with her because they felt loyalty to some of the professors, and because they felt that Liz was trying to "normalize" the school (more recently optional nudity has also been highly discouraged, though it is legal in Vermont!). Since the 1980's, however, Bennington has definitely been been on the rise in every way, enrollment, quality of student, academics and definitely financially. My opinion, and that of many other current students, is that she must be doing something right, and that many of the changes that she made were for the better. The college has recently received several large (for such a small school) donations from older alumni, so I am guessing they agree! It is a great place to study and live and seems to be getting better and better. | 
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