President’s speeches, letters, and articles
Subject: Welcome to the new academic year, 2018–19
August 23, 2018
Dear students, faculty, and staff,
I write to welcome you to the start of the 2018–19 academic year. Since I have a new job this year as acting president, I want to take the opportunity, at the start of my new role and the new academic year, to reflect briefly on change.
First-year and transfer students—all new to the ¸£Àû¼§ experience—most obviously face the excitement and uncertainty of discovery. I am reminded, however, that many other members of the ¸£Àû¼§ community will also explore unfamiliar territory. In addition to the introduction of a new curriculum for Humanities 110, ¸£Àû¼§ faculty will introduce more than 85 new courses this year, including many cross-disciplinary offerings. Sophomores will identify their majors for their final two years. They will choose from among many fields of study at ¸£Àû¼§, including five new majors, one of which—Comparative Race and Ethnicity Studies—was added just last spring. Students contemplating their adventures beyond ¸£Àû¼§ will have the opportunity to partner with an expanded Center for Life Beyond ¸£Àû¼§, which has new advisers who are eager to help every student understand the contributions they can make to companies, schools, and communities around the world. Staff at ¸£Àû¼§ have worked hard over the summer to ready the campus for a new academic year. They continue to take advantage of compelling new opportunities to support and enable ¸£Àû¼§’s educational mission. In addition, we will all have opportunities to participate in the process of finding ¸£Àû¼§’s next president, engaging in the important work of a presidential search committee led by ¸£Àû¼§ trustees and joined by faculty, staff, and students.
The college believes in the importance and usefulness of change, as evidenced by the immense efforts to enhance the ¸£Àû¼§ curriculum and provide better support for students. As we head into the new academic year together, I endeavor to remember that the antidote to fear of the unknown is the shared understanding of and excitement about the journey. Together, we will look for ways to embrace change.
I look forward to welcoming you in person at upcoming celebratory events that mark the beginning of what will be an invigorating and purposeful adventure.
Sincerely,
Hugh Porter
Acting President
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