President Pinto looks ahead to 2024

As I think about the coming year, I’m encouraged that our impact as an academic institution continues to grow. We widen our influence by reaching more citizens with the hope of higher education. Did you know, for example, that more than 9,200 of our current students are the first in their family to attend college? Imagine how the trajectory of each of those families will change as these talented students complete their studies, attain their degree and launch — or relaunch — their career.

We also grow our impact by expanding our research endeavors. As one of only 146 Carnegie Research 1 universities in the nation, we are constantly seeking to expand the boundaries of knowledge. I’m confident that 2024 will build upon last year’s record-breaking research portfolio and inspiring innovation agenda.

Challenges also lie ahead for us as a society and as a university community, including the humanitarian crisis which terrorism and war have inflicted on Israel and Palestine. In an effort to help our students — our future graduates and leaders — to wrestle effectively with such issues, I will soon be announcing the members of a new Academic Task Force on Building Community for Democracy. In a world where it can seem far easier to point to what divides us than what unites us, we as a university community must serve as a living and learned example, one built upon a foundation of deep listening and willingness to expand understanding.

As we prepare to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day on Jan. 15, may we remember his powerful words: “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

I hope your semester is off to a wonderful start.

Neville G. Pinto
President