President’s Blog
Ceremonies and Celebrations
September 23, 2008
Dear Campus Community:
As the summer winds down and fall term marches closer, groups all over campus start coming together. This year, we celebrated the opening of the Higher Education Center in Medford with a spectacular ribbon-cutting and Open House. The executive team met for a day's retreat out at Deer Creek.
We kicked off the year with a breakfast for faculty and administrators. New faculty spent time learning the campus, getting to know one another, and meeting many folks on campus. Faculty and staff participated in workshops and meetings. Departments met to reconnect and set goals.
And now, this week, we have the most exciting events of all: we celebrate the arrival of new students with meals and get-togethers aimed at creating community for the whole campus.
Many events in these opening weeks have been in place at SOU only for a year or two. But already they are traditions, part of our sense of self as a campus. They help us reunite with familiar colleagues and meet new people on campus. (See my latest newsletter for photos of recently hired faculty and staff.)
Ceremonies and celebrations help to fuel the excitement of a new academic year. They also provide rich opportunities to set priorities and rebuild lines of communication that may have diminished over the summer.
So, come out and join us this week as we celebrate with new students. And enjoy the wonderful hint of fall air that tells us we're embarking on a new and exciting year.
Mary Cullinan
