Dear AU Community,

It’s hard to believe that finals week is almost here, and the end of the semester is just ahead. It has been an inspiring, educational – and busy – first semester for me as your AU president.

The best part has been engaging with all of you – learning about your work in the classroom, hearing your stories about internships, competitions, and performances, cheering alongside you in Bender or Katzen, opening doors, breaking bread, engaging in acts of kindness – or singing holiday carols on Halloween (get a sneak peek at the 2024 AU holiday video here) – all while witnessing your impact, here on campus and beyond.

I particularly want to thank all of you who have been part of the more than 30 listening sessions I’ve held across campus in my AU listening tour. Your thoughtful insights, creative ideas, and deep commitment to the AU community have reinforced my belief that our people are the secret to AU’s success.

I also heard about the need to build community and school spirit as one AU. A lot of people are longing for more connection here on campus —more ways to live, work, and learn together in fun and constructive ways. Through efforts such as the Week of Kindness, unity meals, and the Civic Life initiative we’re already trying to address that widespread call for community, with plans to continue building on these efforts in the spring semester – even as the world grows increasingly polarized around us.  

Many times over, I heard stories of pride in the beauty of our campus and the team that manages and maintains it, as well as strong ties to our hometown and DMV region.

Throughout our eight schools and colleges, I heard a shared desire to break down traditional silos and do more work across disciplines and departments as we hone our campuswide focus on delivering research with impact-- while continuing to strengthen research support and partnerships among faculty, staff, and students.  

There is also a tremendous desire to connect with, and among, our 150,000 alumni who span the nation and the globe. And there continues to be concern about issues impacting the entire higher education sector – access, affordability, inclusive excellence, and more.

I gained valuable insight about what makes AU distinctive and unique -- our campus and location in Washington, DC; our commitment to service and building a better world; our focus on teaching and our exceptional faculty; incredible experiential learning opportunities on and off campus; relevant research that makes a public impact; and our passionate people who want to make a positive difference in the world.

The input gathered from these sessions, as well as emails that were sent to my office, will directly inform the university’s upcoming strategic planning process. I’ll share more on that process and how you can be involved in building our roadmap for the future in the spring semester. 

Meanwhile, I hope you all have a productive, engaging, and fruitful end of the semester. The end is in sight! Happy, restful, holidays lie just ahead.

Warm regards,

Jon
Jonathan R. Alger
President, American University