Dear AU Community,

Seven years ago, when I joined American University, I met with more than 1,000 AU community members and asked them what makes AU special. I discovered what has long existed but had yet to be directly stated: We are a community of changemakers. 

Together, in 2019, we developed the Changemakers for a Changing World strategic plan to define who we are and detail our call to action for the future. The plan was built on three pillars–scholarship, learning, and community. In the years since, this strategy—which builds on our legacy of leadership, scholarship, and service—has anchored us during periods of uncertainty that never seem to subside. 

Today, as we share Five Years of Impact: A Look at AU’s Changemaking Work, a comprehensive review of the first five years of our Changemakers plan, our strategy is more important than ever. As you read through story after story of our community’s incredible accomplishments, you will see that when we combine clarity of mission, learning, scholarship, community, a passion for changemaking, and great people with a recognition and appreciation for the significant shifts happening in our world, we can make dramatic progress—even amid challenging times. 

And we have made incredible progress because of your hard work, talent, and commitment. 

This progress has also been fueled by the $500 million Change Can’t Wait campaign, which is 92 percent of the way to the finish line. Developed to support the Changemakers strategy, the campaign creates transformative educational opportunities, advances research with impact, and helps to build stronger communities locally, nationally, and globally. 

To date, the campaign has bolstered each pillar of the strategic plan, creating eight endowed faculty positions; establishing or naming four pioneering centers and institutes; creating or expanding 150-plus scholarships; and enabling us to make the largest investment in student thriving in our university’s history, including the $109 million Student Thriving Complex (which breaks ground next month!). This impact will continue to grow and resonate across generations of Eagles. 

As you review Five Years of Impact: A Look at AU’s Changemaking Work, I hope you will feel the same sense of pride that I do in who we are and what we’re doing to make the world a better place. And, I want to extend a special thank you to our strategic plan implementation directors and teams, who have worked so hard to bring this plan to life. There’s no question in my mind that our community of changemakers is stronger and more purpose-driven than ever before. And I’m confident that the accelerator phase of the Changemakers for a Changing World strategic plan will set us up for continued and growing success in the future.

Onward,

Sylvia