Dear AU community,

Happy Snow Day! I hope your 2024 is off to a great start, and you had an opportunity to recharge over the holidays.  While I know there are many challenges and pain in the world today, as we officially open the new semester, I wanted to share a few things happening around campus that inspire me and make me proud to be an Eagle.

This is my last semester as AU president, and while I’m excited to join the Sine Institute of Policy and Politics as a distinguished lecturer (I’m also planning my first chatty vlog to launch my new status as an influencer. That’s a joke, but I can dream, right?), I’m going to miss the opportunity to engage regularly with all of you. My favorite part of this job has been learning about all the incredible ways this community comes together to act, build connection, and further our mission as changemakers.   

As we start a new semester filled with impact, I want to highlight just a few exciting things happening:

The Center for Student Involvement has cooked up a Winter Welcome Week full of fun activities, culminating on Friday with a Frosty Groove Fest in Constitution, complete with a synthetic ice rink! Also on Friday, the Center for Community Engagement and Service, recently recognized with the Transform Mid-Atlantic’s 2023 Transformational Partnership Award, will host AU’s annual MLK Day of Service, helping students volunteer with nonprofit organizations across DC.

Also happening this week, our new vice president for inclusive excellence, Nkenge Friday, officially joins the AU family. Welcome Nkenge!

I want to give a big shoutout to the incredible team that successfully launched Workday. This project is truly transformational ─ creating one enterprise system and access to vital data that will impact generations of Eagles to come. This technology change will make delivering on mission better, easier, and faster AND will help us be more data-driven in our work and decision-making. Leaders and staff from across campus came together to make this happen. It is a great example of the collaboration and teamwork that makes us one AU!

Each new semester brings engaging events where our community, both near and far, comes together to learn from some of the world’s preeminent leaders and experts. Tomorrow, we’ll host our next regional Change Can’t Wait event in Los Angeles, and next Friday (January 26), we’ll celebrate the installation of the second of three endowed faculty chairs established by Bob and Arlene Kogod, when Professor Valentina Bruno becomes the Arlene R. and Robert P. Kogod Eminent Scholar Chair in Finance. And then, on Thursday, February 1, all six of this spring’s Sine Institute fellows ─ Honorable Larry Hogan, Daniella Senior, Honorable Thomas Nides, Honorable Manisha Singh, Kara Swisher, and Patrice Willoughby ─ will be on campus for a panel discussion cohosted by the Kennedy Political Union and the Bipartisan Group of AU.

Beginning this month, our School of Public Affairs is celebrating nine decades of impact! That’s right, SPA is officially a nonagenarian.

Our athletic Eagles have started the year off strong. Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams have led with a series of wins, including a stunning overtime win for the women’s team against Boston University, and on February 10, a certain guest coach (Hint: Her last name begins with a B and ends with an L) will be on hand to help the women notch another win over Holy Cross. In wrestling, junior Jack Maida remains undefeated and currently ranks as high as #16 in the nation. Go Eagles!

Our Change Can’t Wait campaign is getting close to the $500 million finish line. Watch for more news on the campaign and our progress in the coming weeks.

Speaking of progress, as part of the largest investment in student thriving in our history, work is continuing on the new $109 million Student Thriving Complex. Following last semester’s opening of the new campus store in the Tunnel, this spring we mark the opening of the new Academic Support and Access Center offices (in the former bookstore location) and the continued renovation inside MGC. I’m also really looking forward to the groundbreaking of the Alan and Amy Meltzer Center for Athletic Performance, which will become a hub for well-being, competition, and recreation for our community.

I could keep going; there is so much more to share! Instead, I’ll stop there and close by saying that I couldn’t be prouder to be part of this changemaking community. I look forward to engaging with you over the coming weeks and months as we learn, explore, innovate, and progress together.

Have a great semester.

Sylvia