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President's Blog: From the Heart

Pursuing the Dream

By Eric F. Spina

Dear Students,

Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed the Christmas break with family and friends, and that it was a time of renewal and relaxation. The campus was just too quiet without your energy and spirit, and we are all happy to welcome you back home.

As you settle back into classes this week, we celebrate with renewed commitment the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, both in our country and right here on our campus, where he spoke in 1964 as commemorated by the poignant memorial on the lawn between the Chapel and Albert Emanuel Hall. (I encourage everyone who has not spent time at the memorial to do so this week; for me, it inspires hope and reverence while also exuding a sense of loss, given that Dr. King was taken from us so early.)

As we consider the life of Dr. King, the greatest civil rights leader in our nation’s history, we are reminded of our commitment to one of the strongest tenets of the Catholic, Marianist philosophy of education. We educate for service, justice and peace.

As a community, I challenge all of us this semester to work harder and to work together for social change that benefits all, especially the poor and those who face injustices and bigotry. I ask us to cultivate love and hope in a world that needs our community-building skills and that must grant more dignity to each individual.

I wish you all of God’s grace as we begin a new semester filled with promise and opportunity.

Sincerely,

Eric F. Spina
President 

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