Close your eyes for a moment. Take a deep breath. We made it through another academic year!
As we prepare to celebrate commencement this Saturday, I want to share my appreciation for all that you do for our students. From across the country and around the world, they come to us ready to learn and grow. They trust us to do what’s right, to challenge and support and guide them, and to send them out into the world prepared for their next step. Whether they fully realize it or not, our students are equipped to move forward. They graduate knowing how to ask the right questions, to make thoughtful decisions, to act with compassion and service in the spirit of community. And each of you has helped them along this journey.
It has been a great pleasure to share my thoughts with you this year through Monday Moments. Invariably, while writing these messages, I am struck by the incredible work that we do together. Throughout this year, we have focused our attention on Valuing Community, Delivering Excellence. Through our collective work, I believe we have lived out these words. From hosting a Nobel Peace Prize winner to breaking ground on the Nobel Hall expansion and renovation project, from increasing financial aid for future students to announcing record-breaking gifts, from celebrating a new high-water mark for student Fulbright Scholars to successfully recruiting a large and talented Class of 2022, our work has made an impact. For all of this, I am truly grateful.
Now, it is time to a pause, to reflect for a moment or two, and to enjoy the deep satisfaction that comes with sending another class of graduates into the world to lead lives of leadership and service. And then, almost before we are ready, the cycle will begin again. Guided by the Gustavus Acts Strategic Plan, which lives and breathes in the work that we do each day, I can hardly wait for the continued progress, the richness of experience, and the collective success that next year will bring to Gustavus Adolphus College.
Until Monday Moments resumes in the fall, keep up the good work, Gusties!
With respect and gratitude,
Becky