A new school year means new opportunities for learning and growth. The administration, faculty and staff of the University are here to ensure that you take advantage of those opportunities this year. With all the new facilities, programs and initiatives that we have undertaken in the past few years, the University has a wealth of opportunities to offer you. Move past your safety net, and join a club, try an activity, or run for student office. It will help you to grow as an individual, a goal that is very much a part of your college education.
Just recently, a UNH staff member spoke to William Bruce, a prominent lawyer who graduated from UNH as an undergraduate in 1974. While a student here Bill was treasurer, then president of USGA, our student government. He went on to Yale Law School, where he excelled. “I was a relatively quiet kid when I went to UNH,” Bill said. “But I ran for student government, was successful, and became president. I credit UNH. The University taught students to take risks and try new things, building an entrepreneurial spirit that for me worked very well into the future.” During the upcoming year, you will have to navigate around the construction of the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science, which will rise in the center of campus between Maxcy and Bartels halls. Further navigation will be necessary right next door at Bartels, where we are significantly expanding the Echlin Dining Room to allow for many more dining options, more club meeting space, and a faculty dining room.
These are small inconveniences compared to the outcome that awaits you. A beautiful new campus center will more effectively serve our student body. The Forensic Science Institute will further elevate the University’s stature as one of the world’s leading institutions for the study of criminal justice and forensic sciences. And I want to mention the new Soundview Residence Hall, built to accommodate our increase in student enrollment. It is finished and ready for occupancy, another step in our movement forward as a quality institution of higher education.
I am hoping you had the time to read the letter I sent recently welcoming you back to campus. It told stories of remarkable students and faculty, detailed numerous changes on campus including an expansion of dining options, and reported on a variety of initiatives in each of the colleges. If you haven’t had time to read it, visit www.newhaven.edu/welcomeback. We are embracing an entrepreneurial spirit in everything we do to further your education at the University of New Haven, in the hopes that you will too.
Steven H. Kaplan,
President