Across the country, enthusiasm for the University's agenda

by President Ruth J. Simmons

One of the great privileges of my job is the opportunity to travel and meet Brown alumni, parents and friends across the country and around the world. Over the course of the winter break, I had the chance to talk with many members of the extended Brown family in San Francisco, Portland, Los Angeles, Rancho Santa Fe, Tucson, Denver, Houston, and New York. More recently, we held very well-attended Brown Club events in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. I am pleased to report that news about what is happening on our campus is reaching many people, and there is enormous enthusiasm about the agenda we have set for the University's future.

Our alumni and friends display genuine interest in the Plan for Academic Enrichment and the impact that it is having on Brown. They understand the importance of the new academic and research facilities that we have opened and are now constructing. They take great pride in the achievements of our faculty and students, as well as the University's decisions to adopt a "need-blind" admission policy. And they look forward to the prospect of new scholarships for our neediest students, thanks to the extraordinary $100 million gift from Sidney Frank '42.

Alumni are especially pleased to hear about our new 24-hour study spaces, the expansion of our freshman seminars, our plans for improving student dorms, and the generous gifts that we have received for a new health and fitness center. Parents tell me about the sense of excitement and engagement they hear in reports from their children, which reaffirms for me the growing strength of the undergraduate experience at Brown.

I also heard a lot about how much our multidisciplinary initiatives and the investments we have made in the Graduate School, our research programs, and the Medical School are of particular interest to alumni. I am gratified that there is widespread understanding that as we strengthen our research programs and expand our lab space, the administration and the faculty remain committed to excellence in teaching. Brown's long tradition of placing the faculty/student relationship at the center of the academic experience remains a hallmark of our University.

As I travel, I also listen carefully when Brown graduates tell their stories. Alumni - from those who graduated as long ago as the 1930s to those who left Brown just last year - have spoken to me with great passion about their experience at the University, the impact that faculty members had on them, and the fond memories that they hold about their time on College Hill. As they pursued careers or callings, they developed a deeper understanding of how well their Brown degrees and their experience as students prepared them to undertake creative and meaningful endeavors. Even our most recent graduates speak of a growing appreciation for the culture of learning and the advancement of knowledge that Brown faculty had so carefully nurtured in them.

In short, the news from around the country is good and reflects a broad-based view that the faculty, students and staff at Brown are fully engaged in the important work of a great University. The extended Brown family understands that the University needs and deserves their continued support, and they are generously providing resources for us to continue the work of academic enrichment.

My travels serve as a powerful reminder that Brown has helped produce women and men who are leading lives of usefulness and reputation, and who are contributing to their communities in countless ways. Your daily work here at Brown - whether in a research lab, in a classroom or in an administrative office - is ensuring that our students receive an outstanding education that prepares them well for life's challenges and opportunities.