Welcome to a New Academic Year

September 2, 2008
 

Dear Rutgers Students:

Welcome—or welcome back! I join with Chancellor Steve Diner in wishing you every success as you begin the 2008–09 academic year.

We celebrate several pieces of recent good news. Last month in China, two former Rutgers student athletes won Olympic gold: Cappie Pondexter in women's basketball, and Carli Lloyd in women's soccer, where she scored the game-winning goal in the gold medal game. Earlier in the summer, we received word from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education that Rutgers has earned reaccreditation with high marks. And U.S. News and World Report has named Rutgers–Newark the most diverse campus in America for the 12th straight year.

The new year brings new opportunities at Rutgers–Newark. For example:

  • We welcome the first students into our new undergraduate major in public service in the School of Public Affairs and Administration;
     
  • We welcome Mark Winston as our new assistant chancellor and director of the Dana Library;
     
  • Our Department of Supply Chain Management in the Rutgers Business School and our new Center on Urban Entrepreneurship begin their first full academic year.
     
  • A series of academic events on human rights is being planned on all three Rutgers campuses to mark the 60th anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I hope the year is one of great opportunity for each of you. To our newest students, I welcome you to Rutgers and know that you will have a rewarding experience. To our returning students, I hope that you enjoyed a pleasant summer and that this will be an especially fulfilling year.

One final note: I will present my Annual Address to the University Community on Friday, September 19, at 1:10 p.m. in the Rutgers Student Center on College Avenue on the New Brunswick Campus. Following my remarks, I will take questions from the audience and asked by email. You are welcome to attend the address or see the webcast via my website.

Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey