Clearly we owe a significant debt of thanks to Gerry Bomotti for his leadership. Perhaps the single most important outcome of the 1997 flood has been the enduring sense of community and unity that has emerged. Faculty research and creative activity are important and fundamental to our being, the basis of true institutional eminence. We put our students first and give priority not only to what our faculty teach, but to what and how well our students learn. Our relationship to our students is captured in the ideal that all students we admit should graduate.
Diversity is the hallmark of all great universities.
And diversity, in its myriad forms, is as essential to the University as books and classrooms. As a land-grant university, we have special and unique obligations to our many constituencies. We accept the notion, and are guided by the fact, that our success or failure will rest on our ability to forge partnerships with those we serve and expect to support us. Such thoughts, passionately embraced and doggedly pursued, give clarity to our vision of the future and offer us direction as we move forward. A year ago, as we looked toward the future, I identified four imperatives that begged for special consideration.