At the same time, our strong tradition of faculty governance has been refined and streamlined. This gives our campus the ability to move ahead with due deliberation, but without the sclerosis that affects other universities. Our faculty and staff understand that this world s race does not belong to the large or the strong, but rather to the swift and creative. Our constraints, therefore, are not internal, but external to this campus. Two years ago, in my first address to the assembled university faculty and staff, I issued an outline for change.
True diversity is the affirmation of identity within community.
We must look inward, ceaselessly reviewing our performance of teaching, research, and service, and make every effort to improve each of them. We must remember that in the economy of the 21st century, where knowledge is wealth and information commands power, a region that does not nurture a major research university in its midst is a region that will doom itself and its people to economic s ervitude. Our university campus has answered and will continue to answer my call for change and continuous improvement, with energy, creativity and enthusiasm. I accept that challenge with humility and honor. I commit my full energies without reservation.