Vincent Boudreau
It seems impossible to believe, but at the time I am writing this message, I’m on my way to join the 3rd of our 4 new student orientation events. Dorm move-in day was last Saturday and I’m now beginning to see the faces of colleagues coming back from that last bit of summer vacation.
I remember as a kid riding in the family car about this time of year. My mother would point out the few, early achieving maple leaves that had begun their autumnal turn, and chortle with joy, thinking of her seven kids returning to school and giving her some peace. I hope this note doesn’t stir any of the resentment I then felt, wrapped as I was in the desire to hold on to those last precious days of vacation.
I think, however, that there’s a great deal to look forward to in our impending campus reunion. We are today far closer to being on normal footing than we have been in a very long time. Most of us spent last year getting used to the idea of one another’s physical company. Faculty members, I know, rediscovered the joy of being in a classroom with students, and students who may be far too acclimated to an imposed and isolated online learning experience began to take fuller advantage of life on a campus populated with students, staff and faculty.
I’m powerfully proud of the campus, and there’s never more reason for that pride than when we are gathered together, engaged in the important work of this institution. This year, new and returning students will find a campus primed to welcome that community, and support its members in their journey forward. We have new institutes and programs on campus, a robust series of lectures, research and studio experiences, and a dizzying array of scholarship and internship opportunities. You’ll find on campus a new student success hub for undeclared majors, a one-stop student support center on the ground floor of NAC and a new engaged scholarship office to help students connect service, leadership, research and internship experiences with their career aspirations.
There are more programs to supplement classroom work—research, service, internship, study abroad, recreation—than at any time in our college’s history, and I hope all of you dive in and find the thing that will make your life on this campus distinct and rewarding.
I’d also like to urge us all to bear in mind that even as the hardship of the pandemic’s worst years fade a bit in our memories, many among us still carry stress and uncertainty from that time. College can be a place that breeds anxiety at the very best of times, and we are, all of us, still learning how to be with one another. So as we welcome everyone back to campus, I want to ask each of you to dig into your reserve of understanding and kindness. Keep an eye out for anyone who might be struggling in our midst, and guard against the easy resort to temper or impatience. At our best, on this campus, we are a community committed to supporting one another in our successes and in our difficulties. As we prepare for a new semester, I hope we’ll all foreground these, our best impulses, and continue to build a CCNY community dedicated to the comfort and success of everyone around us.
Welcome to a new academic year!
Vincent Boudreau
President
The City College of New York