Welcome to a new academic year

To Students, Faculty, and Staff:

We write on this first day of classes to wish you all a productive, inspiring, and meaningful academic year. It has been a joy to see the excitement of new and returning students over the past few days. We are grateful to all the upper-class student volunteers, faculty, and staff (particularly our colleagues in the Division of Student Success) for giving them such a warm and thoughtful welcome.

Clark is welcoming its largest class of first-year students in several years, and we should all be proud that they have chosen to make our individualized, relevant, and distinctive academic experience their own. We also begin the year with new programs and some new faculty whose ideas and expertise will expand the interdisciplinary possibilities inside our classrooms and labs.

Of course, a Clark education extends well beyond those spaces. It takes shape in residence halls and common areas, on athletic fields, throughout Main South, and in the many conversations and encounters that connect us to one another. To our students, whether you are beginning your first semester or returning to continue your Clark journey, we are very glad you are here.

A new academic year gives each of us an opportunity to start fresh—to approach our work with newfound energy, encounter new ideas, and contribute generously to this community. Clark is at its best when we bring our different experiences, talents, and perspectives together with a shared commitment to learning and to making a difference.

We look forward to all that we will learn from one another and to celebrating the important and impactful things we will accomplish together.

With very best wishes for the year ahead,

David Fithian ’87, President
John Magee, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs