Dear Spartans and friends,
It’s certainly been an exciting start to the fall semester. Students are settling into their routines, and I enjoy frequent opportunities for conversations to learn about their concerns and share their excitement about being at MSU.
The quality of our educational programs — including our many undergraduate experiential co-curricular opportunities — is something I love to share with students when we talk. Just this week, U.S. News & World Report ranked our education abroad and service-learning programs as both No. 1 among public universities. Our undergraduate supply chain program in the Broad College of Business ranked No. 1 among all schools for the 14th consecutive year, among our four programs in the top 25. Congratulations to all who are building excellence into our academic programs.
Planning for our future
The start of an academic year is the perfect time to look forward, as the Board of Trustees did at its September meeting. There, trustees laid the groundwork for new facilities that will expand the university’s capabilities in research and its accommodations for community events, academics and sports.
A new facility to leverage our research leadership in food security and climate adaptation is in the offing following board approval for a new Plant and Environmental Sciences Building at the corner of Farm Lane and Wilson Road. Its 200,000-square-foot capacity will provide critical laboratory space for about 40 principal investigators and their teams, accommodating interdisciplinary collaborations between our colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Natural Science.
The board also authorized the start of planning for a mixed-use development on 14 acres along Harrison Road, including a hotel and retail space, academic facilities and a new sports arena. I’m excited about the public-private partnership we plan between the university and the chosen developer for the hotel and retail space, which will support a vibrant community ecosystem complementing our mission and further supporting the area’s economy. New classroom spaces there will support various university academic units, and the arena will accommodate our volleyball, wrestling and gymnastics programs, including locker rooms and coaching offices.
Speaking of sports
The start of fall athletics adds excitement to our campus and the sense of community that comes from cheering on our fellow Spartans. Last week, I sat down with men’s basketball Head Coach Tom Izzo to share a fun conversation about the university and, of course, sports. I invite you to listen to the MSU Today podcast, which was recorded at the university’s award-winning and student-run radio station, Impact 89FM.
It was also great to help honor this year’s inductees into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame, including the pathbreaking 1965 and 1966 conference and national champion football teams.
And I want to pass my congratulations to the Spartan women’s soccer team, which rose to the top of the NCAA national rankings last week and, on Sunday, added another win at top 10-ranked Penn State. Good luck, Spartans, for your game Thursday on the road at Ohio State!
Safe, inclusive and supportive campus
Our women’s soccer team also uplifted us last week by honoring Hispanic and Latino communities as it hosted Nebraska. As we do every year, MSU recognizes Hispanic Heritage Month between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15 with a variety of campus events and acknowledgments. We have many opportunities to come together to strengthen resources, programs, research centers and scholarships that serve Hispanic and Latinx students. Together, we’re working to make the university as welcoming, supportive and safe as it can be for all our students, faculty, staff and visitors.
Last week, we also hosted our first Disability in Higher Education Summit. I was pleased to learn we exceeded our in-person capacity and offered an online option to attendees. Our Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities has worked to provide equal access to all students since the 1970s and today also serves MSU employees.
And on Oct. 15 and 16, the university will join with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to host the Public Summit of the National Academies’ Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education. Michigan State is a founding member of the Action Collaborative, and the upcoming forum will allow members of the university community to consider new approaches to address and prevent sexual harassment.
Looking forward to investiture
I’m looking forward to sharing my vision for the university and outlining priorities and initiatives to move us closer to our strategic goals at my presidential investiture this Sunday, Sept. 29, at Wharton Center. I invite you to attend or view by livestream on my website’s investiture page.
Our Spartan future is bright, and I’m excited about what we can accomplish together as one team. Go Green!
Sincerely,
(pronounced GUS-ka-wits)
President
Professor, Department of Kinesiology