Happy New Year and welcome back from what I hope was a restful and recharging winter break. A new semester provides a fresh start as we look forward to the extraordinary opportunities our special university community offers.
I was reminded last week about the importance of community at a dinner with more than 150 CEOs and community leaders. The Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit NAACP branch, delivered an invocation reminding us to make friends before we need friends. Let’s work hard as a community to make friends and work beyond our normal boundaries to find them. There are many ways to do that at Michigan State, from student clubs and activities to volunteer opportunities in the wider community.
Initiative momentum
We enter 2025 with great institutional momentum, including progress on several initiatives I announced last September focused on advancing students’ success and serving as a talent activator for the state of Michigan and beyond.
Among those initiatives, students who are first in their family to attend college will be supported by our First-Gen Center, which will aggregate supportive programs offering resources and guidance they need to learn, thrive and graduate. With our expanded 1855 Professorships, nine new faculty hires are in the works to help address some of society’s most pressing challenges and make advances in underrepresented communities and eliminate disparities. And this spring, the third Know More Campus Survey will help continue the positive transformation of our culture related to sexual misconduct, guiding our prevention programming, policy development and resource provision.
And speaking of momentum, how about the success our Spartan athletics teams are having this winter! It was a thrill dropping the puck for our top-ranked ice hockey team’s exciting overtime win at the Frozen Confines outdoor game at Chicago’s wintry Wrigley Field. And the Breslin Center sizzled Thursday night when our high-spirited Izzone alums returned to cheer a dominating win by our men’s basketball team. With Sunday’s win against Northwestern, the team owns a 14-2 record — 5-0 in the Big Ten — after nine straight wins. The Spartan women’s basketball team, meanwhile, honored members of the 2004-05 Final Four team on Alumni Day Sunday with a win at Breslin. And congratulations to the No. 3 gymnastics team on its second-place showing at the Florida Quad meet Friday, with season-high scores on the bars and beam. I hope you can get out often this semester to support our Spartan student-athletes.
One team
As we start a new semester, I would like to ask our entire community to join me in continuing to live our values as Spartans and working together as one team, appreciating the viewpoints and intellectual diversity that keep us all curious. Whatever changes the new year will bring, what won’t change are the core values underpinning Michigan State’s mission. Those include our commitment to making this diverse, world-class university a safe, welcoming, respectful and supportive place for all.
So, as I did at the start of the fall semester, I urge all Spartans to practice thoughtful and respectful dialogue across differences. We can hold civil conversations around challenging issues and understand that disagreement need not equate to disrespect. Informed argument and principled debate are a time-honored part of what great universities do as we work to understand others’ perspectives in a dynamic society.
I wish you the best for the semester in front of us and urge you to stay curious and engaged in the vibrant life of Michigan State University.
Sincerely,
Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D.
(pronounced GUS-ka-wits)
President
Professor, Department of Kinesiology