Spring Break
President Penley's 2008 Fall Address to the University
"The Next Five Years"
Issue date: 9/12/08 Section: News
Good afternoon and welcome on this September 11th. Seven years ago, this event was also scheduled to take place on September 11th. But as we all know, the forces of history and human tragedy intervened. And so, before I begin my remarks this afternoon, I ask that you join me in remembering the lives lost on that day - and the lives lost in the ensuing war
It is an honor today, in my capacity as president, to offer my sixth Fall Address to the Colorado State University community.
As I begin my second five years as President of Colorado State, I am filled with pride and confidence in our students, in CSU's great faculty and staff, in our more than 140k alumni, in what we have accomplished over the course of the five years I have been privileged to be part of this institution, and in our capacity to continue to build on those accomplishments as we look ahead to the next five years.
FIVE YEARS OF PROGRESS
It is a particularly American tendency to focus on the future and the challenges ahead, rather than taking the time to celebrate and reflect on our successes. I am as guilty of this as anyone-but I do want to take time today to recognize what we have done, together, to build a better University. One that better educates students, better serves the State of Colorado, and better addresses our society's greatest challenges.
Let us step back and examine where we are.
Shortly after my arrival five years ago, I met with our elected student leaders-students who understood and believed in the mission of Colorado State. They saw a university with inadequate numbers of faculty and inadequate facilities, and they knew that the state did not have the capacity to fund either. The solution had to be new revenue, including the self-imposed facilities fee that they led ASCSU to adopt.
To see the results of their work and our vision, just look around at the outstanding new facilities in progress and just completed on our campus, from computer science to the fine arts -- achieved with a combination of student fees, tuition, state revenue, and federal research grants. Those newly completed facilities include a renovated Johnson Hall, the first new residence halls in 40 years, the Biocontainment Laboratory, and the University Center for the Arts, which at long last is helping to make real the vision of the late Professor Willard Eddy and President William Morgan-who believed that a rich understanding of human thought and achievement was essential to higher education and the true independence of the human spirit.
It is an honor today, in my capacity as president, to offer my sixth Fall Address to the Colorado State University community.
As I begin my second five years as President of Colorado State, I am filled with pride and confidence in our students, in CSU's great faculty and staff, in our more than 140k alumni, in what we have accomplished over the course of the five years I have been privileged to be part of this institution, and in our capacity to continue to build on those accomplishments as we look ahead to the next five years.
FIVE YEARS OF PROGRESS
It is a particularly American tendency to focus on the future and the challenges ahead, rather than taking the time to celebrate and reflect on our successes. I am as guilty of this as anyone-but I do want to take time today to recognize what we have done, together, to build a better University. One that better educates students, better serves the State of Colorado, and better addresses our society's greatest challenges.
Let us step back and examine where we are.
Shortly after my arrival five years ago, I met with our elected student leaders-students who understood and believed in the mission of Colorado State. They saw a university with inadequate numbers of faculty and inadequate facilities, and they knew that the state did not have the capacity to fund either. The solution had to be new revenue, including the self-imposed facilities fee that they led ASCSU to adopt.
To see the results of their work and our vision, just look around at the outstanding new facilities in progress and just completed on our campus, from computer science to the fine arts -- achieved with a combination of student fees, tuition, state revenue, and federal research grants. Those newly completed facilities include a renovated Johnson Hall, the first new residence halls in 40 years, the Biocontainment Laboratory, and the University Center for the Arts, which at long last is helping to make real the vision of the late Professor Willard Eddy and President William Morgan-who believed that a rich understanding of human thought and achievement was essential to higher education and the true independence of the human spirit.
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