Welcome to your University’s 183rd year! I’m enjoying seeing everyone on campus, especially since, for the first time in two-and-a-half years, we are substantively mask free.
If you would like to keep a mask handy or if you need PPE for one of your labs, just drop by the president's office on the ground floor of Cullen as we have plenty to share. My office is easy to find—it’s the one with the big bowl of candy right in front.
For returning students, you may have noticed a few changes that have taken place over the very hot summer. We have begun new landscaping on campus and Stephanie Krull, our landscape architect, will be working with students on SUnity day to create new gardens. We also completed a thorough renovation of Mabee Hall—frankly, it looks brand new—and we installed two permanent ping pong tables. There is also a cool firepit near the Dorothy Lord Center, and more outdoor furniture at the basketball court. Our facilities crew, custodial and housekeeping staff, and grounds team have worked very hard in the awful heat to improve living and meeting spaces just for you.
For those of you who use Olin, you may have already noticed that a lounge and study area have been built outdoors on the patio. With the temperatures dropping to the friendlier 90s, now is the time to enjoy being outside.
Working alongside our new food provider, Aramark, the remodeling and redecoration of the Commons is well underway. Flooring has already been installed and furniture will be in place by the start of the spring semester. An entirely new menu is available providing more variety, more locally sourced food and vegan, vegetarian, paleo, lactose-intolerant and gluten-free items.
The Cove also has a new menu, and, for the first time on campus, a mini market, “Provisions on Demand Express”—perhaps a catchier name is needed—will be open every day from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. stocked with all your favorite food items. If there's something you crave that you don't see, just contact the President's Office and we'll make sure that it happens.
The Captain’s first Sweet Surprise of the semester is scheduled Wednesday, September 21. While the committee still refuses to divulge the sweet surprise, I do know a video is secretly being taped inviting everyone to come out and enjoy a treat on the 21st!
I look forward to seeing you as I walk the campus with my two bulldogs, Twinkles and Ernest, and you are always invited to join me on my Friday morning walks at 7:30 a.m. at the President’s House. This year, I will share a few of Southwestern’s gothic secrets including those angry invisible birds you might hear while walking across campus.
