Dear School of Arts & Sciences community,

It feels like it’s been ages since we’ve had a community experience that wasn’t mostly overshadowed by the pandemic, but here we are, days away from Commencement. I’m excited!

Can I say that?

Given all the ups and downs we’ve been through, excitement feels like tempting fate. [Knocks on wood.]

Beyond the obvious, one of the reasons I’m looking forward to the ceremony is this year’s speaker, Lance Reddick. As a representative of Rochester’s humanities, it may seem like I’m just reveling in the fact that we’ll be hearing from an accomplished performer. However, Lance being an artist is only a bonus.

Quick research will offer several reasons we’re lucky to have Lance as our speaker, but the aspect I want to highlight is that he studied classical composition at the Eastman School of Music. Here’s why. We’re about to celebrate as one University—all students, all schools, all degrees—something we haven’t done in many years. This is a particularly special moment, the kind you reserve for family, and I consider Lance part of ours.

At the risk of sounding even cornier, I’ll add that in this stretch of the COVID era, all of us being together gives Commencement a healing quality that I think we all need.

It’s difficult not to continually see things through the lens of the pandemic. For example, as I was thinking about what this Commencement signifies for Rochester and the Class of 2022, I thought about the term “new normal.” Moving our AS&E celebration from the Eastman Quad to Fauver Stadium and gathering as one University represents a new normal. Many of our graduating students will leave behind their days of going to class, studying, writing papers, etc. to begin a new normal as professionals. In either case, what we’re really talking about is change.

The University has seen some big changes recently. We have a new provost! David Figlio comes to us from Northwestern University. I look forward to working with David and his team starting July 1. On the same note, I want to take this opportunity to thank Sarah Peyre for all of her work as interim provost. It’s truly difficult to step into roles like this, and Sarah made it look easy. Additionally, Donald Hall, the Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences and Engineering, is leaving at the end of this term to take up the position of provost at Binghamton University. On behalf of our school, I want to thank Donald for all he has done to support the School of Arts & Sciences over the last four years. I wish him the very best in his new role. Hopefully you saw the announcement that Joan Saab will be serving as the interim dean of the faculty while the provost, Dean Wendi Heinzelman, and I undertake a strategic assessment to determine how best to support the AS&E community in the future.

Throughout the pandemic, we’ve seen many changes, and we’ve been quick to declare these adjustments as part of a “new normal,” like society’s slate has been cleaned and rewritten. Yet, we will and have returned to many pre-pandemic behaviors and norms.

It is important for all of us to remember that life isn’t iterative, it’s compounding. We are the sums of everything we’ve been through, and we must take what we are and apply it to our future plans. This is something for all of us to bear in mind, but I hope it is especially resonant with graduating students—Congrats, Class of 2022, and best wishes as you take your next step.

Gloria Culver
Dean
School of Arts & Sciences