Dear Students,
Welcome to the start of a new academic year! For me, fall semester has always signaled exciting possibilities.
New friendships, new classes and coursework, new teachers and mentors are waiting to be discovered. Look around and you will see exceptional, smart, committed, and talented people everywhere. Across all our campuses—in the corners of our libraries, at the benches in our research laboratories, in private rehearsal rooms and buzzing classrooms—discoveries of all kinds are happening.
Our University is a truly special and distinctive place where the best of a liberal arts college experience merges with opportunities found at the nation’s top research universities. At Rochester you can study what you love, design your own path, be your authentic self, and embrace challenges that push you beyond your comfort zone.
I feel fortunate to have spent almost my entire professional life on university campuses. One of the things I find the most interesting is meeting young people and watching them grow (while sometimes struggling, because we all face challenging moments) during their time in college. As a psychologist, I am fascinated by trying to understand the factors that help our students thrive. Those optimal conditions can vary from person to person, of course, but at a minimum we all need curiosity, diligence, patience, and a sense of humor when things get tough!
We also need to feel cared for, nurtured, and supported, and that includes our collective sense of safety and security. National and world events too often remind us of the importance of looking out for one another and committing ourselves to a strong and collaborative sense of community.
Our talented and accomplished faculty and our dedicated and professional staff will support you every step of the way. Here, you will find some of the most committed professionals in higher education. In fact, many of the improvements you’ll experience this semester were made by staff after hearing direct feedback from students.
As we start the 2023-24 academic year together, I encourage you to embrace the exciting possibilities ahead and draw on our shared Meliora values of equity, leadership, integrity, openness, respect, and accountability. These values are the foundation for our community, and they will serve you well in the weeks and months ahead.
Thank you for being here at the University of Rochester. Best wishes for a rewarding semester.
Meliora!
Sarah C. Mangelsdorf
President and G. Robert Witmer, Jr. University Professor