Welcome back to campus. Here at Suffolk, 2019 is off to a wonderful start. Our students, returning and new, are here and engaged in their classes, involved in clubs and volunteer work, active in our labs and athletic facilities, pursuing internships and projects, and generally running across the cities of Boston and Madrid, as is the Suffolk way. Yes, the elevators are crowded again, but I find that exciting.

And with all our students back, there is so much happening on campus. Importantly, tomorrow, Thursday, January 17, we will host our annual Martin Luther King, Jr., event and reception, where we will celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King. We will hear from our keynote speaker, Boston Police Commissioner William Gross, who is the city’s first African American commissioner. And our annual Creating the Dream Award will be given to a deserving member of the Suffolk community. As an institution committed to inclusion, this event is particularly core to our mission. I hope you can join me and my wife Margie as we all come together and honor Dr. King and our commitment to inclusion. Please find event details and RSVP here.

We also are in the midst of our Suffolk 2025 strategic planning process, with 12 planning teams working full throttle to develop recommendations around our academic programs, enrollment, facilities and campus space, fundraising and alumni engagement, and numerous other areas. We will share some of those ideas and gather employee input at a town hall forum that will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday, January 25, at the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Conference Center, Milstein Hall auditorium, 10 Winter Place, Boston. I’m looking forward to seeing members of our employee community there. Those who are unable to attend may watch on livestream.

I hope you’ve noticed that our new website has launched and have been enjoying it as much as I have. It is a dynamic window through which the rest of the world can get a better sense of who we are and what we do. It’s functional, user friendly, and brings our stories to life through vivid imagery and storytelling. If you have not visited the site yet, I urge you to take the time to explore it. Yes, there are still small changes to be made and additional content to be added, but it is a truly fantastic new web presence for this University.

Finally, my congratulations to the 193 Suffolk Rams who recently made the Athletics Director’s Honor Roll, which requires a grade point average of at least 3.0. That is a new record for Suffolk, and one we can be very proud of. Way to go Rams! And speaking of which, Saturday, January 19, is Senior Night for the Suffolk Men’s Hockey team. The Rams will take on New England College at 7 p.m., on home ice, at the Emmons Horrigan O’Neil Memorial Rink in Charlestown. Come cheer them on to victory with me.

Wishing all of you a wonderful semester.

marisasig

Marisa J. Kelly
President