President’s Message: Dedicated Alumni
In developing the strategic plan that guides the College’s direction, one of the first steps undertaken by the Strategic Planning Steering Committee, working closely with members of the Board of Trustees, was to identify the core values that have long defined and empowered the College. Those discussions focused on four key components of Lafayette’s core identity and purpose:
- To educate highly promising students and promote the intellectual and personal maturation required for global citizenship
- To promote excellence in faculty as teachers and scholars who make meaningful contributions to the lives of their students and to the knowledge and conduct of their disciplines
- To support highly qualified administrators and staff who are essential to the functioning and advancement of the College
- To be a caring and engaged community whose members are mutually interested in the well being and flourishing of all
At the same time, the committee reaffirmed that the College’s success in upholding its core values is most fully realized through its alumni: Trained in critical inquiry, Lafayette graduates possess verbal, written, and quantitative literacy. They are morally knowledgeable, possess multicultural sophistication, and appreciate humanistic and artistic exploration. Our alumni understand the multifaceted role that science and technology play in our lives. While they have disciplinary expertise, they are broadly educated, skilled at discerning the multidisciplinary features of complex problems, and are life-long learners.
This issue of Lafayette Magazine highlights in particular the achievements of recent graduates and their contributions to our College and our society. It also illustrates the important and much-valued role that alumni play in providing learning and internship opportunities for our students beyond College Hill. Lafayette’s alumni support and advance the College’s educational mission in remarkably important ways. Their involvement is essential not only in helping students get a good start in their careers but in every aspect of our mission. We are immensely proud of their achievements and grateful for all they do.
Daniel H.Weiss