First Week of Classes

Classes began in earnest on campus on Monday, August 21. As always, it is wonderful to have all of the students back. Needless to say, the campus was vibrant and full of activity. This afternoon was a perfect example of the Ohio Dominican experience. While walking from my office to the Oval, I passed classrooms fully engaged in the teaching-learning process. The Oval was circled with tables representing a myriad of clubs, organizations and programs as hundreds of students signed up for a wide range of co-curricular activities. As I walked across the Oval, talking to students attending this Activities Fair, watching students, faculty and staff move around the campus to and from classes and events, I happened to look over to the west side of the campus. There I saw the soccer and football teams beginning to practice and the newly established ODU marching band warming up.

We are fortunate to work in higher education and have the opportunity to help shape both the minds and the hearts of our students, young and old, on the Main campus and throughout the Ohio Dominican educational system. As I shared with our faculty and staff at our Opening Assembly, the privilege of working on a college campus with our students also carries responsibilities. We have a sacred responsibility to each and every student to provide the highest quality education, the best services and programs and an environment conducive to learning, growth and development.

At the Opening Assembly, I shared two quotations from extraordinary public servants who serve as models for our work at Ohio Dominican. Barbara Jordan, the late Congresswoman from Texas, said, “It is a privilege to serve people, a privilege that must be earned, and once earned, there is an obligation to do something good with it.”

The late Robert F. Kennedy once said, "But history will judge you, and as the years pass, you will ultimately judge yourself, in the extent to which you have used your gifts and talents to lighten and enrich the lives of your fellow men (and women). In your hands lies the future of your world and the fulfillment of the best qualities of your own spirit."

We look forward to a great year at Ohio Dominican. A year in which good things happen for our students and the entire Ohio Dominican community.