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June 2024
Dear Faculty, Staff and Students in the Klingler College of Arts & Sciences,
Summertime greetings! Although summer hopefully adds some flexibility to schedules,
there is a lot going on this month. Many of you are taking or teaching courses in
areas ranging from biology to political science to Spanish. The summer months are
prime time for faculty, staff and student research, whether that occurs in offices,
archives, fieldwork, libraries or labs. There are deadlines for grant proposals, book
manuscripts and invited articles. And many of us are already planning for Fall semester
courses.
June is also a time of “bookends”: both celebrating our distinguished alumni and welcoming
our newest students. On the alumni front, the month began with Alumni Awards and Reunion
Weekend. Our A&S and Education awardees include an expert on halting financial crime,
a bishop, a public-affairs advisor, a counseling psychology professor, a program coordinator
in medicine and a lawyer turned filmmaker. The latter awardee, Jeffery P. Robinson,
went from Marquette to Harvard Law and on to a remarkable career in service to others,
most recently as founder of The Who We Are Project. His documentary “Who We Are—A Chronicle of Racism in America” bears powerful testament
to this work.
One of our college alumni, Dr. Colleen Anne Fotsch Lawton, received the all-University
Alumna of the Year Award in recognition of her work as a radiation oncologist, researcher
and mentor committed to improving cancer care. You can read about all of our awardees
here. In light of President Mike Lovell’s passing, it was especially meaningful that he
presented these all-University awards and offered a personal testimony about each
of the honorees. Since the sad news of his death arrived, our community has rallied together to support one another and
continue to carry out the strategic plan that was crafted under his leadership. There
is much work to do, and I believe President Lovell would want us to keep going with
ever greater determination.
Along with alumni, the other “bookend” is our newest group of incoming students. For
undergraduate students who will arrive this Fall, June is the time to register for
classes and to attend SPARK, our first-year summer orientation program. Marquette piloted a process of separating
these two pieces this year, with registration occurring virtually, which enabled a
focus during SPARK on strategies to enhance student success. Our enrollments for Fall
are looking strong—both for A&S and for the University as a whole. Many of you have
played a key role in hosting prospective students and families during their visits:
thank you! It’s going to be a joy to welcome the class of ’28 to campus in August.
To cap off this action-filled month, June also brought a chance for me to visit alumni
and benefactors in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine. As always, I was amazed and
humbled by the love of our alumni for Arts & Sciences at Marquette and by their commitment
to support current and future generations of students. Meeting with our alumni and
telling them about your many successes is a wonderful part of being your dean.
In the midst of all of these endeavors, I do hope that the longer days of summer are
affording you an opportunity for leisure. For me, that includes time with friends
and family and lots of “urban hiking” (Milwaukee is an ideal place for it) as well
as writing and reading. Wishing you all a magnificent continuation of the summer,
a restful Gift of Time and continued energy for all of the good things still in store
during this sunny season.
As always, please feel free to contact me with questions, concerns or suggestions. I appreciate hearing from you and exploring
ways we can all work together for the common good.
Dr. Heidi Bostic
Dean, Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
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