July 1, 2022
Dear Ursinus Community,
Over the past several months, you have provided my family and me with the warmest, most sincere welcome—one that immediately made us feel right at home here in Collegeville. For that, I wholeheartedly thank you. It fills me with so much pride to be able to return the embrace and write to you today for the first time as your 19th president.
I am very excited—check that—“wicked” excited to get started and begin building on Ursinus’s long-standing legacy and tradition alongside each of you. I can’t emphasize that enough: This will be a collaborative effort to author our next chapter and create a resilient, thriving, and sustainable future not only for our college, but for Ursinus’s surrounding community and our planet (it is our home, after all).
About a year ago, the Ursinus presidency wasn’t on my radar. I had heard of Ursinus, of course—our reputation as a national leader in the liberal arts, the undergraduate transdisciplinary research opportunities, CIE, and Quest go hand-in-hand with our unique name—but I never dreamed that I’d have the opportunity to lead this storied institution. Since that time, I’ve learned so much from you about what makes this college great, and it’s clear to me that our Bears play an integral role in our success. I’ve been impressed by how committed you are to Ursinus. So, let’s keep it going.
I plan to incorporate the knowledge I have already gained from you into building a strategic vision for the college that is creative, forward-thinking, and rooted in Every Student’s Success. There will be countless opportunities for us to connect, and that communication will be a two-way street. While I’ll be providing updates to you about Ursinus, I want to hear from you often. For our students, faculty, and staff, I’ll be scheduling a series of informal in-person “In the Den” meetings—open conversations about important topics such as wellness, inclusion, and strategic planning. Throughout the summer, I’ll also host breakfast chats, giving us a chance to better know one another. Faculty and staff can sign up for one of the summertime breakfast meetings at https://ursinus.edu/BreakfastWithRobyn by clicking on one of the dates on the left side of the page.
Our alumni, parents, community partners, and friends will be included in my quarterly “Musings” email, in which I’ll explore subject matter impacting the education landscape. And you can expect regular outreach from me throughout the academic year, including communications promoting campus developments and board summaries. I’m looking forward to keeping the conversation going.
Thank you, Bears, for all that you have done to make my family and me feel so welcome. From the moment I came to campus for the first time, I could feel how special Ursinus truly is, and I can’t wait to engage with each of you.
Sincerely,
President Robyn Hannigan