May 3, 2010

Congratulations are in order - for our award winners in the arts and humanities and for our graduate schools and programs that once again ranked among the nation’s best in U.S. News & World Report.  This year’s rankings focus on science, engineering and medicine, but UC San Diego is much more than an outstanding science school.  Our faculty and students also excel in the arts and humanities and social sciences, as demonstrated by Professor Rae Armantrout, the recent Pulitzer Prize winner for poetry, and Arts and Humanities Dean Seth Lerer, who received the Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism. 

Arts and Humanities Awardees Receive Much-Deserved Recognition
The Pulitzer Prize for poetry recognizes “a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author.”  Professor Rae Armantrout received the award for her 10th collection of poems titled “Versed.”  The collection also won the 2009 National Book Critics Circle Award and was selected as a finalist for the 2009 National Book Award.  In addition, her work has regularly been featured in highly regarded newspapers and publications such as The New Yorker and Poetry.  Armantrout has been teaching poetry and poetics to undergraduate and graduate students at UC San Diego for more than two decades, and she currently leads the writing section for the Department of Literature.  We are incredibly fortunate that our students can benefit from her experience and talent for creating distinctive art and poetry. 

Distinguished Professor and Dean Seth Lerer, who was appointed to his position in January 2009, received the Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism for his book, “Children’s Literature: A Reader’s History from Aesop to Harry Potter.”  The book previously won the 2009 National Book Critics Circle Award and is partially based on Lerer’s own passion for reading and his experience as a parent, watching how his son grew into a reader.  Lerer has also won awards for his undergraduate and graduate teaching.  We are proud of the extraordinary talent and achievements of both Lerer and Armantrout, and congratulate them on the much-deserved recognition of their work.  They truly exemplify the strength and innovation of our faculty.

Prospective Students Visit Campus
You may have noticed more people on campus lately as thousands of prospective students and their families, from all over California and the nation, have visited the university over the last few weeks.  In all, around 18,000 students and their family members attended our Admit Day and affinity group sessions, and 140 students participated in our student-initiated overnight programs.  They toured campus and learned more about student life and academic programs at UC San Diego.  I was pleased to attend many of the Admit Day gatherings and personally welcome students to our campus.  One of the participants was Brian Bose, a high school senior from Los Angeles.  He has been blogging on The New York Times website about his quest to choose the right university for him.  We were thrilled to read his April 14 post.  He wrote, “With pride, I can finally say that I found the university for me. U.C.S.D., here I come."  We welcome Brian, and all of our new students, to campus, and we are looking forward to seeing everyone in the fall.

Campus Diversity and Outreach Programs Remain Priorities
In addition to our Admit Day activities and outreach programs for high school students, we’ve also been reaching out to middle school and community college students to tout the benefits of a UC San Diego education and encourage a diverse applicant pool.  We expanded our program, “An Evening with UC San Diego,” which is typically held at high schools in underrepresented communities, to Gompers Preparatory Academy and Mesa College students.  Our goal is to motivate younger students to stay on track and take the required courses for UC admission.  We also want community college students to know that they are on a great path to UC San Diego, especially since the UC Regents mandated that we accept more transfer students this year.  And with our new transfer student housing, north campus neighborhood, expanded Price Center and redoubled efforts to improve our campus climate, we can offer an even better student experience.

Diversity remains a priority for this campus and we are moving forward on several initiatives from our agreement with student leaders and our faculty.  We are currently creating a Campus Council on Climate, Culture and Inclusion in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the Office of the President, which include directing that the council’s membership be made up of faculty, students, alumni and community members, with the option of incorporating staff and administrators.  I will serve as Council Chair.  In addition, students and campus leaders are discussing ideas for the development and location for new resource centers and infusion of art in the centers.  They are also identifying spaces on campus for art that showcases historically underrepresented communities, and we are working with artist Mario Torero to make his Chicano Legacy mural on Peterson Hall a permanent fixture on our campus.  Our faculty and researchers are exploring the possibility of establishing an organized research unit or center for issues related to African American, Chicano and Native American indigenous communities.  A preliminary charge has been issued for the Task Force to Promote the Recruitment, Support and Retention of Underrepresented Faculty.  Department chairs, program directors and students are discussing the implementation of a cultural diversity general education requirement, in addition to finding creative and engaging ways to express the importance of diversity during new student orientation.  We are committed to improving our campus climate and the overall diversity of our campus.  We will continue to implement our action plan and will update the campus community regularly on our progress.  You can also visit our newly created campus climate website at campusclimate.ucsd.edu.  I am grateful for the commitment of our students, faculty, staff and senior leadership to work together to reach our diversity goals.

UC San Diego Community Shows That We Care
The first week of May is UCSD Cares Week, an annual tradition of service and activism.  The weeklong activities unite students, faculty and staff so they can volunteer together, and raise funds and awareness for service organizations.  This is one of my favorite weeks at UC San Diego, as it shows that our community truly cares about helping people, improving our environment and making the world a better place.  I encourage our entire campus community to get involved with UCSD Cares Week.

And speaking of improving the environment, I thank all of the students, faculty and staff involved with the successful Earth Week events including the trash sort, the e-waste collection, the resource fair and the clean car show.  I am already looking forward to next year’s celebration during our 50th anniversary because we will host our first-ever Green Open House on April 16, 2011.  We’ll also kick off our “Volunteer 50” initiative during our 50th anniversary celebration.  It will be a call to service for everyone in our community to perform 50 hours of service during our nearly year-long celebration.  Information about the initiative and our anniversary celebration is continually being added to our 50th anniversary website, so keep checking back for details as the September kickoff approaches.

Graduates Can Find Help at the Career Services Center
Attention all seniors – as you prepare for graduation next month, I want to remind you that the UC San Diego Career Services Center offers a diverse range of programs that can help you with your career goals.  You can practice your interview skills, get feedback on your resume and graduate essays, attend job expos and search job listings specifically for UC San Diego students and alumni.  For more information, click here.

Alumni Association Helps Keep Graduates Connected
Just because our seniors are graduating, that doesn’t mean they’re leaving our UC San Diego family.  Once you’re a UC San Diego student, you’re always a part of our community.  And we want our alumni to stay in touch and come back to campus often.  In fact, our Alumni Association has a regular calendar of events just for graduates.  You’ll notice a special alumni get-together on May 14th for the annual Sun God Festival.  Some alumni probably remember when the annual tradition was started after the installation of the Sun God statue in 1983, the first piece in our Stuart Collection.  Now the event has grown so large it’s held on RIMAC Field.  

I hope everyone has a safe and fun time at this year’s Sun God Festival.  I hear that Drake is headlining – the recording artist, not our Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs. 

With warm regards,

Marye Anne Fox
Chancellor