The new center will be more than just a home for our men’s and women’s basketball programs and other athletics; the facility will also give us a large space to provide hospitality to the broader community. In effect, it expresses one of our core values as a Jesuit and Catholic University — that of campagna, or companionship.

This month, we will welcome the largest incoming freshman class in our history. Fairfield University is growing. As we grow, we also commit ourselves to the core values of Jesuit education, and to our obligation to “help souls” as Ignatius would have said, supporting those who come to us for education, and in particular those who need us to extend our hospitality to them. Also this month we reflect on the tragic events of September 11th, twenty years ago. Living in Washington, D.C. at the time, I witnessed the immediate dislocation of that day followed by the unified resilience of our nation. Fairfield was profoundly impacted with the loss of alumni, parents, and friends who will forever be remembered, and who will be honored this month in a series of events on campus.

On July 31, the feast of St. Ignatius, we announced a new strategic partnership with the Diocese of Bridgeport, titled “Pathways to Higher Learning,” to serve as a platform for access to the University’s resources for the diocese and the greater Bridgeport community.

We believe that by working together with the diocese we can have a significant impact and raise the level of educational access in our region, and thereby further fulfill our promise as a 21st century University.

We have many ongoing initiatives and many more works of engagement underway in the region, to enhance our ability to serve the men and women around us. Our vision is to leverage the diocese’s Catholic Center to serve as a hub for our outreach and programs. I will keep you abreast of developments in this exciting partnership. We are also deepening our commitment to the entire network of Catholic education, and thus have developed new scholarship opportunities for students from Jesuit high schools and the Jesuitfounded Cristo Rey Schools — the largest network of high schools in the country, serving students with limited economic resources.

In a similar spirit of forming men and women of purpose to meet the world as it is, we have made a commitment to an internship stipend program for our students in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), that will give them some financial support when they undertake an unpaid internship, research project, or field work. This Arts & Sciences Guarantee Grant is an integrated effort across the campus to ensure that all our CAS students have access to the engaged experiences and real-world preparation that is integral to our educational model.

Our summer has been busy but rewarding, with much good work accomplished and now more to be done. For myself, I am looking forward to getting back into the classroom, as I will again be team-teaching an honors seminar on the societal role of higher education with CAS Dean Richard Greenwald. It will be great to once again engage our students in a classroom setting.

Thank you for all that you do, as companions in this work of ours. We anticipate an exciting year as we continue to forge ahead as the modern Jesuit and Catholic University that our community needs today.

With very best wishes,

Mark R. Nemec, PhD
President