The Class of 2027 joined us in June and is, on all incoming metrics, the most academically accomplished in our institution’s recent history. Chosen from a record-breaking number of more than 15,450 applications, they are a class cohort drawn from a most selective admission process with an admit rate of 45 percent. They are also the most geographically and culturally diverse group ever welcomed to our University family, and include about 100 students from Jesuit and Cristo Rey high schools.

What was exceptional and unprecedented this summer was that we also welcomed the first incoming class for Fairfield Bellarmine, our associate’s degree-granting program in Bridgeport. On July 8 and 9, these institutional entrepreneurs — for these students truly are helping us build something new — attended Orientation and the following week they began summer session classes. Their fall semester is now underway at the newly renovated Bellarmine Campus in Bridgeport’s East End. After three years of planning, it is tremendously exciting to have officially launched this program, and to embark together on this expansion of our mission to bring the transformative power of higher education to broader audiences.

There are so many variations on this theme — new initiatives, innovations, and facilities — the University is in a state of continual evolution and re-creation. This fall, we opened our newest residence hall, Bowman Hall, named for Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA. Sr. Bowman was recognized by the Catholic Church as a Servant of God in 2018 – the first step toward canonization as a saint – for her ministerialcontributions and efforts to make the Church a place of inclusion and belonging for Black Catholics.

As you will read in this edition of the Magazine, we have changed the name of our School of Engineering to the School of Engineering and Computing, in recognition of the growing demand for computer science professionals in the artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and software engineering fields. The new name reflects the direction in which we will be taking the school and the investment in resources that we will make to ensure that we are the best Jesuit engineering school in the nation, infused with our Ignatian emphasis on a liberal arts foundation, ensuring our graduates are prepared to engage with the world as it is — in all its complexity — and transform it for the better.

Our Fairfield University Downtown Bookstore has undergone a significant renovation and upgrade to make it the community destination hub that we feel it should be for town residents, with comfortable meeting areas, a more contemporary feel, and an expanded Starbucks Café still to come. More significantly, we have entered into a partnership with Barnes and Noble to improve the quality of our services, both in terms of what we offer the community and the efficiency and sophistication of how we deliver academic texts and materials to our students.

We approach these changes and our ongoing evolution with optimism, hope, and faith – with what biographers of St. Ignatius have described as a “holy boldness.” Animated by the call to accompany our youth on a hope-filled future with a higher education that advances human flourishing and the greater good, we set a course to become the modern, Jesuit Catholic University for our time, and the plans that we have put in motion are increasingly coming to fruition.

It’s exciting to be part of it, and I’m delighted that I can share this transformative journey with all of you.

With very best wishes,

Mark R. Nemec,
PhD President