Defiance College Yellow Jackets
Welcome From the President
DC MEN’S LACROSSE 2014
Dear Fellow DC Fan: It is a real pleasure to welcome you to our campus and to today’s game. We at Defiance College are extremely proud of our wonderful athletic program and of the many other activities taking place at DC. The students whom you are watching today are an important part of our larger DC family, and they are among the approximately 1000 DC students who benefit from the dedication and assistance provided by our wonderful faculty, alumni, staff, administrators, and friends. Students at DC receive a wide range of distinctive experiences as we strive to offer our students the best of all worlds. At DC, students get the individualized benefits of a student-centered small college, but they also get a world of opportunities beyond. What does this mean? It means that our students start working with us before they even start their classes to put together distinctive Personal Success Plans, so that we can work with them to tailor their DC education and experiences to their own individual interests and goals. Throughout their four years at Defiance, our students benefit from a broad range of activities and experiences that are structured both to help them achieve their individual dreams and also to enable them to stand out in the job market and when applying to graduate schools. As part of that approach, we work with our students to help them develop their own Defiance College Resume. DC students also participate in a broad array of curricular and extra-curricular activities that give students distinctive hands-on experiences in their relevant fields. Just to name a few examples, we are proud of the work that our Criminal Justice students do in investigating cold cases for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office in Detroit; our Education students get hands-on experience working in classrooms as early as their freshman year; Science students run and manage a 200+ acre wildlife preserve; through our Business Advantage Program, business, marketing, finance, sales, accounting and other students get hands-on experiences creating and running actual businesses. I could go on and on in terms of the different opportunities for our Communications, Sport Management, Pre-Med, Social Work, Graphic Design, and students in many other areas. We are all particularly proud of the great work that our students have done in running Project 701, a unique student-run, separately-legally-incorporated non-profit, in which DC students create, develop, run and manage service projects. From working with the two hospitals in town to run a free primary-care clinic to micro-finance lending; from providing computer repair services to packing backpacks full of food for needy elementary school students to take home on weekends, our DC students are gaining the tools to become entrepreneurial life-long learners, while also helping to address important local, regional, national, and international issues. In fact, Defiance College was recently named one of the top 20 schools in the country in terms of community service and engagement. DC students also get unique opportunities to travel both domestically and internationally. Under our DC Global Program, we actually guarantee an international opportunity in the junior or senior year to students in good standing who successfully complete our full four-year program. Over the past two years, DC students have traveled to Cambodia, Belize, Tanzania, Ghana, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, London, Paris, Vienna, Prague, Hungary, Slovakia, and more. Similarly, on a domestic level, DC students have traveled to New York City, Washington, D.C., Portland (OR), Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Kansas City, Des Moines, Denver, Selma, Memphis, Chicago, Nashville, Florida, South Carolina, New Mexico, and elsewhere. We are very proud of the opportunities we give our students to open their eyes, raise their sights, open their minds, and, in many cases, open their hearts as well. I hope you notice some of the recent improvements to our athletic facilities. Our George M. Smart Athletic Center (“the George”) began operation in February 2012, and we are thrilled with the opportunities our students have to use this 84,000 square foot facility, with its 200-meter indoor track, tennis courts, basketball courts, volleyball courts, batting cages, fitness center, weight room, and much more. The new turf on our football/lacrosse field was installed in December, 2012, and we also recently renovated our outdoor E. Stevens Dix Tennis Courts. The new bleachers and improved flooring in our Weaner Center has also enhanced the experience for our fans, and more improvements are underway across campus this year as well. I want to thank our entire team, including players, coaches, trainers, and staff for the great work they do every day and the numerous ways in which they go above and beyond on a regular basis. I also want to thank our alumni, the parents of our athletes and the various organizations, all of whom donate generously to our athletic programs. Members of the Defiance College Board of Trustees, the Purple and Gold Club, and the Alumni Varsity ‘D’ all contribute immeasurably as well, both as individuals and through their organizations. And the incomparable faculty at DC, together with extremely dedicated administrators and staff, all combine to make DC the special place that it is. We are pleased to have you as our guest at DC today, and I hope that you will return to campus frequently for both sporting events and the numerous cultural and academic events we are so proud to host. Go Jackets! Sincerely, Mark C. Gordon, President
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