First Word President’s Message “ I have witnessed many people in the CGU family coming together to find ways to propel our university forward.”
When a Community Comes Together, Everything Is Possible When I was on my own graduate journey, I decided to go to the University of Arizona in Tucson for my doctorate. I packed up my U-Haul and left my home in Northern California with no idea what I was getting into. I didn’t know anybody in Arizona and didn’t know what to expect. That might sound great—a blank page, a fresh start—but I found myself driving in circles around the university’s main quad and feeling lonelier by the minute. “What am I doing here?” I thought. “What was I thinking?” I found a pay phone—yes, this happened in the days long before cellphones—and called home. I didn’t want to admit to my mom that I thought I had made a mistake in leaving home, but I’m sure she heard the loneliness in my voice. After she consoled me as only a mom can do, I finally found my major’s department and was warmly greeted by the staff, other grad students, and professors. My mood changed. Maybe I was being hasty. Friendly faces make all the difference. The same is true at CGU. We are a family. We all care deeply about the university’s future, and I’ve seen proof of that care. I’m now in the second year on the job here, and I have witnessed many people in the CGU family coming together to find ways to propel our university forward. That includes our board of trustees led by Chair Tim Kirley and our alumni
2 | Claremont Graduate University
THERE’S ROOM FOR EVERYBODY! President Len Jessup (front, right) with (from left): Matthew Bowman, Leslie Negritto, Gwen Garrison Cindi Gilliland, Patricia Easton, Nadine Chan, Frances Gipson, Kristen Andersen-Daley, and Lindsay Stadler at the start of the 2019-20 school year.
board with President Michael Spicer at the helm, new faculty members and staff such as those who crammed into a golf cart with me at the start of the school year, innovative new partnerships and program offerings like those you’ll read about in this issue of The Flame, new fundraising initiatives to serve our students, and more. All of this grows out of our “north star” strategic plan that is helping us envision CGU’s next 10 years—and beyond—as one of the leaders in transformative graduate education in the world. Are you curious about that vision? Are you curious about where CGU is
headed? I invite you to watch a brief video on CGU’s YouTube channel at the following link: cgu.edu/northstar Everyone across our campus is committed to CGU’s success. Won’t you join us? Let’s carry the flame forward together.
Len Jessup President Claremont Graduate University