Welcome Back and Thoughts on the Spring Semester
January 29, 2025
Dear Members of the Boston University Community,
Welcome back to campus. I hope that your intersession was restful and restorative and that you were able to spend joyful moments with loved ones. I am looking forward to a productive, engaging semester and especially to continuing to get to know you and this University.
Even as we return to campus with anticipation, many are feeling the stress of personal struggles and world events. For the members of our community in Greater Los Angeles, the new year has brought tremendous loss and destruction due to wildfires. We are also concerned about the effects of new executive orders and policies and how they will influence higher education, research, migration, and the campus community. Many are impacted by the conflicts and tensions in Ukraine, the Middle East, or other parts of the world.
Whatever the cause, I have heard from you and know that it is a time of stress, worry, and personal loss.
The news of the day feels relentless, and it can be especially intrusive while we are all working so hard toward our individual and collective goals. If you are suffering, I encourage you to seek out resources that are available to you, including Crisis Counseling at 617-353-3569, the University Chaplains office at 617-353-3560, or the Faculty & Staff Assistance Office at 617-353-5381.
Our University’s impact and our eminence require focus and urgency. We must prioritize people—our faculty, staff, and students. We must aspire to leadership in research, scholarship, teaching, and learning. Finally, we must commit to operational excellence so that we are nimble and resilient.
These considerations are shaping the University’s response to the present challenges. As we have done with other natural disasters and crises, we have reached out directly to those people who have been affected by the events in Los Angeles. We delayed the start of our program in Los Angeles for a few days and now the program is back on track. You can learn more about how BU is supporting its LA community members in this story from BU Today.
As we would with any change in administration, our Federal Relations office is in close contact with policymakers and experts in our nation’s capital to understand any changes in policy and how they might affect our research and community. You can keep abreast of the work we are doing in Federal Relations by signing up for their newsletter, Beltway BUzz. In addition, last semester, I convened a group of leaders from across the University to meet regularly to track ongoing issues in higher education, understand their implications for Boston University, and develop action plans for the University to move forward with our core missions of research, scholarship, and academics, thoughtfully and skillfully.
At the same time, I want you to know how optimistic I am about Boston University and its future. I am hopeful because every day I see what each of you does to benefit one another, our surrounding communities, and the world. My optimism also stems from our critical history as an institution founded on the principle of being open, accessible, and inclusive of all. Boston University is a particular and rare academic environment in which we care for ideas and one another.
Let us use our traditions as a guide: As we begin a new semester in earnest, let us be open to the free exchange of ideas and to civil discourse. Let us foster inclusivity ensuring differing ideas can be expressed and explored. And let us take our novel ideas beyond our campus walls through research, internships, community service, the arts, and patient care. As our inaugural president William Fairfield Warren said, the purpose of the University, is to realize “the highest known ideals in individual and social character and life,” and to “propagat[e] these ideals from one generation to another, and from one land to another, so long as the world shall stand.”
Boston University was founded to be what we are today: a community where curious, intelligent, and compassionate people from all backgrounds come together to discover, learn, and serve. Our enduring values and traditions can guide us into the future. Let us take care of each other and support one another. I wish all of you the very best for a productive, engaging, and joy-filled spring semester.
Sincerely,
Melissa Gilliam
President
*1/29/25 This message was sent to students, faculty, and staff.