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Celebrate St. Lawrence!
Celebrate St. Lawrence!
Campaign St. Lawrence concluded on December 31, 2002 , with over $132 million in gifts and pledges to the University, well over its original goal. It was time to celebrate this outstanding achievement, and the celebration was planned for the weekend of October 3-5, 2003 .
In an advance communication to the invited guests, President Daniel F. Sullivan proposed that we celebrate not only the campaign's success, but also the collective commitment and insight of the alumni, parents and friends who support St. Lawrence, helping us prepare for the next challenges. He proposed to guests that they consider their views on key issues in higher education and come prepared to share their ideas. Here's an excerpt of his letter:
“We at St. Lawrence, and in American higher education generally, struggle to get the balance right on a whole series of critical issues of educational approach, and institutional and public policy. We have never before had the opportunity this campaign celebration weekend affords to solicit the views on these matters of people like you who watch higher education closely, and invest in higher education through your gifts to
St. Lawrence and perhaps also other colleges and universities. In our first session on Sunday morning, October 5, we'd like you to join one of the many forums we've set up to explore critical issues in higher education. We will ask every participant to speak for a few minutes, giving his or her views on the issue that is the focus of the forum, and then open it up for questions and comments. A member of the staff will be there to record the forum, and the forums and views expressed in them will be the centerpiece of a future
St. Lawrence magazine. We greatly hope you will agree to participate.”
The response was outstanding. Guests received advance reading to prepare for the forum discussion to which they had been assigned and at the appointed hour assembled in various locations in Eben Holden for two hours of discussion led by trustee facilitators. University Communications staff members were on hand to record highlights, presented in the next 12 pages.
Following the separate forum sessions, all 250 guests gathered in a plenary conclusion. Each forum group shaped a question or two for President Sullivan, and he responded to several for the benefit of all. He concluded the event with a major address on his vision of the next priorities for St. Lawrence; those remarks, adapted for publication, are on page 22.
If you could not be with us, and have thoughts about these issues, we invite you share them with us by e-mailing lcania@stlawu.edu so we can continue the dialog on the University's Web site. If you attended and have more to add, let us know so your ideas can be posted online as well.
-Lisa M. Cania