Dean’s Message, December 2023 - The University of Tulsa
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Dean’s Message, December 2023

Kirsten Olds, Interim Dean

Universities occupy a unique role in society; they hold a singular social responsibility, namely, to examine and serve as the repository for our understanding of the past and to look far into the future, to produce ideas and innovations that may not have an impact in the immediate years ahead, but decades from now. This includes shaping each generation of citizens and equipping them with the flexibility, habits of mind, and character to embrace a world in flux.

Kendall College strikes that balance of both backward and forward looking especially well. We do so when we embrace traditions, such as in our publication of several award-winning journals, including the James Joyce Quarterly, which recently celebrated its 60th year, Nimrod (founded in 1956), and Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, which Germaine Greer started in 1982. We also have begun new traditions, such as our partnerships with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra (supported by the David B. Waters Trust) and with Montereau Retirement Community, both in their second year.

We continue our traditions of excellence in our student body: Of our 122 new first-year students, 40 are National Merit Semi Finalists and 30 of those are National Merit Finalists. Among all TU A&S students:
·       26% report being first-generation college students
·       26% are Pell-grant eligible
·       156 compete at the highest level on one our Division I athletics teams
Our faculty are equally distinguished, with National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and National Book Critics Circle awards among the many honors received.

We offer 28 majors and 32 minors in the college, including five interdisciplinary programs. While some of the available majors have changed since Henry Kendall College was founded in 1894 (and Kendall College of Arts & Sciences was named in 1970), our foundational emphasis on the transformative power of the liberal arts has persisted. Throughout the coming month, please check out our social media pages for a look back on some of the events and initiatives undertaken by our academic units this semester. We look forward to an even busier year ahead as we welcome new Dean Blaine Greteman in July and new initiatives on campus, at 101 E. Archer, and beyond.

Embrace the ampersand,
Kirsten Olds
Interim Dean