As we welcome the holiday season, I’m grateful that we have so much to celebrate at UTulsa. Our students are astounding, with the incoming class this year boasting a 4.17 GPA. They are also amazingly self-motivated, helping us bring theatre back to campus with two packed performances of “Oedipus the King” this fall, which students directed, rehearsed, performed and produced on their own initiative. Because I think we can all benefit from the insights students of this caliber provide, I’m giving them a larger role in the college, with a revamped “Student Advisory Board” now setting a regular agenda and meeting with me to help communicate priorities, concerns and new ideas from the student perspective.
Our faculty also continue to find creative ways to get them involved in research, as detailed in this newsletter’s story about Q. Lansana’s book project, “Ralph Ellison: More Than Invisible.” This kind of mentorship is, in many ways, UTulsa’s special sauce, and I’m impressed with how often I see it – from the students waiting outside History Professor Jon Arnold’s door to discuss ancient Rome, to the young artists sitting on the flagstones outside McFarlin Library with Professor Jason Rafferty, working to get just the right angle for their sketches.
Finally, I’m grateful for our community partnerships, which we’ve built in all kinds of exciting ways over the past year, from enhanced partnerships in the arts district to our new collaboration with the “Tulsa Flyer.” This is work of real national importance, rebuilding the local news ecosystem and developing a pipeline of young reporters who will provide the critical information we need to function as a free and democratic society. I am very proud that UTulsa is making it happen.
And as always, I appreciate you so much for supporting us and standing with our students. Together, we can ensure that every Kendall College of Arts & Sciences student has the support to dream boldly, challenge deeply and lead a life of purpose. We invite you to join us. Champion the values that guide us: intellectual rigor, curiosity, inclusion, innovation and community.
Gratefully,
Blaine Greteman
Dean of the Kendall College of Arts & Sciences
The University of Tulsa