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Welcome to the new school year

Aug. 29, 2011

Dear Marquette Students:

Welcome to the first day of the 2011-12 academic year. Since I have been on campus for three weeks and most of you far exceed that in your time here, it may feel more like we are welcoming each other. During the year since my announcement, and at an increasing pace in recent days as you have converged on campus, I have had the opportunity to meet some of you, to hear your stories and experiences of Marquette, and to understand the meaning you find in Marquette's mission of excellence, faith, leadership and service.

My immersion in campus life this month included my own "move-in" - to Campus Town East, where I'm living - and presiding over some of the opening rituals of our academic year, including yesterday's Mass of the Holy Spirit. It has been a moving and inspiring time. And I am humbled and excited to be joining Marquette University as president and to lead the Catholic, Jesuit university that plays such a transformative role in your lives.

We pledge at the start of every academic year to reach for excellence and to do so with the greater glory of God and the world's well-being as our aim. As you begin this year, I urge you to follow the example of the university's namesake, Father Jacques Marquette, who took every opportunity to embrace the unfamiliar, to chart new courses and welcome what was next. Let the lessons of Father Marquette's life inspire you, as you ask the next question, as you struggle with the becoming thought, and as you challenge yourselves and each other to live the Jesuit ideal of magis, the restless desire for more. Our heritage as a university community calls us to strive for nothing less.

Good luck with your studies and with all that a new school year entails. If you see me around campus, please stop and introduce yourself. I look forward to meeting you.

Scott R. Pilarz, S.J.
President