Dear LSJ Alumni Community:
It is always a pleasure to write this annual note to our wonderful LSJ alumni group, but it is particularly enjoyable to do so whilst looking out my office window onto the lush Grieg Garden. I can do so because LSJ now occupies its own dedicated space, on the mezzanine level of Smith. We’ve been here less than a year, but it definitely feels like home!
And it is a busy and dynamic home. Part of that is because we welcomed three new staff members this year. One of them is as an assistant professor, Stephen Meyers, who has quickly made himself an indispensable part of our group. And the same very much holds true for our new administrator, Marilyn Cope, and our part-time academic counselor, Alex Lynch. They’ve been here less than a year, but I can’t believe we ever managed without them!
We also initiated a new mentorship program, in which we’ve enrolled many of our local alumni to provide guidance to some of our undergraduate majors. We are excited by how well the program is working, and are eager to expand it in the future!
Our faculty have stayed extraordinarily engaged with their usual range of innovative teaching, compelling research projects, and various administrative obligations. The list of their accomplishments is too long to recount, but they continually find new and interesting ways to infuse our program with impressive energy.
Unsurprisingly, student interest in the major continues to grow. We set records this year for majors, and for applications to our major. Looming budget cuts may harm our ability to serve as many of these students as we would like, but we remain dedicated to providing a quality experience to as many majors as possible.
Our students indicate that a quality experience is just what they get. If you want to hear about it in their words, please enjoy the video we showed at this year’s convocation.
And if you live locally, we very much hope to see you at our 15th anniversary celebration, on Oct. 20, at the UW’s new and beautiful wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ -- Intellectual House. You can expect an invitation from us in the early fall.
You are all collectively responsible for much of the success of LSJ. We hope you feel deserved pride in what we continue to accomplish!
With best wishes,
Steve Herbert, LSJ Director