This new year has opened with the optimism of new beginnings. Yet even as our resolutions are still fresh, we recognize our world is awash in challenges and uncertainties.
That makes it even more important to come together, to reengage as a community and to Look to Michigan.
As alumni, you know that the University of Michigan can provide the innovative solutions our world so desperately needs. It needs the exceptional talent and extraordinary humility of James Earl Jones, ’55, HLHD’71; the creativity and innovation and insight of Sid Meier, ’75; and the relentless persistence and indomitable aspiration of Myra Beaudoin Bertrand, PhD’08; all of whom you’ll read about on the pages ahead.
Most of all, it needs you.
That’s why I’m so excited about our Look to Michigan campaign. It’s the most ambitious and innovative effort we have launched together as a university.
Look to Michigan will eventually touch every part of our campus and community, and each school, college, campus, and unit will have its own unique goals. Many will focus on student support, research and innovation, but together, we will be guided on the impact areas and institutional priorities we described in our Vision 2034.
We will focus on Life-Changing Education, for education has the power to transform everything it touches — bridging divides, opening opportunities, and equipping students with the knowledge and skills they need to fulfill their potential and exceed their dreams.
We will focus on Sustainability and Climate Action, on leading the effort of mitigating and adapting to climate change, in building sustainable climate resilience, and in collaborating across disciplines to develop tomorrow’s solutions that are needed today.
We will focus on Health and Well-Being — on becoming a model of excellence for meeting today’s health challenges through a holistic approach to prevention and treatment, as well as to generating innovative discoveries that drive scientific progress and developing the technologies and treatments that will redefine prevention, diagnosis, and care.
We will focus on Democracy, Civic and Global Engagement, fostering respectful and constructive dialogue and debate, and equipping students with the education and skills they need to become active and engaged citizens.
And we will focus on The Arts, for they infuse all aspects of our lives, provoking thought and meaning, deepening our understanding and lifting our eyes. As one of the nation’s foremost public universities, we must be as excellent in the sciences as we are exceptional in the arts.
In support of our vision and our mission, our priorities and possibilities, we have chosen $7 billion as our ambitious goal for our Look to Michigan campaign.
I believe we can reach it, through the support, the capability, and the generosity of all of you.
It is thanks to all of you that we have established our Vision 2034 and it is through you that we will make it a reality.
So in these times of challenge and uncertainty, let us come together again, and together, let us Look to Michigan.
Thank you again and Go Blue!
Santa Ono is the president of the University of Michigan.
