Greetings from Green Bay’s University of Wisconsin!
      With our Spring Commencement approaching fast, it’s hard to imagine we are only a matter of days from the conclusion of
another academic year. Each year at this time, I can’t help but reflect on all the activities and success stories across campus that have made this another memorable and special year.
      Most of you probably have heard by now that this will be my last year at your University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. I will leave this summer to become president of Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash.
      I plan to devote this space next month to a personal farewell from Cyndie and me. It will be difficult for us to say good-bye to the people of this outstanding University and its supportive community.
      For now, I would like to take a look back at events of this past year, fit those events into the larger picture of a University and region that constantly are moving forward, and talk about the people who, by working together, make it all possible.

      This year has been as busy, as challenging and as rewarding as any since we arrived here in 2001. It’s hard to describe the range of emotions I’m sure we all felt last fall as we watched the state Legislature go through its tortuous months-long budget process. In the end, your patience was rewarded when the Legislature embraced Northeastern Wisconsin’s Growth Agenda for UW-Green Bay. The Growth Agenda will mean so much to the continuing development of the New North region.
      I had the privilege of being with Gov. Jim Doyle in Madison when he signed the budget bill into law. I was so proud that day of the efforts of our Council of Trustees, other community leaders and our area legislative contingent, each of whom did yeoman’s work to make the Growth Agenda reality. That day would not have come without their recognition of the importance of this University to our region and state and their passion in communicating that message.
      Almost simultaneous to the passage of the Growth Agenda’s first phase was the dedication of the magnificent Kress Events Center. Like the Growth Agenda, the Kress Center was the result of an extraordinary team effort that spanned a number of years. A series of dedication events enabled us not only to celebrate the achievement of the unique student/community/state partnership that made the Kress Center possible, but to thank those who saw a pressing campus need and decided to do something about it.
      “The Kress” has been everything we hoped for and more. It has hosted our women’s basketball and volleyball teams, high school basketball tournaments, and even an appearance by presidential candidate Barack Obama. Its fitness center has added a new and much-needed dimension to student life on campus. In the coming weeks, it will be used extensively for UW-Green Bay and area high school commencement ceremonies. And we certainly think it would be an ideal place for a presidential candidate or two to visit this fall.
      Community donors were key contributors to the partnership I just mentioned. But they didn’t stop there. Several weeks ago, we were able to announce that the Campaign for UW-Green Bay surpassed the $21 million mark.
      Completion of the Kress Center means the campaign now is moving full speed ahead in pursuit of academic enhancements. Already, gifts to the campaign’s academic side have enabled us to create 25 new student scholarships and add or enhance named professorships that support the scholarly work of our outstanding faculty.