Dear Alumni and Friends of PSU,

Sylvia Bryant, Executive Director of University Advancement. Mark Bogacz photo.

It is with great pleasure that I greet you as the new executive director of University Advancement at Plymouth State. I arrived June 1, coming to Plymouth most recently from New York State, and have worked in higher education for more than 15 years—first as a professor of English, then in institutional advancement. No place feels more welcoming to me than a college campus, and I am honored to call PSU my new “home.”

The Office of University Advancement, which includes development, alumni relations, advancement services, and a newly created parents program, is not new to Plymouth State, although we are repositioning our work to better serve the institution and take it to the next level of excellence. You’ll find us in Holmes House, right at the heart of campus. I hope you’ll stop by the next time you’re on campus and say hello.

With my first visit to PSU, I knew it was a special place. Every experience I’ve had and every person I’ve met since my arrival has demonstrated the uniqueness of campus and community, over and over again. The encounters I have had with alumni and friends of the University embody the esteem in which you hold the University. Your commitment to the institution is clear and tremendously valued.

My own transition to Plymouth State University reminds me of the transformation that underlies any university campus, PSU being no exception. New classes of students arrive, and graduating ones emerge, all dedicated to changing their world. The campus transforms from year to year, as new programs and facilities take shape and come online.

These days, the most visible sign of change at Plymouth State is the 850-seat ice arena and regional welcome center, the first phase of the Active Living, Learning, and Wellness (ALLWell) Center, which is transforming the Plymouth-Holderness landscape daily, and which promises to transform the way we live and learn. ALLWell will powerfully impact the campus and community for generations to come.

The project has captured the imagination of alumni and friends near and far who want to be part of the future of PSU. You may not be on campus or in the community every day to see the new building evolving and taking shape before our eyes, but you can still be part of the transformation.

How can you help? Two simple ways: advocate and participate.

PSU needs you to share the story of the good work we accomplish here with fellow alumni and friends, prospective students, and community leaders. As we strive for the next level of institutional excellence, we need your involvement at every level. Join us by volunteering as a peer leader. Advocate for PSU with community leaders. Say “thank you” to our faculty and staff or to our benefactors, whose contributions make education not just possible, but transformative.

Most importantly, consider making Plymouth State a philanthropic priority, and share that commitment with others. Everything that is special about this place, everything that will sustain it into the future, happens because of individuals like you—your advocacy, your participation in the life of the institution, your support.

We have big challenges in front of us. But our opportunities, fed by the promise of a transformative future, are equally grand and compelling. Together, we will advance the impact of Plymouth State University.

Thank you for all you do for PSU. I look forward to meeting and working with each and every one of you.

Sylvia Bryant, Executive Director
University Advancement