Sara Jayne Steen, President. John Hession photo.
Welcome to the winter issue of Plymouth Magazine. We hope you find much here of which to be proud.
You will see a preview of the ice arena and welcome center currently under construction, a facility that will make a difference for students, teaching, research, athletics and recreation, and the community and region. It is the first phase of a larger plan to advance regional health and wellness, and it will allow PSU to more closely integrate the departments of health and human performance and of athletics and serve a range of needs, from offering new degree options and bringing our hockey teams home to providing skating programs for children and welcoming visitors to the area.
Other stories as well show PSU students, faculty, and staff making a difference—collaborating on educational programs and projects from the North Country of New Hampshire to Romania and Pakistan and in fields from art to business to environmental studies. There is excellence across PSU’s programs.
In October, we welcomed hundreds of alumni and families to campus for a Homecoming and Family Weekend filled with events: a special Evening of Connections dinner with donors and student recipients; soccer, football, and field hockey games; receptions and luncheons; academic presentations; train rides and climbing walls for children; education and alumni excellence award ceremonies; student performances of Oklahoma!; and more.
After Homecoming and Family Weekend, I received a letter from two parents who understood at a fundamental level how those of us on campus feel in having the opportunity to work with such engaged and talented students. The letter closed with this: “Funny how one can take pride in an institution, and in the kids who attend it, after being involved with that institution and those kids for just over a year, isn’t it? But that’s what PSU has done for us.” PSU does that each day for those of us who are privileged to be here. We hope that as you read these pages, you feel the same engagement and pride.
Those of you who are donors will recognize changes in this year’s magazine. We are introducing a new Executive Director of University Advancement, Sylvia Bryant, from whom you will hear later in this issue; and as a measure to stretch your contributions further and support our sustainability initiatives, we are honoring our donors online, rather than in print here. Sylvia and I hope to hear from you about your reaction to the latter, and, as always, we thank you for all you do, as donors, advocates, and members of our community. PSU’s achievements are in part yours.
Sara Jayne Steen, President
