Good morning UMD!

Out 104th Commencement on Sunday, May 23, represents an achievement for each individual student, their family, and for the faculty and staff who have served and mentored our graduates. It also represents another achievement for our University.

The Class of 2004 is the largest graduating class in UMass Dartmouth history with nearly 1,300 undergraduate and graduate students receiving hard-earned, valuable degrees. As graduates they will be ready and willing to carry on the tradition of innovation which exemplifies our nation, Commonwealth and University.

Our ideals of excellence and service will be personified at commencement in our honorary degree recipients: former National Science Foundation Director Dr. Rita Colwell, Fall River business leader and former Mayor Daniel E. Bogan and business and civic leader Anthony F. Andrade.

Our honorary degree recipients will be honored the previous night at our annual Commencement Gala. The gala will mark another important UMD milestone. It will be kick off a year long celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Dartmouth campus groundbreaking. The theme of the celebration: Breaking New Ground: A Tradition of Innovation.

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Forty years ago, we broke ground on a new campus as well as the concept for a new university here in Dartmouth. Rising along with the steel and concrete was a bold vision of communities joining together to drive the entire region to sustained prosperity through an unyielding dedication to higher learning and a constant pursuit of innovations. We will take a moment at this gala to show our gratitude to the faculty members who helped start this new campus.

Planning is now underway on a year-long series of events - some scholarly in nature, some simply entertaining - to reflect where we have come from, where we are today, and where we want to go as a university and as a community. It is my hope that current and former faculty members, current students and alumni, campus staff and community members come together often to celebrate the idea of THIS university.

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This being the middle of final exam season, it is only fitting that I received my own report card of sorts from President Wilson in my recently completed performance review. I want to take this opportunity to say how pleased I was with the process and the outcome.

I greatly appreciate this statement of confidence from President Wilson and the trustees. I also want to thank the review committee and all those from the campus and the community who spoke to the committee over the past several weeks. The process and the feedback have already proven helpful and will guide our decision-making in the months and years to come.

I view this as a positive statement about the talent and dedication of the entire UMass Dartmouth community. We have accomplished a great deal over the last few years due to the excellent work of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and our partners throughout the community and the UMass system.

We now expect to accelerate this ascendance by continuing to encourage innovation and collaboration in all that we do.