Dear UAlbany Community,
Happy New Year and welcome to the Spring 2024 Semester at the University at Albany! I hope your holiday break provided you an opportunity to rest, relax, and recharge for the spring semester.
The new year and new semester bring many reasons to celebrate and many things to look forward to. I cannot wait to see the greatness we will unleash together this year.
2024 marks UAlbany’s 180th anniversary. We have come a long way since our founding as the New York State Normal School in 1844. From those humble beginnings, I am incredibly proud of the diverse and impactful university we have become. To celebrate this milestone anniversary, we will host events throughout the year. Stay tuned for more information as the semester proceeds.
Some of the celebrations and events that will shape this semester include:
New Campus Facilities: Last semester we officially cut the ribbon on a renamed and redesigned Broadview Center. If you have not yet visited this beautiful facility, I hope you will check it out this semester. We also partnered with CDTA to officially open the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Purple Line which runs between our uptown and downtown campuses and Crossgates Mall. I hope you will take advantage of this convenient new transportation option, which is free for students and employees. In March, we will also hold a grand opening celebration for the brand-new Downtown Campus Welcome Center in Husted Hall.
Leading Questions: On Feb. 13, UAlbany will host a live discussion as part of our Leading Questions series featuring SUNY Chancellor John King and UAlbany alum Judge Seth Marnin. Judge Marnin was appointed to the New York State Court of Claims by Gov. Kathy Hochul last summer; he is the first transgender man on the bench in the United States. The event will take place at 6:30 pm in the Campus Center West Auditorium. I hope you will join me for a lively discussion of Judge Marnin’s career, his time at UAlbany, and current issues.
Annual MLK Celebration: UAlbany’s 2024 Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 20, in the Campus Center Ballroom and will feature Adjoa B. Asamoah, a noted public policy expert and consultant and a champion of racial equity who leads the nationwide CROWN Act movement. Click here to register.
2024 UAlbany Showcase: Mark your calendar for the return of this event on Tuesday, April 30. Showcase 2024 will highlight the research, scholarship, and creative work of our undergraduate and graduate students.
UAlbany Athletics: Please join me in congratulating our Great Danes football team on a historic season that culminated in UAlbany’s first CAA Championship and our first appearance in the NCAA Football national semifinals. Coach Greg Gattuso was named the National Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association. You can read more about how he led the team on last year’s historic run in the UAlbany magazine. This semester, I hope you will take the time to cheer on our amazing Great Danes athletes.
UAlbany as Teach-Out Partner: I am pleased to share that UAlbany will be a main teach-out partner for students displaced by the closure of the College of Saint Rose. And to that end, we have applied to start new undergraduate education programs and to expand our nursing program. Additionally, we have established a hotline for St. Rose employees who may be interested in pursuing employment at UAlbany.
Health and Well-being: As an educator, I believe it is incumbent on universities like ours to foster dialogue and facilitate inquiry and understanding of complex and challenging issues. I encourage you to continue to approach these issues with the thoughtfulness and empathy they deserve. If you are in need of support as you are processing local, national, and world events, I urge students to access resources on the Health & Well-being page and faculty and staff to contact the Employee Assistance Program.
For 180 years, UAlbany has been a beacon of knowledge, discovery, and opportunity in our community. As we look to the future this semester and beyond, I am confident we will find continued success by leaning into our research and academic strengths, building partnerships locally and globally, meeting our community’s needs, and remaining steadfast in our mission to serve as an engine of opportunity.
Together, I know we will continue to do great things.
Go Great Danes!
Sincerely,
Havidán Rodríguez
President