President's Message - Nov. 13, 2007

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Message to the OSU campus:
 
As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving and approach the holiday season, I sincerely hope each of us will reflect back on all of the successes of Oklahoma State University this past year:  the incredible achievements of our faculty, staff, and students; the stellar continued support of our alumni, family, and friends; and our continued commitment to making OSU the institution of excellence and choice for Oklahoma.  
 
I am very proud to have had the opportunity to be a part of the OSU family and each day I feel very fortunate to work with so many talented faculty, staff and students.
 
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the Staff Appreciation Awards where our dedicated staff members were recognized for their service to OSU – some more than 40 years!  I have often stated publicly that I believe the success of any administration is directly linked to the quality of the support staff they work with.  We are blessed at OSU with an incredible support staff who are dedicated and care deeply about OSU – thank you!
 
With our final event tomorrow, I will have been privileged this fall to attend seven celebrations of construction or renovation of academic buildings on the OSU campus.  We have watched the transformation of our athletic facilities at OSU and now we are witnessing the exciting transformation of our academic facilities.  
 
I could not be more proud of the many faculty and staff who have invested time and energy in the planning for these buildings and I look forward to the celebrations when we ‘open the doors’ to the next generation campus of Oklahoma State University.
 
Have we had our ‘blips on the screen’ these past months?  Certainly. Every university in America encounters difficult situations.  The strength of a university, however, is in recognizing that our primary mission is the development of talent, be that faculty, students, or staff.  
 
Land-grant universities were created as the ‘people’s universities’ – to give access and opportunities to those who previously could not access higher education.  I am very proud that Oklahoma State University has honored that mission and will continue to strive to fulfill it as we move forward.  Thank you to all who have embraced and supported this important work.
 
I wish the entire Oklahoma State University family a Thanksgiving of reflection and quality time with friends and family.  May each of you be blessed, as I have been, to be a member of the OSU family.
 
Marlene Strathe