President's Message

Dear Friends,

The McKendree community has launched into the spring semester and all of the excitement this time of year brings to our campus. As a lifelong academic I enjoy the rhythm of the academic year. Anticipation and excitement as we begin the fall, marked by welcoming new members to our community, and the launch of a new year of discovery and growth. And spring, which brings the culmination of all that we do here as we send our new graduates out to make their mark on our broader community. We publish our magazine, in part, to give you a glimpse into this academic cycle, with all of the excitement it has to offer.

I am particularly excited about the article entitled University 101: Success Starts Early at McKendree. This program, designed specifically for our first-year students, is intended to help them succeed academically and ease their transition to university life focusing on personal and social responsibility. In this article we follow three first-year students through their University 101 experience and first semester. I have the pleasure of co-teaching one of our University 101 courses and it is one of my favorite roles at the University.

Our other feature articles include McKendree Pizza Tradition Serves Up Success, chronicling four alumni who have been very successful in the pizza making business, and Happily Ever After Begins at McKendree, a heartfelt recap of one of the most popular Homecoming events in recent McKendree history, as alumni who met their partners here and married returned to the campus to renew their wedding vows, and of course a celebration of Coach Statham. I hope you enjoy this issue of The Magazine for McKendree.

Great things are happening at your University. If you haven’t visited the campus lately you are missing the opportunity to share in our success. Make plans to come and see us this spring.

Sincerely,

James M. Dennis

President