Fall 2024 Semester Welcome
A Message from President Harring to the Muhlenberg CommunityWednesday, August 28, 2024 01:00 PM
The Class of 2028 celebrate the start of their journey at Muhlenberg College during orientation weekend.Dear Muhlenberg community,
Following an amazing week of orientation to welcome our newest community members, I am excited to begin the new academic year. I am filled with gratitude for the tremendous spirit shown in preparing for and welcoming our new students, faculty and staff to campus. I’m looking forward to all that our vibrant campus will offer in 2024-2025 and what we will do together.
The arrival of our newest students brought an incredible energy to campus, and it is contagious. To all students — welcome once again! To our faculty and staff — thank you for all you have done to make the College ready for our students’ arrival and for all you will do to make their many successes possible.
This year promises to be eventful. The campus community calendar is packed with opportunities to experience all that Muhlenberg has to offer. Stay current via the ‘Berg Bulletin newsletter and Muhlenberg Today. Updates on some of our current initiatives can be found at the end of this message.
With so much happening, it’s easy to lose yourself in all the on-campus activity. As I told our first-year students at Opening Convocation, Muhlenberg does not exist in a bubble. National and world events affect our lives. International conflict, opposing partisan views, a presidential election — all are front and center. We cannot and will not be insulated from the world around us. Our clear and unambiguous responsibility is to address national and global issues constructively and effectively. This is fundamental to our shared purpose of bettering the world through education. I urge you to review our mission statement, which emphasizes well-reasoned debate, clear and graceful expression of ideas, and ethical, civic values. Our 2024 election programming is a great example of how we live these principles.
A Muhlenberg education is transformative, preparing exceptional individuals for lives of leadership in a democratic society and global economy. Leadership requires specific habits of mind. Developing them requires a scholarly forum for the thoughtful discussion and debate of thorny issues — wicked problems that require multifaceted solutions. This is hard work that sometimes is uncomfortable. It requires deliberate effort from each of us — students, faculty and staff alike; we all have a role to play.
Our liberal arts ethos calls on us to embrace ambiguity and discomfort, develop a growth mindset, and show others grace.
I wish you a fulfilling semester.
Be brilliant. Be Mules.
Sincerely,
President Harring
