To the George Washington University Community:
It is hard to believe that three months have passed since New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke at our Commencement on the National Mall and paid tribute to the new commitment to service that grew out of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. On this year’s tenth anniversary of the attacks, I was proud that our university community once again came together for a day of service and remembrance.
This year we are organizing our service activities in response to President Obama’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge. Earlier this summer, we had the honor of hosting the national kickoff for the Campus Challenge. I hope you will continue to dedicate your time and energy to serving others, this year with a particular focus on engaging in service together those of other faiths or moral traditions.
This has been a summer of exceptional accomplishments. I was pleased to announce a new partnership that will bring the Textile Museum to George Washington’s Foggy Bottom Campus. The Museum’s world-renowned collections will become a cornerstone of a new George Washington University Museum, scheduled to open in 2014. They will complement the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection, donated last spring. Over the summer, we also made strides toward our goal of becoming a model of urban sustainability. The new solar arrays on several of our rooftops give us the largest installation producing solar thermal energy on the East Coast. We were also delighted to host the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Leadership Summit in June.
The opening of the Avenue complex on the site of the old George Washington University Hospital, complete with restaurants and a Whole Foods grocery, adds a new and welcome dimension to our Foggy Bottom Campus. The spectacular renovation of the Charles E. Smith Center has been finished just in time for the new athletic season. You will also notice other, newer construction. This fall we will hold the official groundbreaking for Science and Engineering Hall, and the nearly completed Ames Hall renovation provides a beautifully expanded academic facility on our Mount Vernon Campus. In all of these projects we will be striving for the highest LEED certification as a further demonstration of our commitment to sustainability.
This is the academic year in which we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of presence in Foggy Bottom and the 20th anniversary of our Virginia Science and Technology Campus. I look forward to sharing with you another dynamic year at George Washington!
Sincerely,
Steven Knapp
President