Fellow Staff, Faculty and Students,

If this holiday season doesn’t feel as jolly or joyous for you as is typical, you’re not alone. As we watch our loved ones and other fellow American’s struggle financially – or maybe even feel the monetary pinch ourselves – it’s not easy to feel the peace and renewal that this season is meant to bring.

As I was thinking about how we might view this situation differently, I was reminded of an observation by one of our nation’s great teachers. Yes, of course, I’m talking about Dr. Seuss. Many of us grew up with his stories and certainly a standard for the holiday season is How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

If you can reach back into your childhood memory, you will recollect that the Grinch was an objectionable fellow in a perpetually rotten mood who spent the days before Christmas plotting a means by which to ruin the holiday in Who-ville. Shortly after his success in stealing all the trappings of the holiday from each and every house, he was surprised to learn that he hadn’t dampened the Whos’ spirit. In fact, he had done quite the opposite.

“Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!

He HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: ‘How could it be so?’

‘It came without ribbons! It came without tags!’
‘It came without packages, boxes or bags!’
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, ‘doesn't come from a store.’
‘Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!’”

It is my wish for each of us that we discover the more than can be found in the many holidays that make up this season. May your days be filled with singing for no reason at all and may your New Year bring a renewed sense of hope. 

Sincerely,

-      M. Roy Wilson, Chancellor

Address to Joint Faculty Assembly provides many updates

The first meeting of the Joint Faculty Assembly bringing together faculty governance from both the Downtown Campus and the Anschutz Medical Campus also brought a university update. The 20- minute speech covered various topics of interest to faculty and staff and can still be viewed here. Among the topics that were discussed:

·         Difficult economic conditions are likely to keep our state budget tight again this year.
·         Fundraising is flat this year, after two previous fiscal years of record fundraising.
·         Creating childcare options on the Anschutz Medical Campus is a top priority for the coming year.
·         The Downtown Campus has completed a master planning vision that will be rolled out in early 2009.

Changing lives. Saving lives. Building futures.

The American Indian/Alaska Native Programs and the School of Dental Medicine on the Anschutz Medical Campus have been awarded a $14.8 million grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research to create a Center for Research to Reduce Disparities in Oral Health. Initial research activities will be focused on reducing disparities in oral infections – particularly early childhood caries – in groups broadly representing the diversity of Native American and Alaskan native tribes and communities. The center will be one of only five in the nation and one of only three focused on early childhood issues.

About 770 of our students on the Downtown Campus participated in graduation ceremonies at the Denver Convention Center last weekend. Among them was an example of what makes UC Denver so special – opportunity. Sharmila Anand graduated with a MBA in Health Administration and was named as the “Outstanding MBA Student” in the 2009 graduating class. Gaining admission to this MBA program has meant nearly a three-decade dream come true for her family. Ever since Anand’s mother was a teenager, she wanted to pursue higher education at a foreign university but was never able to fulfill that dream. It has been Anand’s dream to honor her mother and her wishes through graduating with an MBA in the United States. Congratulations to Anand and all the graduates who realized a dream this year.