The Executive Vice President sent the following letter to all faculty and staff at the University on February 8, 2018.
Dear Colleague,
As we celebrate the 175th anniversary of the founding of the University of Notre Dame, we are grateful for the progress our University has made because of the dedication of so many. Together, we are advancing our vision to be the leading Catholic research university in the world.
I invite you to review the University’s annual report. When we reflect on the progress that we have made over the past 175 years, we are humbled and grateful. For fiscal year 2017, the University achieved steady growth in research funding. Through the support of our generous benefactors, the University completed several new facilities this fiscal year which added classroom, research, musical performance, and student life space. Many of these facilities will serve to elevate our academic departments and create space for the new Keough School of Global Affairs while we simultaneously plan for the completion of the new home for the School of Architecture in about a year.
We are committed to advancing our academic programs and research, while also ensuring that a University of Notre Dame education is accessible to all. To that end, we have invested significant University resources toward undergraduate financial aid this fiscal year. We are proud that we have met the full demonstrated financial need of all of our undergraduate students since 2000, and we have continually enhanced our graduate student stipends to make graduate study more attractive to the highest-quality students.
As we remain devoted to our Catholic intellectual tradition, which leads us to be a force for good in the world, we are grateful for the like-minded faculty, staff, students, alumni, benefactors, and friends of the University who join us in our mission.
John Affleck-Graves
Executive Vice President