Dear Chapman Family,
I write to welcome you to a new academic year full of new beginnings and promise. Today marks my first day as your president, which is both humbling and the greatest honor of my life and career.
I appreciate all of your support and well wishes as I begin my presidency, and I am grateful to Daniele Struppa for his exceptional leadership and mentorship – and for leaving Chapman in such a strong position with such a bright future.
Chapman has had an incredible trajectory over the past 30 years, and yet, with where we stand today, there is still incredible opportunity ahead of us. That potential – and my love for this place and our community – is what motivates me to serve, to lead, and to deliver the best possible experience for our students. I am confident that we can deepen our mission, live our shared values, and continue to elevate Chapman by focusing on the key themes that I started to outline as a candidate last fall:
- Highlighting students’ talent and success – promote the academic, creative, and professional depth of our students who come here prepared to learn and leave ready to shape society and industry.
- Building on our academic excellence – reach new academic heights that place us among the most elite institutions in the country.
- Supporting interdisciplinary collaborations – bring faculty from different disciplines together to create new research, knowledge, and innovative and in-demand degree programs that prepare our students to work with others to solve complex issues and questions.
- Fostering community engagement – build new and more extensive bridges that connect our students and faculty with our local communities to support societal needs while creating the experiential learning intrinsic to our mission.
- Deepening our commitment to free speech and civil discourse – create a model university for welcoming students from all different backgrounds, where numerous perspectives can be shared and challenging conversations can occur respectfully and thoughtfully.
These themes – and Chapman’s greatness – will be on full display at our upcoming homecoming and presidential inauguration in October. I hope that you can join us for some of the events (especially the All-Campus and Community Picnic on Oct. 10) and the many other programs and activities happening across the university this fall.
I wish you a successful and enjoyable start to the semester and look forward to seeing and connecting with as many of you as possible on our campuses this fall. Thank you for your dedication to this special university. I am incredibly grateful to be part of the Chapman Family.
Best,
Matt