Dear Friends:
They told me this Internet thing was going to be huge. Here I am writing my very first blog entry. I’m not sure this was what they had in mind, but still - it’s pretty exciting to be able to post updates on what’s happening in the School of Arts & Sciences and receive instantaneous feedback from readers.
In all seriousness, my foray into blogging marks the beginning of something new. The School of Arts & Sciences is launching a new website, with a strong central message. Telling stories. As you explore both the School’s site and all of the new department and program sites, you’ll notice that whenever possible, we’re sharing real experiences courtesy of real students in the School.
We could have talked about studying the liberal arts at Richmond in broader terms. But for us, nothing gets to the heart of the matter like letting our students tell the story. Students today receive something like 3,000 marketing messages a day. They’re savvy consumers who are good at cutting through the clichés and jargon.
Students are the ones who’ve pushed the Internet in new directions. Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are popular because they give students the opportunity to connect with real people. Our goal was to build a site that wasn’t just one big marketing message but was instead an interactive forum where students can be inspired by their peers and the alumni who have come before them.
If you’re a School of Arts & Sciences alum reading this (or even a current student who’s already got some stuff figured out), consider this an open invitation to share your story. Our students are voracious learners who know what they love studying. Personal stories like yours help them see the connections between the academic disciplines they are passionate about and the careers where they can find real purpose. As far as we’re concerned, that’s something worth writing about.
Best,
Andrew F. Newcomb
Dean
School of Arts & Sciences