Dear Transylvania Community,
The excitement is palpable as we welcome our upperclass students back to campus and begin another academic year. Along with the refreshing energy that comes with the start of the new year, there are important initiatives underway, including the renovation of the Carpenter Academic Center, which will be complete in the spring of 2018.
The anticipation of the new academic year is fueled by hope: hope for new accomplishments, new friends, new ideas. Yet, this year our hope is muted with no small degree of unease. In these turbulent political times, we at Transylvania will redouble our commitment to welcoming and supporting every member of our community, especially those who have found themselves thrown into a sea of uncertainty by the recent announcement relating to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
We cannot predict what will transpire over the next six months, but we will honor our commitment to educate, support, and counsel every Transylvania student to the very best of our ability. I ask that we deepen our commitment to each other, strengthen our bonds of community, and show deep and abiding respect for our fellow human beings in a world where basic respect seems to be challenged every day.
We are all here because we know the power of a liberal arts education. An important part of our mission is to help each other embrace the complexity and the beauty of each individual who shares this world with us. As we consider our universal interdependence, perhaps this is a good time to recall Transylvania’s ever-relevant motto: In Lumine Illo Tradimus Lumen.