Last week, I stood at home plate in the Dash baseball stadium with others, looking out at the seats—filled with Salem soon-to-be graduates, faculty and staff, trustees and administrators, loved ones and friends. It was an amazing sight—a moving sight—to see our community together and to experience the ritual of graduation. To stream it live meant that all our graduates, even those graduating in absentia, could be there. It mattered.
Later that day, I walked around campus with our featured speaker, Dr. Camara Jones, and spoke with faculty, staff, graduates, and others. Their presence transformed our beautiful campus anew.
Now, as we look forward to summer, we do so with even more hope BECAUSE we look forward to seeing you not only on screens but walking across campus, in the refectory, on our fields, and in our offices. What an amazing joy.
Meanwhile, we want to stay in touch—and to hear about your summers, your hopes, and your fears, as we prepare for your return. Please send us pictures we can share—and news as well.
As we move forward, here’s a quote from an author I like a lot, Rebecca Solnit, that I shared with our graduates. It rings true for all of us as well—
“the blue at the far edge of what can be seen, that color of horizons, of remote mountain ranges, of anything far away. The color of that distance is the color of an emotion, the color of solitude and desire, the color of there seen from here, the color of where you are not.”
I wish you the happiest and most restful and productive of summers. Please stay in touch.
Susan Henking
Interim President