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Letter from President Grant Cornwell

Photo by Scott Cook

Dear Rollins Students,

I am so pleased to welcome you to the 2021-22 academic year at Rollins, carrying on a tradition of excellence and innovation in liberal education that extends well over a century. 

Always remember, as you move around this beautiful campus, attend to your studies, and go about the busyness of your lives here, that this whole college—and every member of our campus community—is here for one reason and one reason only: your liberal education.

Whatever your background or circumstances, please be mindful that you are privileged to have this time and place to devote yourself to learning, a privilege shared by only a fraction of a fraction of your global peers. With this privilege comes the responsibility to pursue your education with integrity, intention, and seriousness of purpose.  

Prospects for the coming year are rich with promise and rife with challenges. With the full opening of Lakeside Neighborhood, Rollins will have the largest population of students living and learning on campus in its history and many more opportunities to study, enjoy one another’s company, and share meals and conversations. 

In Kathleen W. Rollins Hall, home of our signature Gateway program, you have ready access to opportunities to put your Rollins education to work in the world and build a pathway to your future.

Last year, the Rollins community, along with our nation, made strides to be more critically aware of the dynamics of race and racism in our history and in our present day, striving to advance racial justice on all fronts. We are a diverse community of students, faculty, and staff on purpose because it is in listening to each other that we learn from each other. 

But this only works if every member of our community is treated with respect and has an equal opportunity to grow and thrive here. The commitments we made last year were a new beginning, and I look forward to redoubling our efforts this year.

All of this good work, and all of the joys we will share in community, will continue to take place in the context of the global pandemic with which we all, as global citizens and responsible leaders, are still struggling. I urge you to exercise your own personal responsibility—not only to secure your own safety, but to protect the health of this community. 

To my mind, for those who are able, this entails the civic duty to get vaccinated. The quality of our life together on campus, our very ability to pursue our shared purpose together, depends upon our collaborating to mitigate the presence and transmission of COVID to the greatest degree possible. Let us join together in this effort.

With all best wishes for a fantastic year ahead, Fiat Lux!

President Cornwell

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