To the Students of Sarah Lawrence:

Welcome, new students; welcome back, returning students. I hope you are as excited as I am about embarking on a new academic year and a new adventure—meeting new people, learning new things, and discovering how to contribute to the life of the community.

Education at Sarah Lawrence is based on three fundamental values. The first is an intense focus on the individual. The second is about nurturing the creative spirit in all of us. The third is that individuals make a difference in the larger world.What sets Sarah Lawrence apart from so many fine colleges in this country is that the faculty give life to these three values by the way they teach and conduct their everyday interaction with students and with one another.

In turn, much is demanded of you, and you are expected to contribute along with your classmates and learn from one another as well as from your professors. Sarah Lawrence is a place that nurtures individual voices. It is a place that takes what you have to say seriously. If you listen closely, you will hear common themes among all these individual voices: an abiding respect for others, whatever they believe and whoever they are; a respect for intellectual and creative work, whatever form it takes; a respect for differences, in whatever shape they come; and a belief that learning comes best when you are engaged.

All of you have lots to contribute, and we ask that you do just that: give of yourself in whatever way is right for you. Whether you participate in service-learning courses and in volunteer work; in producing plays, writing poetry, conducting a scientific experiment, reading your conference work to others; or whether you serve on student government, work in residence life, join athletic teams—whatever your focus and your interests, remember that by contributing, you help shape the community and leave your mark on how it evolves.

I am eager to get to know you. I will take pleasure in seeing you perform, in meeting you on campus, in working with some of you on committees, and in seeing the results of your work.

Sarah Lawrence is an immensely exciting place, a place that has transformed the lives it has touched. It will make a difference in yours. I urge you to get involved, so that looking back, we can all say it is an even better place because you were here.

With best wishes for a terrific year,

Karen R. Lawrence
President, Sarah Lawrence College