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At the start of the 2023-24 academic year, I put forth a charge to our faculty and staff that we embrace 4 C’s: Communication, Collaboration, Culture and Community.

At our core, our school – led by true teachers-scholars-mentors – provides life-altering experiences for our students. By building strong emotional and social connections, coupled with rigorous academic offerings, we place students on the path to success. Our faculty and staff build these same connections with one another. This is our culture, and we have dedicated much of the past year to investing in it and protecting it.

As we grow, offering transformative opportunities on campus, in Los Angeles and New York, and now Charlotte, we have made it a priority to invest in our culture and strengthen the community that students praise.

To ensure ���ϲ����� Comm stays true to itself, we initiated several steps. We reinforced our efforts in diversity, equity and inclusion with the hiring of Vanessa Bravo as the school’s assistant dean of DEI and assessment. We welcomed longtime colleague Brad Lemack as director of ���ϲ����� Los Angeles. And we continued our curriculum revision process to better serve the needs of our current and future students. We also introduced smaller gestures to bolster our collective bonds – more faculty-staff social gatherings, regular dean’s memos, and a swankier coffee machine. Our faculty and staff run on coffee.

While our ACEJMC accreditation self-study and subsequent evaluation have been top of mind this year, we know – and recognize – that people are our foundation. It is our commitment to teaching, to mentorship, and to supporting one another that makes us one of the finest communications schools in the country.

Let us celebrate the conclusion of a successful 2023-24 academic year and remain cognizant that who we are is as important was what we do. We also look forward to celebrating our 25th anniversary as a school with you next year.