Fall 2009

This issue of VIEW provides me with an opportunity to thank the many, many people who contribute to the University of Windsor. Our Annual Giving Program stands as a centerpiece of the commitment of our alumni and friends to the University. Year in and year out, these gifts provide much-needed student financial aid, and enrich the education, research and recreational environment of our campus.

Beyond the Annual Giving Program, we benefit from the support of those who have given to scholarships, our endowment and capital projects such as our Medical Education Building.

Each and every donor is adding conviction to the University of Windsor’s reputation as a place where people from all walks of life can find new levels of personal achievement, and a place that is taking action on what our communities and society expects of us.

In my role I have the privilege of speaking to many people about the successes and aspirations of the University. I do so knowing that each and every donor helps my words ring true.

I also want to thank the many staff, students, and volunteers who put their energy into spreading the message about the University of Windsor during the Annual Giving Program. Their enthusiasm is vitally important to all of us.

I want to return to what I referred to as the aspirations of the University of Windsor. Our University, like others, has a duty to do the best it can in education, research and service to society. Beyond this somewhat universal reason for being, however, there are things that are unique to us and that we pride ourselves on. Our academic and research programs, our community, our partnerships, and our alumni all give us a distinctive palette from which to create a vision for our future… our aspirations. In its simplest terms, a strategic plan should state what these aspirations are and what we will do to fulfill them. During the fall of 2009, we will be embarking on a process to identify those things that we will commit to doing to make the University of Windsor a place in which we all have even greater pride. It will be process driven by consultation – by the consultations I have had over the past year across the campus, with alumni, and across the community, and by consultations that are now beginning.

There is a direct link between aspirations and giving. Everyone who gives to the University of Windsor should be able to see how in some way, great or small, they contribute to fulfilling what we say we can do. On behalf of the University of Windsor, I thank all of you for what has been accomplished and for what will be achieved in the future.

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Alan Wildeman
President and Vice-Chancellor