President's Post #116 Welcome and Welcome Back

Dear Students, Colleagues, and Friends:

Welcome (and welcome back) to Ramapo College of New Jersey!

I often get a chuckle from the annual Mindset List issued by Beloit College. Included among the 60 items on the list for the Class of 2021 this year are:

• Women have always scaled both sides of Everest and rowed across the Atlantic.
• Men have always shared a romantic smooch on television.
• They are the first generation for whom a “phone” has been primarily a video game, direction finder, electronic telegraph, and research library.

While these three characteristics, at first consideration, may seem a tad banal, they are representative of broader and deeper truths. First, regardless of gender, race, religion, disability, etc., our students arrive at Ramapo with a tenacious and inspiring belief in their own capacity. Second, they overwhelmingly bring with them a penchant for acceptance. And third, they are relentlessly connected to information in ways that make navigating volumes of stimuli both challenging and nuanced. So, students, you are wondrous creatures, and the Ramapo College administration, faculty, and staff are here to celebrate your tenacity, encourage your open-mindedness, and facilitate your intellectual growth.

We spent much of the summer preparing for your arrival and, in so doing, doing what we do best—serving as the state of New Jersey’s designated Public Liberal Arts College.  A recent article in The Atlantic asserted that a liberal arts education provides a path for an increasingly diverse array of students who seek to be “difference makers in society.” For example, at Ramapo, our Student Relief Committee was established by students last spring to assist their peers who are facing issues such as homelessness, food insecurity, and other financial hardships.  All students are encouraged to click here to complete the Committee’s brief Needs Assessment Survey, the results of which will be used to guide institutional decision making processes regarding housing, a food pantry, public transportation, etc.

Ramapo’s steadfast commitment to the liberal arts, academic excellence, small class sizes, faculty/student mentoring, access and affordability, and civic engagement were recognized recently by College Choice. An independent authority, College Choice ranked Ramapo among the top three colleges in the state, with Princeton University and Stevens Institute of Technology taking the top two spots, respectively.

So, while there is much to celebrate at Ramapo, there is also a tremendous amount of achievement in the offing. I look forward to your contributions to the College in the weeks and years ahead and I thank you in advance for your tenacity, your open-mindedness, and your appetite for learning.

Peter P. Mercer
President

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