Dear Students,

Welcome and welcome back!

In the fall of 1965, I came to Rutgers as a freshman.  Those tumultuous last four years of the 1960s were the background for the remarkable experience I had here as a college student.  You, too, are attending Rutgers at a time of change and transformation in the country—and also in undergraduate education.  At Rutgers, and particularly in the School of Arts and Sciences, we have been developing new courses and initiatives to prepare our students for the challenges of the twenty-first century.  

The School of Arts and Sciences is the heart and soul of the University.  Offering an unparalleled liberal-arts education, the School is the largest and most diverse unit in the University. With more than 800 faculty and 70 majors, the School combines superb instruction with world-class research—and we are creating new opportunities for faculty to bring their expertise into the classroom and for you to learn first hand about the new scholarship and research in which they are engaged. 

You have embarked on a liberal arts education at a public research university and now have before you the many opportunities that only Rutgers can offer, including:     

• Signature Courses exploring questions of enduring importance and new 21st century challenges

• Unique Byrne Family Seminars for first year students with senior members of the faculty

• One-on-one research for sophomores with faculty through the Aresty Research Center

The simultaneous creation and transmission of new knowledge come together, in other words, in the School of Arts and Sciences as it prepares graduates for meaningful lives in a society that places a premium on the combination of imagination, knowledge, and wisdom: those three most essential products of a great liberal arts education.

Sincerely,