Roseann Runte

Dear Alumni,

Welcome back to your global campus! Old Dominion's horizons are expanding daily. And this is exactly as it should be. High-speed communications bring the world to our classrooms, and our students travel to every continent today just as easily as our grandparents went to the next town. Markets are global. All issues, from the environment to human rights, have transnational impacts. What happens elsewhere has a huge impact on our lives. When a bomb explodes in another country, the fallout clouds our skies and affects the stock market, our jobs, the value of our homes.

The university of the future must be international and offer each student not only a strong sense of his or her own identity, but the ability to compete in the new world of international trade, where knowledge and skills are hot commodities and where creativity and the ability to communicate thoughtfully and to compute accurately are the keys to success.

Old Dominion University, Virginia's International University, has made a serious commitment in its strategic plan to continue to develop and support international dialogue, programs and exchanges, to lead the way among universities in North America in providing education for the future. Our students will be the leaders of the future, as you are the leaders today. Our students will make Hampton Roads, Virginia, and wherever they settle after graduation, leading communities.

Our commitment goes beyond providing our students a passport to travel and an exciting new scholarship program which will promote international inquiry over four years of study (to include working with mentors and studying abroad). Our commitment imbeds the question of internationalization in our curriculum so that every graduate of your fine alma mater will have the tools necessary to live and work in a global context. Our ingenious faculty have developed unique programs, including joint degree offerings with the finest universities in Europe.

After Sept. 11, a number of our foreign students went home. Students, staff and faculty wrote them, encouraging their return. In January, all but two came back to Old Dominion. I am truly proud of this fact. We are a strong, patriotic community, ready to serve our country. We are also a hospitable, open group of scholars who hope that by sharing knowledge and by maintaining a climate of creative exchange, we will generate wisdom and international understanding.

The word "university" contains within it the concept of the universe as the basis for our inquiry, which must have no limits. Old Dominion is indeed a fine "universe-ity," open to the ideas and concepts of the world, welcoming to all. Your alma mater has never been a stuffy, staid ivory tower. Your alma mater is dynamic and diverse and continues to move ahead with bold new ideas in every field. Ideas for changing the world!

Thank you for being part of our initiatives. And the next time you travel abroad, call us. We'd love to put you in touch with other alumni who proudly represent Old Dominion around the world. Be a part of our international network!

Sincerely,

Roseann Runte

President