Dear Toreros,

Welcome back to campus for the spring semester. However you spent the last few weeks, I hope the holiday season and Intersession brought you joy, relaxation and rejuvenation.

It’s wonderful to see campus bustling and to feel the excitement of the teaching and learning that will take place this semester. I’m so grateful to our faculty, staff and students for all you do to contribute to our USD community each and every day.

In mid-January USD welcomed more than 250 representatives from 40 different Catholic higher education institutions to come together and discuss the future of Catholic higher education. USD was proud to host the Lighting the Way Forward conference as an opportunity to facilitate these important conversations and kickoff our 75th anniversary year.

During the conference our bishop, Cardinal Robert McElroy, delivered a powerful keynote address on Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment and the need to care for our common home. Cardinal McElroy noted:

“But every Catholic university should be concerned with the central moral question about technology that Laudato Si' raises for us: the question of how to shape moral norms that can encourage the benefits of technological progress while ensuring that the dignity of the human person and the common good of society are not endangered.”

Cardinal McElroy’s wise words, and the themes carried through Laudato Si’, serve as powerful reminders and calls to action for us to not only think about our environmental impact, but how we relate to each other and work together for the common good. Especially in times of challenge and conflict, our roles as Changemakers and promoters of justice and peace are more important than ever.

As we celebrate our 75th anniversary in 2024, let this be a year that brings us together, allows us to gather in respectful dialogue, and redoubles our commitment to the beauty, goodness and truth we hope to see in the world.

In that spirit of togetherness, next week’s All Faith Service is one of USD’s cherished traditions. I encourage you to share in this gathering as we celebrate the diversity of our campus and – in reference to our USD vision statement and theme of this year’s service – lead with love.

This is also the beginning of Black History Month and our students, faculty and staff have worked hard to plan a number of events and activities to celebrate the history and contributions of the Black community at USD and beyond.

Wishing you an enjoyable and successful semester. I look forward to commemorating this special year with you and celebrating our community’s many accomplishments.

Peace,

James T. Harris III, DEd
President