AVÀÇ

Dear AVÀÇ colleagues,

I am excited to announce a new pilot for spring semester 2025—campuswide Block Parties!

As I continue to meet with individual departments around campus and with student groups, I’ve received one very consistent message: We need to have more opportunities for in-person gathering and engagement. Belonging and community are foundational to our culture and success. I have been reflecting deeply on how we could reinforce and celebrate this sense of connection.

Fortunately, I was able to identify some restricted gift funding to use for this purpose. After brainstorming with our student and staff engagement professionals as well as our events team, I decided to implement Block Parties this spring to include music, food and activities. Everyone in our community – students, faculty, staff and administrators – is invited. We’ll be sure our fully online students are encouraged to attend as they often are looking for ways to connect with faculty and fellow students.

Please save these dates: