New Year, New Possibilities

Dear Friends, 

How quickly the time has passed since many of us scattered for winter break. Just before New Year’s, my spouse and I had cookies and cocoa with some students who didn’t scatter. We burned off the calories a couple of days later by cheering at our first Smith basketball game. It was thrilling and wonderful to see so many folks out supporting the team.

A new year offers opportunities to learn, to strengthen skills, and to feel the grace that comes with asking for help; Smith provides the perfect environment for us to grow in these ways. Here, we each contribute to Smith’s work of creating knowledge that leads to immeasurable good. Here, we develop relationships that become the foundation and framework for the community we hope to build: one that will uphold us in difficult times and enrich our moments of celebration.

As the semester gets underway, we offer opportunities for fellowship and education: A newer tradition—First Tuesdays—continues as a way for us to connect with old friends and make new connections. Join us for coffee and doughnuts on February 6, from 8:30–9:30 a.m. in the campus center. And on February 15, professors Justin Cammy and Suleiman Mourad will explore antisemitism and anti-Muslim and anti-Arab prejudice through a conversation at 4:30 p.m. in Sweeney Concert Hall. Throughout the semester, other traditions such as house teas, Rally Day, Collaborations, Ivy Day, and Illumination Night will offer additional opportunities to acknowledge the strength of our community and the value of our work.

Whether you come to campus from near or far, I hope you arrive rested and ready for this new year—a year that is, as Rainer Maria Rilke writes, “full of things that have never been.”

Here we go!

Sarah