Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding as we disrupted our normal routines this week to welcome President Barack Obama and Governor Jon Corzine to campus.

I want to especially thank all those who worked so hard to make this a special day in the University’s history. Those who represented the institution this week demonstrated the high level of dedication, commitment and excellence that distinguishes Fairleigh Dickinson. FDU always seems to rise to the moment, but this time we did so under the glare of a national spotlight and in the presence of the president of the United States. All those responsible deserve our applause. I so appreciate how skillfully so many responded in an environment of limited time, moving schedules and last-minute changes.

Again, this was not an FDU event, so we were restricted in how much influence we had and how much we could request. Unfortunately, we didn’t have as many tickets as we would have liked, and we are sorry that we could not accommodate all who wanted to attend. However, please be assured that the vast majority of tickets we did receive were given to students so they first and foremost could enjoy access to the event. And every effort was made to distribute the tickets as fairly as possible to students on both our New Jersey campuses. In addition, we provided a live webcast of the event for our students and set up special viewing areas.

I also want to address those who are concerned that the University has taken a position in the upcoming gubernatorial election. I can assure you that this event did not indicate a partisan measure of support. We were contacted by the governor’s campaign office and a request was made to rent our facility and pay for particular services. We approved that use and from then on we sought to ensure that our students could benefit from the occasion. As an institution devoted to preparing world citizens, we place tremendous value on cultivating forums for dialogue and deliberation: forums like this one that engage and motivate people and further the expression of democratic citizenship.

FDU has had many illustrious visitors through the years, but, as I noted earlier, this was only the second time a sitting U.S. president had visited the University. It was an opportunity we could not pass up, it was an opportunity we tried to make the most of, and it was a moment we will never forget.

Thank you,
Michael Adams