»Matt Parlow’s First Presidential Message to the Community

 

Dear Chapman Family,

As the new academic year kicks off at Chapman University, I write with a message of new beginnings and promise. Today marks my first day as Chapman’s president, which is both humbling and the greatest honor of my life and career.

I appreciate all of your support and well wishes as I begin my presidency, and I am grateful to Daniele Struppa for his exceptional leadership and mentorship – and for leaving Chapman in such a strong position with such a bright future.

Chapman has had an incredible trajectory over the past 30 years, and yet, with where we stand today, there is still incredible opportunity ahead of us. That potential – and my love for this place and our community – is what motivates me to serve, to lead, and to deliver the best possible experience for our students. I am confident that we can deepen our mission, live our shared values, and continue to elevate Chapman by focusing on the key themes that I started to outline as a candidate last fall:

  • Highlighting students’ talent and success – promote the academic, creative, and professional depth of our students who come here prepared to learn and leave ready to shape society and industry.
  • Building on our academic excellence – reach new academic heights that place us among the most elite institutions in the country.
  • Supporting interdisciplinary collaborations – bring faculty from different disciplines together to create new research, knowledge, and innovative and in-demand degree programs that prepare our students to work with others to solve complex issues and questions.
  • Fostering community engagement – build new and more extensive bridges that connect our students and faculty with our local communities to support societal needs while creating the experiential learning intrinsic to our mission.
  • Deepening our commitment to free speech and civil discourse – create a model university for welcoming students from all different backgrounds, where numerous perspectives can be shared and challenging conversations can occur respectfully and thoughtfully.

These themes – and Chapman’s greatness – will be on full display at our upcoming homecoming and presidential inauguration in October. I hope that you can join us for some of the events and the many other programs and activities happening across the university this fall.

I look forward to seeing and connecting with many of you on our campuses this fall. Thank you for your dedication to this special university. I am incredibly grateful to be part of the Chapman Family.

Best,

Matt Parlow
President