Dear La Salle Community,

Since 1863, La Salle’s focus on holistic education, Lasallian Catholic values, and authentic community has resulted in exceptional outcomes for our graduates—the kind of outcomes that lead to significant, measurable impact in our region and around the world.

As you will read in this issue, La Salle’s impact is broad and deep: Explorers commit to social justice, contribute to an economically sound region, disrupt industries and launch new ones, create opportunities, build new homes and new hope, and serve as change agents in their families, professions and communities. In so doing, they advance the common good, and embrace the dignity of each person. In order to sustain that impact in Philadelphia and beyond,

La Salle must embrace change and changing expectations, and re-envision our educational experience while staying true to the mission and values of St. John Baptist de La Salle that define us.

We are doing just that.

We have issued a strong and strategic answer to the growing challenge facing families as they are called upon to increase their investment in a college education. One year ago, we announced a reset of our tuition, reducing it by 29 percent to 2008 rates.

Since, I have engaged in conversations across this country, calling on our peers to join La  Salle in committing to higher education as a common good, the full answer to a growing need for leadership in this world.

In the spirit of reframing higher education as a common good, La  Salle has adopted a distinct platform of Institutional Learning Outcomes —a framework for articulating the many outcomes of a La Salle degree that go beyond the disciplinary content of each major, and exceed what accreditation agencies require. These ILOs are the promises we make to our students; the competencies they will each have mastered, regardless of their program of study, because they are La Salle students. The University is committed to ensuring that every graduate will be proficient in a core set of areas including, but not limited to, critical thinking, scientific and quantitative reasoning, effective communication, ethical reasoning, creative and artistic expression, and collaborative engagement. These ILOs reflect

La Salle’s unique vision of education, and prepare our graduates to be ethical, engaged, and committed to the global common good. As we move forward with many exciting innovations, each of which keeps our students at the heart of all that we do, the value of a La  Salle degree continues to be widely recognized across many outlets: Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, Money magazine, The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education, and The New York Times, among others, have recently cited La Salle for value, excellence, and outcomes.

Of note, The New York Times reported that the median income of La Salle graduates at the mid-career point of 34 years of age is top six percent in the nation! That is an amazing achievement, considering that La  Salle does not have schools of law, medicine, or engineering which would support this statistic.

And most importantly, students and their families have confirmed it: This fall we welcomed the largest group of new students in 25 years, including one of the largest freshman classes in decades.

As La Salle takes the next steps in our 21st Century Renaissance, we continue to develop our bold path into the future—a path that will ensure our alumni are inspired to lives of success and advancing the common good.

In June, La Salle’s Board of Trustees approved Momentum 2022, our five-year strategic plan. This ambitious blueprint for growth and excellence is composed of 30 initiatives organized into five themes: Ensuring our Sustainable Community, Fostering our Premier Student Learning Experience, Transforming our Environment, Cultivating our Community of World-Class Colleagues, and Sharing our Unique Story. While Momentum 2022 is assuredly bold in its ambitions, it remains grounded in and true to our historic Lasallian Catholic mission.

I thank you in advance for your continued support of La Salle, through your time, talent, and treasure. As we continue to advance the global Lasallian mission at the local level, we seek to reflect in all that we do the impact of our founder and inspiration, St. John Baptist de La Salle.

May you and your loved ones have a lovely fall and a blessed Christmas season.

Sincerely,

Colleen M. Hanycz, Ph.D.

President