These values we hold dear aren't meant merely as words to live on our website. Community, collaboration, imagination, integrity and grit are words to work by, live by, and lead by.

To prepare our students for the accelerated pace of change not only in the creative industries, but in every industry, we must embrace and lead disruption, or to repeat a common mantra in this age of digital revolution: we must innovate or die.

We're here for you. We'll help you, guide you, protect you. We'll keep you safe, and celebrate your successes. And when you fail, we'll pick you up and set you back on course.

Spring is on the horizon, commencement is only 85 days away, and the future looks bright for our students, our alumni and the University.

Money can't buy happiness, but it buys plenty of movies and music, theatre tickets and concert passes, good reads and great art. And if that's not a means to happiness, I'm in the wrong line of work.

You are our most ardent advocates, some of our most well-connected influencers, and the unequivocal base of moral support that will champion our hard work and stewardship. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

The artists who have trained at UNCSA have lent their vision and their voices to stories that define and illustrate our culture, chronicle the past, and imagine the future.

We're dream builders and idea generators, project incubators and problem solvers, catalysts for change but also keepers of all that inspires. We're creators of artists, leaders and pioneers. We create here.

Even in this kinetic environment, there's a palpable sense of fresh energy, and I thrive on it.