First Word

Dear Friends,

At a time when higher education is seemingly under siege, Susquehanna is leaning into its values, and we are winning. 

We are winning because of the remarkable achievements of our alumni, the outcomes of our students, and the commitment of our faculty and staff to our mission to “educate students for productive, creative, and reflective lives of achievement, leadership, and service in a diverse, dynamic, and interdependent world.” 

“Great things, those things that really matter, that give our lives meaning, take a lot of love and a lot of time to make.”

Susquehanna moved into the top 100 of U.S. News’s rankings of the Best National Liberal Arts Colleges for the first time, and we were ranked 38th for best value. Over the past eight years, we have moved up 45 spots in their national ranking, the most of any liberal arts institution during that period. This is all the more meaningful as that ranking has become increasingly focused on what really matters: outcomes. 

We remain focused on our core values and we strive to get better every day, which is affirmed by some of the best student achievements in our history. Even so, we know we cannot relent. 

As I noted at opening convocation: “Great things, those things that really matter, that give our lives meaning, take a lot of love and a lot of time to make, but it only takes the blink of an eye and a moment of neglect for them to fall apart. Elie Wiesel said, ‘The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.’¹ We cannot idly turn away, hoping for better times. Love must win, but that demands courage, tenacity, and a deeply seated belief that doing the right thing is always the better choice.” 

We will continue to make that choice and to keep climbing; our students and our world deserve nothing less. 

Yours Ever, 
Jonathan D. Green, President

¹ U.S. News & World Report, 27 October 1986.