October 24, 2025

Greetings Staff and Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences,

 

Giving Day concluded at noon today, and I’m excited to share that supporters of the College of Arts and Sciences turned out to support our important work. A huge thank-you to everyone who gave, shared our posts on social media, or helped spread the word. Your support makes a real difference for our students and programs, and we couldn’t have done it without you. Since we far surpassed our donor goal of 1,200, I’ll be performing Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are” on the saxophone at an upcoming event with Ben Markley — more details to come on that later. 

 

Last week I visited Cardiff University in Wales where I met with faculty and leaders in the humanities, social sciences, and the arts to discuss next steps of our collaborations. I also got to meet one of our A&S students who is doing a study abroad this semester at Cardiff and was having a great experience. Calls for the next round seed funding for this collaboration are set to come out soon so be on the lookout. This has proved to be a valuable collaboration for our institutions.

 

I also want to thank Barbara Logan, Department of History, who will be serving a 3-year term on the UW Faculty Academic Standards, Rights & Responsibilities Committee and Ken Hanson, Criminal Justice & Sociology, who will be serving a 3-year term on the Academic Planning Committee. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to serve on the UW and A&S Committees; your willingness to serve the college is much appreciated and is a critical part of service.

 

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. Let’s beat the sheep on Saturday!

 

Sincerely,

 

J. Scott Turpen