Dear Colleague:

As we approach Thanksgiving, I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on the many gifts in your own life.

Think about the lives you've touched and the people who have made a significant difference in your life.

Think about the intangibles - health, happiness and hope.

Think about the past 12 months, what you've learned and how you've grown, through times of challenge and times of joy.

It never hurts to take a few moments to reflect on God's blessings for all of us. Having a firm appreciation of our gifts is one way we truly can serve our Lord.

For me personally, I'll enjoy my Thanksgiving this year with friends and family. I will be especially thankful for the solid footing enjoyed by our University.

Here are some things we in the SLU community can be grateful for as we reflect upon the last 12 months.

• Last spring the University's board of trustees approved the single most substantial investment in the future of the University in its 181-year history, Project SLU 2000. By a unanimous vote, the board approved $96 million in new funding for academic enhancements, information technology programs and improvements in the University's facilities and equipment.

• Students, faculty and staff gave more than 240,000 service hours to area organizations last year. More than 6,000 members of the University community participated in service outreach programs.

• The Templeton Foundation recently honored the University, once again, for being a "character building" college.

• SLU Make a Difference Day once again was a tremendous success, with more than 800 faculty, staff members, students and alumni participating.

• During the last academic year, the University provided 6,408 students with more than $44.7 million in scholarship awards from University-sponsored academic, service, leadership and mission scholarship programs.

• This fall we welcomed the second largest freshman class and the most academically gifted since I came here in 1987.

• We have the highest four-year graduation rate for student-athletes in Conference USA (78 percent). We also received Conference USA's Institutional Excellence Award for four consecutive years for highest cumulative average GPA for student-athletes, 3.6, in 1999.

• Our endowment exceeds $914 million and ranks 35th among U.S. universities.

• Research grant and contract research revenue achieved an all-time high of $19.8 million in 1999.

• Fifty-eight SLUCare specialists were listed as "Top Docs" in the 1999 Midwest edition of The Best Doctors in America.

Before we know it, the season of Advent will be here. With all our wonderful blessings, this year has gone by all too quickly.

When you enjoy Thanksgiving this year with your family, please slow down a bit and thank our God for the blessings he has bestowed upon Saint Louis University and for all the special gifts in your own lives.

Lawrence Biondi, SJ
University President

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