Witnessing the inauguration of Governor Charlie Baker was a salient reminder of how fortunate we are to enjoy an orderly transition of power, a hallmark of our democracy. Traveling to the State House with Senior Vice Chancellor Gerry Kavanaugh for the event, I reflected with wonderment how this peaceful process has endured in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since Governor John Hancock's tenure 230 years ago. It is not something I take for granted, having lived through a dictatorship, and remember what it was like when I entered college as a freshman in the Philippines when martial law was declared.

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," said the abolitionist Wendell Phillips. Freedom of the press and of speech exacted a costly price this past week with the loss of lives at the horrific and cold-blooded terrorist shootings at the Charlie Hebdo office and at the Hyper Cacher kosher market in Paris. We stand in solidarity with France, as well as French members of our community, such as Professor Jean-Francois Allaux and others. Je suis Charlie.   

UMass Dartmouth was ranked #1 in Massachusetts for online Bachelor's degree programs by U.S. News & World Report! Wow! We were also ranked #2 in New England and #55 in the United States. This phenomenal success is due to the dedicated work of our faculty and a large team of professionals. Kudos to the Dean of Arts and Sciences Jen Riley, Executive Director of University Extension Karen Rhoda and her team; Vice Chancellor Renee Buisson, Mary Avery, and the Marketing and Web teams; Coordinator of Student Services Sherri Nickel-Milstone; Director of Operations David Pedro; Director of Enrollment Services Maria Cordeiro; Student Support Advisor Shannon Friel; and Administrative Assistant Carrie Souza. I am immensely proud of your accomplishment. 

Congratulations to two Fine Arts graduate students, Aaron Badham and Russell Prigodich, who won the 2014 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Awards! Selected from a pool of 374 nominees from 151 schools in the United States and abroad, Aaron was sponsored by Professor Eric Lintala and Russell by Department Chair Richard Creighton. Their work is currently part of the Grounds for Sculpture's Fall/Winter Exhibition in Hamilton, New Jersey.  

On January 7, Dean Adrian Tio, Kissy Russell, and I joined Assistant Vice Chancellor Michael Hayes in a UMassD Living Gallery Committee meeting with our Facilities Master Planning consultants, Design Lab architects Bob Miklos and Ben Youtz, public artist Nancy Selvage, and DCAMM project manager Rosalyn Elder. The Living Gallery project has achieved the following thus far: nightly lighting of the Robert Karam Campanile, John MacCormack's hanging garden between the Foster Building and the MacLean Campus Center, installation of Ron Rudnicki's sculpture "Gerry's Window" near the CVPA Building and Professor Eric Lintala's sculpture "Tower Spirits" in the Library. Our consultants presented illustrative examples of public art in universities and other settings across the country to engender ideas about how to animate the Brutalist-designed campus with art and color, as well as to create a sensory experience for those who live and work here.

On Friday, we launched the request for proposals (RFP) for the UMassD Living Gallery Mural Art Project (click here). We are soliciting ideas for a mural that will be installed on the rectangular exterior wall of the Auditorium, and we are offering a prize of $50,000. Please circulate the RFP to artists whom you know or post the link to artistic communities in the region and across the country.

Congratulations to our faculty members who have published recent articles in the Standard Times: "The impact of drone strikes on international norms" by Professor Avery Plaw and "Defending the predators: the pro-drone argument" by Professor Brian Glyn Williams on December 28, 2014; and "Climate Change - Rising sea levels challenge flood insurance management" by Professor Chad J. McGuire on January 4, 2015.

It was a pleasure to join Mayor Jon Mitchell as a co-speaker at a well-attended Good Morning, South Coast Breakfast hosted last Thursday by the New Bedford Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. I presented a video clip and explained the goals outlined in our strategic plan UMassDTransform2020. The event also marked a farewell for NBCC CEO and UMassD alumnus Roy Nascimento, who has accepted a new position as President of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce. We wish you the best, Roy.

Have a good week, everyone!