From the President: Welcome to the Spring Semester!

January 18, 2024

Dear Southern Community,

Greetings and welcome to the 2024 spring semester at Southern!  

For our scholars, the spring semester promises new opportunities for growth, learning and collaboration. Our faculty members have prepared courses that will engage, challenge and inspire you, and our staff are committed to ensuring that you have a positive and enriching experience. Whether you are a returning student or joining our community for the first time, I encourage you to embrace the wealth of opportunities and resources available to you at Southern.

In that spirit, I want to pause and thank our hard-working faculty and staff for their persistent creativity and energetic support of our scholars. Because of your commitment to enroll, retain, persist and graduate students, spring enrollment is up and we are halfway to our goal of 5% enrollment growth in 2024. Everything is possible! 

On the heels of receiving a $3.2 million National Science Foundation grant this fall to support STEM diversity, I am proud to announce that Southern’s CARE program was recently renewed for another five years by the Centers for Disease Control to administer Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH), a chronic disease prevention grant. Southern’s impact on the community is indeed impactful and wide-reaching and our momentum shows no signs of slowing.

As such, this semester promises to be an exciting one. Our student activities team has coordinated a robust Week of Welcome, full of opportunities to meet fellow Owls and learn about different organizations and departments at Southern. On Thurs., Feb. 1., we will honor the life and teachings of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. featuring a keynote by Dr. Jamila Lyiscott, an award-winning community-engaged scholar, and an interactive open mic session for students to share their prepared poetry and prose.

More exciting events will be announced in the coming weeks, including our annual distinguished lecturer, so be sure to check your campus emails, follow Southern on social media and check in often with our university calendar.

I wish you all a wonderful start to the year and I look forward to seeing you on campus.

Welcome back, Owls! 

Dr. Dwayne Smith
Interim President