An Exciting Fall Semester Begins
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
An Exciting Fall Semester Begins
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff:
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Welcome to the beginning of what promises to be a banner year for UT Arlington.
If you’ve arrived on campus this fall as a freshman, transfer student, or new member of our faculty or staff, welcome to UT Arlington. We couldn’t be happier to have you join this amazing university.
Preliminary numbers indicate that our enrollment is almost exactly the same as last fall, which was the University’s all-time record. More impressive than our extraordinary growth in numbers the past few years, though, is the quality of our incoming students. UT Arlington has become a destination for the best and brightest students in Texas and beyond.
Noticeably absent from campus this fall are the cranes, cement trucks, and construction fences that have characterized UT Arlington—and signaled our unprecedented growth—for the past few years. We’re putting just a few final touches on our 20-acre College Park District, but it’s virtually complete. Following the opening of significant elements of the district—College Park Center and The Green at College Park—we are extremely pleased to open the doors to the rest of the mixed-used development this semester.
Vandergriff Hall and The Lofts are now occupied with more than 600 students, the parking garages are providing more than 1,800 spaces for the campus community, and the Dan Dipert University Welcome Center is—appropriately and magnificently—welcoming. Although some of the new restaurants at College Park are still completing the final work on their spaces and will be opening in the coming weeks, we’re confident the short wait will be well worthwhile. Thanks for your patience as these establishments continue to come online. Please mark your calendars for the formal dedication of the College Park District on the afternoon of Monday, November 19. More details will follow.
College Park Center will be the hub of numerous exciting events this fall, including basketball, volleyball (already under way), concerts, lectures, and other entertainment. Homecoming, which traditionally has been celebrated in the bitter cold of late winter, has now been moved to the fall. The centerpiece of Homecoming weekend is the first home game of our men’s basketball season November 16 when our Mavericks take on the University of Oklahoma. The weekend of events includes the women’s basketball home opener, a spectacular parade and street festival, reunions, and numerous other events.
The schedule for the 2012-13 Maverick Speakers Series was recently announced, and the fall lineup is impressive. Tickets to see sportswriter and commentator Frank Deford at Texas Hall on Tuesday, September 25, are available now. Political analyst Cokie Roberts is up next, on Thursday, October 4, also at Texas Hall. And Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers will appear at College Park Center on Monday, November 19.
The U.S. presidential election is less than two months away. I encourage everyone to register and make plans to vote. Early voting will be held on campus October 29-November 2 at the Maverick Activities Center.
As you no doubt know by now, we make every effort to keep you well informed. Two important sources of news and official information are distributed to your email inboxes each week. Students receive TrailBlazer every Tuesday, and faculty and staff receive MavWire every Monday and Thursday. These e-newsletters are an excellent way to keep abreast of the latest news, events, and activities at UT Arlington. You also will receive periodic emails from me on issues of importance to the campus community. And news and information are available in real time via the University’s Facebook and Twitter feeds.
Finally, with this message coming as it is on September 11, we’re all reminded of the events that took place on this date 11 years ago, when our nation—and thousands of lives—were changed forever. It’s important to remember the significance of this day in our shared history.
I wish each of you an exciting, productive, and fulfilling year at UT Arlington, and I look forward to seeing you around campus.
Sincerely,
James D. Spaniolo
President