Remarks as prepared for delivery Good afternoon! We are absolutely thrilled to welcome you home to Michigan. It’s so good to see all of you here in the Big House! We are so proud of you. You completed your studies during a very unsettling and confusing time for our world. The Class of 2020 will Read more

Remarks as prepared for delivery Good morning! Congratulations, graduates! You did it! Just as remarkable as today’s graduates themselves are their families, for the unconditional love and encouragement they have provided through the years. I want to thank these families – the parents and grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings. Your students are beyond impressive. Thank Read more

Remarks as prepared for delivery Good morning! Thank you to the Aero Saxophone Quartet for that lovely performance and to Valerie for her inspiring words. Graduates, I know it has been hard work. The pride, the satisfaction, and, yes, the relief you feel are richly deserved. Take a deep breath and enjoy this moment! You’ve Read more

(As prepared for delivery) We have a very full agenda today. I want to begin with news about our continuing efforts to address sexual misconduct on campus. As announced earlier today, we are creating a Coordinated Community Response Team that will provide input and advice on our future policies, procedures, and prevention efforts that relate Read more

Good afternoon! Thank you, Provost Collins, and thank you to the talented students who have performed and spoken this afternoon. There are always many indicators that spring is on its way in Michigan. It may be an upward tick in temperature. Or the sounds of more and more birds singing. Or tiny snowdrops and crocuses Read more

Dear Deans, Directors and Department Heads: The University of Michigan is devoted to the highest ethical standards; we expect honesty and integrity from every member of our faculty, staff and student body. An important component of these values is a commitment to reporting suspected criminal activity and the knowledge that retaliation for making a report Read more

Dear Colleagues: I am pleased to recommend the appointment of Laurie McCauley to serve as the University of Michigan’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. The Board of Regents will consider the appointment at its meeting next week. She currently serves as dean and the William K. and Mary Anne Najjar professor of Read more

To the University Community: Each new report from Ukraine intensifies the horror we are experiencing as the civilian and military deaths and destruction mount, and more than a million Ukrainians have fled their homes to seek refuge in other countries. Shelling has destroyed schools and hospitals by the dozens, and the number of residential buildings Read more

(As prepared for delivery) From the time I first arrived at the University in 2002, I have been moved by the dedication and passion that students and alumni hold for this place. As I progressed through those years, I began to understand the long continuum of events, challenges and triumphs that bind everyone to the Read more