Today marks a special tradition for the UW community: our annual Husky Giving Day. Whether you are a faculty or staff member, a student, a patient, an alum, or a neighbor, friend or supporter of the UW, you already know that that your University creates extraordinary impact in the world. The UW is a place for students to prepare for successful lives and careers. And it’s the birthplace of research and innovation that improves how we live, work and play. For patients and their families, UW Medicine is a literal lifesaver. Yet despite the enormous diversity of these aims, everything we do is driven by our shared mission to create and accelerate impact for the public good.
On Husky Giving Day, we come together to support all of these endeavors because we share the conviction that an equitable, prosperous, healthy and sustainable world is possible through our combined efforts. I hope that you will find a way to participate in this 24-hour digital day of giving to support these urgent and worthy goals.
I also encourage you learn more about the UW Fund, which provides flexible funding for the most important and emerging needs of our students, educators, researchers and people across the University who are leading engagement with and service to our communities. This kind of funding has the power to supercharge our ability to invest in high impact projects and initiatives when it matters the most. For example, the UW Fund has enabled critical support for student mental health programs, like crisis counseling, and for the Disability Resources for Students Office. And it is being used to support the restoration of the historic ASUW Shell House, where the legendary George Pocock coached the “Boys in the Boat” to an unlikely victory in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
However you are engaged with the UW community – and for all the ways that you are contributing to a more equitable, sustainable, healthy and prosperous world, thank you, I’m honored to be part of this generous and visionary community and I look forward to all the impact we will make together.