Spring 2011: President's Message - Seasons of legacy

Winter has mostly left Lewisburg now, with the signs of thaw all around us. The birds are getting noisy, the blooms starting to appear, the signs of spring life rising everywhere on campus.

But it has been a cold winter here, as in much of the country. Ice, snow, freezing rain — we've had it all. This picture, taken from the President's House toward Bucknell Hall, captures this winter for me, in its weight, its stillness, its beauty. Even in a winter like this one, this campus is a classic.

It has been a painful winter for the Bucknell community too. We lost many dear Bucknellians these past few months, some of whose legacies are recounted in a special story in this magazine. The pain of these losses, as with losses all of Bucknell suffers as time unfolds, will not leave our community soon.

The emergence of spring reminds me of the flow of our University's life, and its promise.

Bucknell is now 165 years in the making, and counting. We who are its temporary stewards owe it to those before us to carry on their legacy. They gave their best talents, their greatest ideas and energies, the best they could to make Bucknell better, more effective, more enduring. And so shall we.

John Bravman, President