As we near the annual gathering of ACPA members and supporters, the scenic ACPA25 Annual Convention (16-19 February 2025) theme serves as a timely and necessary reminder. Whether applying this concept to the conclusion of the Association’s 100th Anniversary Year, welcoming the start of our second century of boldly transforming higher education, or bracing for the challenges that are assuredly ahead of our campuses in the fall terms and coming academic year, I cannot think of a more fitting time in my professional career when the reminder to pause, take a deep breath, and begin each new day with as fresh a mindset as possible. The waves and ocean air of the California coastline at ACPA25 promises a moment of respite from our day-to-day challenges for those who will be able to join us in Long Beach, yet we cannot singularly rely on this upcoming time in community to refuel, refill, and sustain us. I hope you will join me in committing ourselves to be as present as possible, to recognize and protect our personal boundaries, and appreciate that each new day brings an opportunity to begin again.
In my formative years of early adulthood, I was introduced to Covey’s (1989) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In particular, his recommendation to “begin with the end in mind,” has stuck with me in how I approach new situations and ongoing challenges. In an era in which we are frequently overwhelmed with a barrage of newsworthy events, polarized opinions, global tragedies, I observe that we easily lose perspective on the longer view in favor of short-term relief or fixes. Recognizing our limited and seemingly rapidly depleting capacity to hold both short- and longer-term challenges at the same time, we often take actions that allow us to take shallow breaths just to make it through the present moment. Beginning with the end in mind, however, reminds us that shallow breaths can lead to further health challenges down the road.
With students now returning to campus for the new semester or quarter, it’s important to remember that many campuses concluded the spring term in tremendous turmoil. Quite frankly, higher education only took shallow breaths throughout the early months of 2024 just to survive the semester/quarters. From campus activism and protests over the Israel-Hamas conflict to the ever-escalating political divide in not only U.S. but global elections, the only resolution experienced at the conclusion of the most recent academic terms occurred as students departed or graduated from their institutions. Fast forward four months and those conditions remain unresolved, and in fact may be more challenging and divisive than when campuses paused for the mid-year break. The Israel-Hamas conflict has expanded to the point where the entire Middle East may be drawn into global warfare unlike anything the region has experienced in history. Our students, faculty, staff, and communities remain as invested in a peaceful resolution, and end to the conflict, and the safety and ongoing livelihood and wellbeing of innocent people. Campus leaders who believe the protests and tensions from earlier this year are over will soon learn differently, while institutions who utilized the summer to enhance their communications and response protocols will find continuing opportunity to implement and reevaluate their efforts.
At the same time, while the predicted Biden-Trump rematch of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election has dramatically shifted since the conclusion of the spring academic term, the literal identities of the campaign have changed. Our campus community members are now likely to be even more engaged, in both good and troubling ways, than expected when the race featured two white men, both seasoned in age. This 2024 U.S. Presidential election now centers gender, race, and age in unprecedented ways, dimensions which will certainly be experienced and felt on every single college campus in the country over the fall semester/quarters. Political tensions and divides are not only present in the United States, as there are at least 25 national presidential elections occurring across the globe between September and the end of 2024. I ask that we also not forget the importance of supporting and participating actively in local and state/province level elections, particularly in a time when hate-filled rhetoric and actual legislation continues to threaten our livelihoods, our jobs, and our futures.
Global and national contexts and unrest will only serve to escalate the traditional challenges our campuses experience during the start of a new academic term. For me, this is where Covey’s guidance to “begin with the end in mind,” reminds me that the short-term will be hard; let us not pretend that it will not be taxing on us personally and professionally. Instead, I hope you will join me in setting our intentions to the longer-term intentions of our work. Our daily task is to take advantage of every opportunity, each and every day, to support students in their moments of joy and struggle, to help them connect their today with their tomorrow and their future, and to provide them with meaningful learning experiences that will allow them to then change the rest of the world within and beyond their spheres of influence.
The work we do in higher education and student affairs is aspirational; it transcends today. What can be tough about aspirational work is that the rewards are not often immediate or tangible, but it does not mean that our work is not critically important in the world. Just last week, I received a phone call from a former student leader who I worked with closely while a campus-based practitioner. That former student leader is now running for and likely to be elected to the U.S. Congress as the first transgender member of Congress. When we were meeting in my campus office discussing all-gender housing options more than a decade ago, there was no way I could have imagined she would now be weeks away from making history and inspiring numerous generations to follow. Although I take no credit for her journey, trajectory, or successes, I am proud to have been a part of that incredible and important story in some microscopic way. That phone call last week was a powerful reminder of the importance of “beginning with the end in mind,” and of remembering to center our “why.” Our purpose must also be to take care of ourselves, to take deep breaths (not just shallow ones), and to start each day again remembering the long-game….remembering that our work is aspirational…and that the current moment will pass. Take a breath, and let’s begin again.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
-Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution (March 31, 1968)