The Dean's Letter

December 19, 2022

A Present Like the Future

Dear AAP Community —

As we bring 2022 to a close, I would like to take a moment to stop and reflect on a culminating year for our college and community. Prolific and powerful writer Alice Walker offers words to guide and ground these reflections. "Look closely at the present you are constructing," she shares. "It should look like the future you are dreaming."

I want to thank you all for the humanity and dedication you bring to each day to construct a present in which a better future can take shape. Over months and years, our generative conversations, engagement, and actions have centered our values and continue to move us forward despite challenges along the way. As poet Mary Oliver eloquently reminds us, "things take the time they take," and so, I am grateful to be part of a community so deeply committed to the work of constructing a present that reflects the futures we imagine according to the values we share.

This year, the college has seen the culmination of our collective effort to draw connections across and beyond our disciplines and expand in new directions. Thanks to the support of so many, we launched the Cornell Mui Ho Center for Cities, the multicollege Paul Rubacha Department of Real Estate, and most recently, the multicollege Department of Design Tech. Additionally, our departments of architecture, art, and planning have advanced new degree programs and initiatives, established new collaborations and courses, and welcomed new faculty. While distinct, each joint effort in and across departments began with an expanded sense of possibility and shared responsibility for the future. And, each required the very acts of imagination that define who we are and what we do at AAP.

As we mark milestones and support one another in advancing our mission, there is much to continue to work toward, but for now, I wish you a restful break with time to reflect, recharge, and fully take in the present moment before we return to see what 2023 holds. I also want to congratulate our most recent December graduates who end an important chapter in their lives as they begin another. Thank you all for an inspiring and impactful semester and year, and all the best for a safe and restorative holiday season.

Warmly,

Meejin