To New Students Joining the Yale Community,

Welcome to Yale! As you arrive on campus, I am thrilled to be returning to it after nearly three decades. The beginning of this new journey is at once exhilarating and profoundly humbling. One of the great joys of my initial weeks as president has been the chance to connect with the Yale community — those who make this university what it is — and I look forward to meeting some of its newest members. So, I hope you will say hello when you see me around campus.

We all come to Yale with our own stories. Here is mine: I am a fourth-generation teacher, the first being my great-grandparents who ran a modest, two-room schoolhouse. Inspired by the educators in my family, I devoted my career to teaching and research. I earned a Ph.D. in the history of art at Yale’s graduate school before becoming an educator and art historian and taking on leadership roles at universities.

Now, as then, I reflect on my own formative years at Yale with an admiration for the distinct qualities of our community. I appreciate, as you soon will, how the hallmarks of Yale’s educational environment — among them our symbiotic relationship with the City of New Haven, cross-disciplinary scholarship and spirit of partnership with institutions around the globe — prepare students to be the next generation of leaders and introduce knowledge and innovation that enhance lives worldwide.

The through line of Yale’s excellence is a deep spirit of community that both animates our campus and distinguishes it. Much has changed since I arrived here as a graduate student thirty-five years ago, yet Yale’s commitment to community is as strong as ever. Indeed, at the very core of our liberal arts education for over three centuries are the inextricable links we share as Yalies.

Although the opportunity to connect with classmates who come from different backgrounds or hold divergent beliefs is invaluable, I can understand if it may seem intimidating, in part due to the growing rifts in our society. An over-reliance on social media, meanwhile, has hastened a breakdown of the mechanisms we use to communicate. And the pressure many students feel to pursue achievement can often come at the expense of connection. Taken together, these trends mean we are all too likely to create barriers rather than engage with one another. Yet as you prepare to begin your “bright college years,” I encourage you to remember that just as essential as what you will learn before you graduate from Yale is who you will encounter along the way and how you will establish connections with one another.

As new members of the Yale community, you will encounter peers who are diverse across many dimensions. Out of a record applicant pool — the largest in Yale’s history — has emerged an especially strong first-year class from all walks of life.

When you applied to Yale, the admissions team considered, “who is likely to make the most of Yale’s resources and who will contribute most significantly to the Yale community”?  The tie, therefore, that binds each of you together is the civic motivation that you have already demonstrated. So, your charge, now, is to start your interactions by embracing fully that you are part of this community and to remember that one of the most valuable skills you can develop is learning to listen and connect with others. You will find that your friendships will be enriched by engaging those who hold different points of view — and your scholarship, likewise, by seeking out those with interests in fields and disciplines other than your own.

As we start on new paths together, united by the special bonds of our tradition, I look forward to meeting you — and to learning how you will leave your mark on a Yale community that is now yours.

MAURIE MCINNIS is the 24th President of Yale University.