The answer came from the
intersection of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and the news that UW-Eau
Claire student Tayo Sanders II was named a Rhodes Scholar — the only student
from any Wisconsin or Minnesota university selected among the 32 Rhodes
recipients nationally.
So, here’s the tweet I decided to
send: “Thankful to be the chancellor of such a special university — proud of
all Blugolds!”
I deliberately wrote “proud of
all Blugolds” because I’m thankful for the generous and thoughtful ways our
students, faculty, staff and alumni all contribute to the amazing tapestry that
is UW-Eau Claire.
This year has brought a bounty to
our university in terms of seminal accomplishments, such as Tayo Sanders II
being named our second Rhodes Scholar in a decade, and also in terms of
transformative gifts, such as the $10 million in land and money donated by
alumni John and Carolyn Sonnentag for development of the County Materials Event
and Recreation Complex on Menomonie Street.
There are, of course, dozens more
examples I could cite. At UW-Eau Claire we truly have a “horn of plenty” when
it comes to accomplishments like these — something we must never take for
granted.
I wanted to be sure my one-thousandth
tweet captured my special appreciation for this place and its people — and to
share that widely with others so they know how thankful I truly am.
