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Letter to alumni: Welcome the Class of 2016 to the pack!

The University of Washington’s alumni family got a little bigger this week as we graduated the Class of 2016. Diplomas in hand, these newly minted graduates are leaving the Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma campuses to join your global fellowship. I know you’ll welcome them with open arms as they share not just a love of the UW, but also the values and passions that unite us in our drive to create a world of good.

What a year this has been for your University! We inaugurated our first cohort of Husky 100 recipients — a new program recognizing outstanding students who are making the most of their Husky Experience — and held our first Parent and Family Weekend. We celebrated a wide range of scholarship, breakthroughs and innovations, from deploying an ocean robot to monitor algal blooms, to uncovering the positive effects of music on babies’ development, to the debut of a unique “vertical dance” performance on Meany Hall.

We launched a new vision for improving health and well-being around the world through efforts related to population health, expanded the degree offerings of the Global Innovation Exchange, and strengthened our long-standing medical education program in eastern Washington through a new partnership with Gonzaga University. And, of course, this was the year we all cheered as the UW women’s golf team won its first national championship and the women’s basketball team went to its first Final Four.

As alumni, you are an essential part of making all of these achievements possible. Your engagement in your communities and your support of the UW, including through membership in the UW Alumni Association, helps drive our University. I’m taking part in our 14th annual Faculty Field Tour of Washington this week, and I hope to see many of you along the way. But please also know we always welcome you at any of our campuses and facilities, such as the UW Spokane Center, and at any of the countless places UW alumni gather, here, and around the world.

Thank you for all that you do, and for the warm welcome you’ll give the Class of 2016!