In a year that was stable only in its constant change, which also happened to be my first year as chancellor at Penn State Brandywine, I am grateful. I am grateful for our students, our faculty, and our staff who responded with grace and purpose. I am grateful for our alumni and friends who responded with record giving and new levels of participation.

Even in a year with unrelenting global and national events — the COVID-19 pandemic, deplorable acts of racism, threats to our democracy, raging wildfires — our campus responded with resolve to be solution makers and barrier breakers. Faculty, staff and students from all areas of campus came together in new ways to go beyond words to action and accountability on our most pressing priorities — student success, equity, sustainability. So many are working hard and having fun at the same time.  

Virtual meetings or coming together as “zoomies” rather than “roomies” surprisingly created efficiencies in people’s time that powered greater participation and greater coordination to design actions today for impact tomorrow. Virtual classrooms created opportunities for students to be more engaged with their faculty and peers, and the course content, than in person learning. At other times, virtual learning challenged the learning process. I am grateful for all who continue to strive to learn how to navigate the virtual world better.

I am grateful for the people in each of our units — Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Housing and Food Services, Enrollment Management, Finance and Business Operations, Information Technology, Development and Alumni Relations, University Police and Public Safety — who went above and beyond expectations to create a healthy and safe campus environment, to enable students to continue their educational journeys, and to fulfill our mission of outreach and service. Caring, compassion, creativity, commitment are all words that describe how everyone stepped up and worked together to help others find their strengths, shine brightly, and make lives better.  

I am tremendously proud of Penn State Brandywine. With boundless hope and imagination, I look forward to taking our good to better and better to best in 2021.

Marilyn J. Wells

Chancellor, Penn State Brandywine