Posted Sept. 27 - I’m often asked, “What’s the next big thing for Manchester?” It’s a question I love, because it means the person asking it expects a “next big thing” from us. We’ve done big things before and they anticipate we have more in store.

Lest we forget, we’ve always been audacious:

• We came to North Manchester in 1889 after the Town of North Manchester raised $6,800 of an $8,000 goal, enough to build the first building on campus, Bumgerdner Hall (it is still in use as the west end of the Administration Building).
• We launched the world’s first peace studies major in 1948, shortly after World War II ended, believing that conflict could be resolved without violence.
• Our Environmental Studies Program, started in 1971, was one of the nation’s first, begun just one year after the first Earth Day.
• Our Pharmacy Program, begun in 2010, was audacious for a school of our size. We began offering our first doctoral program, opened a second campus in Fort Wayne and drew $35 million in support from the Lilly Endowment Inc.
• In 2016, we launched a master’s degree in pharmacogenomics, the first of its kind in the nation, on our Fort Wayne campus.  We’re adding an online degree in January.

My vision for Manchester is that we be audacious, serve well and extend our mission. It is who we are and who we have been for generations.