Dear Pacificans,

Happy new year to Pacificans everywhere, whether you are around the block or around the world. Our students and faculty, staff and university leaders, alumni and supporters, families and friends make University of the Pacific the special place it is. I hope you are enjoying a joyous, restful and well-deserved holiday season.

I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the historic year that just passed and highlight some of the exciting advances we can look forward to in the new year.

In some ways, 2024 will be hard to match as our university moved upward on nearly every dimension across all three campuses. We started the year by earning Hispanic-Serving Institution status from the U.S. Department of Education, becoming the highest-ranked private university in the nation with the designation and one of the very few with both Hispanic-Serving and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving status.

But that was just the beginning of a groundbreaking year. We set an all-time enrollment record for the second consecutive year, opened two new health care buildings on the Sacramento Campus and new biology labs on the Stockton Campus, launched our Presidential Speaker Series and our first “common read” for first-time undergraduates, launched new degree programs, set record attendance at Homecoming and Family Weekend, recorded our second-best fundraising year ever, made significant advances to becoming a model school of sustainability and celebrated the centennial of the McGeorge School of Law, Benerd College and the Stockton Campus.

Our sharp trajectory upward was recognized in the national rankings. We earned our highest overall national ranking ever – No. 87 among all top colleges and universities from The Wall Street Journal. Equally important, The Journal ranked Pacific No. 36 in social mobility while U.S. News & World Report placed Pacific No. 3  in “Best Value” among all California universities, behind only Stanford University and Cal Tech.

You have the opportunity to reflect on the amazing year that was 2024 in the newest edition of our award-winning Pacific Magazine and get a behind-the-scenes look at the magazine’s creation.

Acknowledging the great successes of the past year, 2025 promises to be ever better and more impactful as we continue our march towards becoming the best student-centric comprehensive university in the U.S.

Early indicators project another record year for enrollment. Meanwhile, faculty, deans and the Division of Student Life are working hard – and together – on increasing our student success and retention. To that end, we’re delighted that Professor Jeff Hole starts today as our first university faculty director of the first-year experience for undergraduates.

On the Stockton Campus, we expect to have our guest lodging for visitors under construction later this year. We are delighted that the project is now called the Jie Du Inn in honor of our 1990 and 1993 alumnus and Regent. Meanwhile, this summer we will open the completely renovated Manor Hall, a once-abandoned residence hall on Pacific Avenue that will house student veterans and students in active service. We also will break ground soon on the new Southwest Hall, a 397-bed residence hall with an exterior designed in the image of historic Southwest Hall but featuring a thoroughly modern, 21st century living-learning complex inside.

In Sacramento, we’re excited for the opening of the Dugoni School of Dentistry’s state-of-the-art ambulatory surgical center led by Dr. David Lam while Provost Gretchen Edwalds-Gilbert will gather health care faculty from across our three campuses to bring to life the fantastic vision of the Pacific Health Care Collaborative. In San Francisco, faculty are working hard on a visionary ambulatory surgical center that will specialize in serving patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

We also will celebrate the iconic eight-year deanship of Michael Hunter Schwartz at the McGeorge School of Law and welcome a new dean this summer.

We will continue to build on the tremendous progress already made on the sustainability front with a new interdisciplinary major in sustainability and a comprehensive study on power usage on all three campuses. We continue to track towards attaining Gold Status in STARS, the Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System for colleges and universities.

First Lady Jean Callahan, Vice President Scott Biedermann and I will continue our 12-month, 12-city alumni tour as we gear up for Homecoming and Family Weekend on Oct. 10-12. Our Presidential Speaker Series will continue later this month with award-winning journalist and former PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff. And Vice President Mary Lomax-Ghirarduzzi's team just booked actor Giancarlo Esposito, who stars in the new film, "Captain America: Brave New World," for Black History Month in February.

Tigers Athletics continues to rise, with nationally ranked teams now in men’s tennis and golf, joining men’s and women’s water polo. And there is renewed energy at the Alex G. Spanos Center with new concessions, engaging in-game programming and a revitalized and greatly expanded Pacific Pep Band to cheer on our men’s and women’s basketball teams as the West Coast Conference season opens.

We will continue to work on securing Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation, which would reflect the tremendous public service conducted on all three campuses, particularly in the vast array of clinics for legal services, oral health, audiology, vaccinations, speech pathology and diabetes screenings, plus more than 300,000 volunteer hours in community-based organizations and an estimated 1,800 high schoolers in residence at the Pacific Summer High School Institute.

As Americans and world citizens, we have faced serious challenges in recent years, whether a deadly global pandemic, ideological divides, economic downturns, political schisms or even a questioning of the value of a college education. Yet we have remained undeterred in our singular focus on the success of our students, steadfastly committed to our values, principles and long-term goal. Together, we will continue that laser focus on our students and their success, no matter what new challenges may come.

I am looking forward to a great 2025, together.

Sincerely,

Christopher Callahan
President