Welcome back. Welcome back not just to Bowdoin but to the Quad—the very spot where you began and concluded your journey as students—where most of you first became alumni of our exceptional College. No matter if you graduated fifty or five years ago, you can place yourself here as students. The Quad remains the space that anchors every generation.

I am grateful for your support of the College and for the warm welcome you have given to Julianne and me during our first year at Bowdoin.

Our College obviously changes over time, but at its core Bowdoin remains the College where you spent, as President Hyde said in “The Offer of the College,” “…the best four years of your life.”

Last Saturday morning, these grounds were alive with the excitement and joy that come with Commencement, as we conferred Bowdoin degrees on the Class of 2016—degrees that are among the most prized academic credential in America.

It was the culmination of an academic year that saw breathtaking achievements in our classrooms and laboratories; unparalleled success in athletics; vibrant artistic contributions; and the enduring spirit of friendship and goodwill that defines this community, even as we worked through some of the most challenging issues that face college campuses and society today.

How does this happen? First and foremost, it happens by attracting and supporting world-class scholars and artists to teach and mentor our students. The Bowdoin faculty lead our students—as they always have—through four years of rigorous inquiry, discovery, and collaboration. They set the standards of excellence that define the academic program, and in the process, they cultivate strong personal connections that are at the center of our great liberal arts education. All the while, these members of our faculty are also conducting research, creating art, and writing books and articles that keep them at the forefront of their individual disciplines.

Bowdoin faculty conduct great research in a number of areas, including how memory works, the nature of super volcanoes, rural pathways to college, new ways to study human evolution, chronic disease, infant temperament, and cloning, to name just some of the work underway. Faculty books this year covered topics ranging from political advertising to international environmental law to the long death of slavery in America. Bowdoin faculty again earned prestigious grants and fellowships to support new and ongoing research projects.

And this year, like every year, we hired a number of new, great, young teacher/scholars, along with a few renowned tenured faculty. Bowdoin remains a college where the very best want to come to teach and do their research.

And not to be outdone by their professors, Bowdoin students were once again honored this year with major academic prizes and fellowships, including a Keasbey Scholarship that covers two years of graduate school in the UK, a living stipend, and travel; a $30,000 Watson Fellowship; a $10,000 grant from the Davis Projects for Peace foundation; four National Science Foundation graduate research fellowships worth up to $120,000 each; and a Goldwater Scholarship, among others. Five members of the senior class were recently placed by Princeton University-affiliated programs in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to work in the fields of finance, energy, public health, education, and sustainability.

As many of you know, Bowdoin is consistently ranked among the country’s top producers of Fulbright scholars. A total of nine Bowdoin students were awarded Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships this year, while three other students earned Fulbright study and research awards.

Bowdoin students were also busy outside the classroom. They created new podcasts and publications, inspired local fifth graders to explore science, raised money for cancer research, and organized a new improv group. They trekked to Boston and San Francisco to learn about entrepreneurial and technology careers, started new religious organizations, and created a club for students who want to examine and debate conservative political theory and public policy. They put their impressive talents and creativity on display in campus galleries, concert halls, and on the stage.

And, of course, our students continue to wow us on our playing fields, on the ice, and on our courts. Just ten days ago, the men’s tennis team captured the NCAA national championship, crushing Middlebury 5-0—the first men’s national team championship in Bowdoin history. The women’s tennis team made it all the way to the national semifinals.

It wasn’t only on the tennis courts where our Polar Bears enjoyed success this year. On a beautiful Saturday in early November, our women’s rugby team won the New England Small College championship and, the very next day, our field hockey, men’s soccer, and volleyball teams each won NESCAC championships within a thirty-minute span—a tremendous accomplishment unparalleled in conference history. In all, eighteen teams represented Bowdoin in national tournaments.

We said goodbye to a legendary hockey coach, welcomed new head coaches in football and volleyball, and cheered twenty of our athletes who earned All-American honors. Dozens more were lauded in league and regional honors, and over 300 of our athletes garnered NESCAC All-Academic recognition.

Our students continue to live the common good and to serve in countless ways, last year providing over 58,000 hours of direct service. They mentor kids, tutor, work in food pantries, engage with Special Olympics, and they plan and lead Alternative Spring Break trips to work in rural communities and in urban neighborhoods. They do these things here in town, in Maine, around the US, and around the world.

On most evenings we have speakers who are distinguished in their fields and who share their wisdom on all kinds of important issues of the day. This year these included Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix; Scott Allen, the editor of the “Spotlight Team” at The Boston Globe (think Oscar); Larry Summers; and Jeanette Wing, the head of Microsoft Research and one of the world’s leading voices in technology education, just to name a few. These folks do not just come and speak, they go to class, they eat with our students—they engage them.

And, oh yes, there was just plain fun. There was no shortage of fun again this year, as our students did what students have always done. The lifelong friendships you all have from your time at Bowdoin grew out of the connections you made in the residence halls and fraternities and as participants in the wide range of social activities. Students today are no different—they gather for concerts and festivals, they hold events on the Quad and in the College Houses, they talk through the night in their rooms about all issues great and trivial, they find the most imaginative ways to party together, they bring one another home during breaks, and on occasion they clean up really well and dance the night away.

As you enjoy the weekend and time together, I hope that these words and pictures provide a visceral sense of the life of our College this year—a life of deep intellectual accomplishment, of engagement in so many endeavors, and of growth, fun, and friendship. For our students today Bowdoin is the “best four years of your life.”

Thank you for all you do to make Bowdoin great.