Tomorrow's leaders face a world in which they must constantly weigh competing values. From tax cuts to conserving our environment, from universal healthcare to America's role in global security, the issues at hand will demand confident, articulate, and civically engaged decision makers who are grounded in a strong ethical framework.

Those are the kind of leaders that Bowling Green State University graduates.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Intelligence plus character-that is the true goal of education." Achieving this goal is not a new commitment for BGSU, but it is one the University is building on for the future. We have long helped our students achieve their personal dreams. It is our institutional aspiration to do more than challenge them intellectually. At BGSU, every class, major, and graduate program is an opportunity to help our students explore how they can enhance and shape society in life-affirming ways. "The University offers complete learning-students gain more than a diploma," says Kermit Stroh, former member of the Board of Trustees and father of two BGSU graduates. "They leave with an understanding of what it means to be part of the community and to be an outstanding citizen."

"We are a university that changes lives, and our graduates change the lives of others. If-for example-we graduate accountants who have the highest GPA in America but do not know how to use their accounting degree in a way that is ethical and really contributes to society, then we haven't done our job."

- Sidney Ribeau, president of Bowling Green State University.

We are passionate about offering a nurturing atmosphere where values exploration and character development flourish. We may have become Ohio's fifth biggest public institution of higher learning, but BGSU's traditional characteristics are still prominent: the small classes; a caring faculty that many alumni remember years later for the way they shaped their lives; faculty and students learning from one another; and learning that extends beyond the classroom. In short, we are, and will always remain, a learning community.

Now is the time for BGSU to reaffirm our commitment, while making the most of the 21st century's possibilities. Our vision is to become the premier learning community in Ohio, and one of the best in the nation. To accomplish this goal, we are launching our first major philanthropic initiative in nearly 20 years, a fundraising effort called Building Dreams: The Campaign for Bowling Green State University. Most of our campaign is earmarked for building BGSU's endowment-the fiscal measure of any great university and the essential resource in underwriting the future of both people and programs.

We invite you to join us in building our dream. Help us ensure that BGSU continues to be the alma mater of intelligent, productive, and principled citizens-students who are prepared to investigate, connect, write, present, participate and, most of all, lead.

Points of pride

A century ago, BGSU was founded in a former city park as an institution dedicated to training teachers for northwestern Ohio. Today, under the leadership of President Ribeau, we're reaping the rewards of unprecedented institutional momentum:

  U.S. News & World Report ranks BGSU's residential learning communities-where students not only share living space, but also take classes, pursue curriculum-themed activities, and benefit from on-site faculty mentors-among the nation's best. Our peers on the list include Duke, Yale, Vanderbilt, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Michigan.

  U.S. News also places us third among over 200 national universities in terms of achieving a much higher graduation rate than what the characteristics of our entering students would predict. In other words, BGSU is a place where many students, for the first time, find themselves and find success.

  The American Association of State Colleges and Universities officially recognized the leadership and innovation of our teacher education programs.

  In a survey of high school guidance counselors, BGSU was named among the "328 Most Interesting Colleges," defined as institutions noted for student satisfaction and campus beauty.

  BGSU was the first choice of 82 percent of our entering freshmen. Our Honors Program is well-established with more than 900 students and is also attracting record numbers of freshmen.

  At a time when the athletic programs of many public institutions have come under intense scrutiny and criticism, we are proud of the fact that 122 of our student-athletes were selected to the Mid-American Conference Academic Honor Roll for the 2002-03 academic year. In 2002, BGSU received the MAC's institutional academic achievement award by posting the highest overall GPA (3.16) among 13 league members-and the highest since the award's inception.

  We have nationally renowned programs in both our traditional areas of strength (Education and Human Development, Industrial and Organizational Psychology) as well as important emerging fields (Applied Philosophy, Photochemical Sciences).

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