State of Our University 2025
“Our Impact”

Thank you, Trustee Remeis, and thank you to all our board members for your leadership and guidance. I also thank each of you in attendance, including those joining the livestream, for taking the time to be here.

In preparing for today’s address… I was reminded that I have now had the opportunity to deliver several State of the University addresses. While we have welcomed many new members to our learning community in recent years, the majority of you have a fairly good idea of what the State of the University is like.

This year… we thought we’d try something a little different. A guest speaker, if you will. We asked, Who would you really like to hear from? So, I’d like to turn your attention to the screen…

We didn’t get too far before we realized that wouldn’t work.

I know, everyone loves Pudge. Well… except for maybe one, who has learned a tough lesson from the Pudge phenomenon - my dog… Fiona.

Not only is the puppy old news…. heck… I think maybe even Eddie George got eclipsed by Pudge… But it turns out, when it comes to the age-old debate on cat vs. dog… Bowling Green is a cat place?

No, no…

In all seriousness… thank you all for being here… even without the promise of Pudge the Cat. While I have the opportunity to share this State of the University, know this is not my story. This is a collective story, our collective momentum…. and it doesn’t, it couldn’t, belong to just one person, or one division, department, college, or office. It is all of us. And to that end… I will stop short of recognizing individuals this morning. Instead… I want to start by thanking all of you.

To our faculty, who are unrelenting in their pursuit of knowledge and in the mentorship they create. To our staff, who create a vibrant and welcoming campus alive with possibility. To our students, who give us purpose. And to our alumni and supporters, whose belief in this institution drives the very work we do.

Certainly… when you think of “Bowling Green State University”, it is easy to think of our physical spaces… our beautiful campuses, our classrooms, our athletic and art spaces, and more. But Bowling Green is far more than a series of buildings… it is bigger than that. It is not a place… but rather a promise: a promise of what our society could be… of who our students might become… of what our research will discover. Bowling Green has long been an innovative, creative, hard-working university… creating and supporting public good.

And it is the people of Bowling Green who have done that - people, just like you, who for more than 115 years have stewarded this great institution, with their vision of what this learning community could be, this driver of public good. It has always been the people who make Bowling Green State University what it is, who carry this promise.

What an incredible opportunity… and honor this is, to be part of this university’s story. And I thank you.

You have likely heard a great deal about our momentum at Bowling Green… our *mass* times *velocity*… and certainly… we have many successes:

This fall, we again welcomed our largest freshman class in university history… up nearly 4% over last year’s record class… and up 34% from just four years ago. Firelands College achieved a 4.9% increase, resulting in its highest enrollment in the past decade. Not only is this the largest class, but it is also the most academically prepared and highest achieving.

And as of just yesterday… our official total headcount, including undergraduate, graduate and Firelands, is up 3.5% over last year - our largest total headcount in nearly two decades. We are incredibly proud to see enrollment increase from every corner of the state of Ohio and beyond. While we are designated a regional public university, we are much more than just one city’s or one region’s university. We are absolutely serving our entire state… and beyond.

We are achieving historic and sustained success in student outcomes. More than 81% of our first-year students returned for their second year, with record numbers of students earning their degrees and going on to serve Ohio, our nation and the world.

We continue to push ourselves to reach new student populations with new, relevant, and in-demand academic programs… from being the first university in the nation to offer an AI+X degree… to our rollout of a hybrid-delivered doctor of Occupational Therapy.

Bowling Green continues to build on its research enterprise as a proud, high-research activity university, driving meaningful and relevant research, but also steadfast in our commitment to our students’ educational experience. Here, leading researchers are teaching classes and providing opportunities for students to research alongside them. That is a more challenging path - to balance both teaching and research - and I am so proud, and grateful.

We continue to engage with our alumni and supporters across the globe. Earlier this year, we had another record BGSU One Day… with more donors than ever before. This next year will mark our 10th BGSU One Day. When we started this initiative… we didn’t know how successful it would be, or even if it would be successful. Well, that first year, we raised $352,992. Now, nearly ten years later, in total BGSU One Days have raised a total of $12,718,420 for our students and their experience here at Bowling Green.

Our Arts continue to thrive with more than 400 arts and cultural events for our students and the broader community. These events add to the cultural vitality of our region but the Arts have also represented Bowling Green on a national stage. For example, the Falcon Marching Band was selected to perform at the Parade of Roses in 2027, highlighting not only the size, but the quality and reputation of our band.

The momentum in our Athletics continues to grow, as well. We now have more than 250 athletics events every year…home and away… creating opportunities and experiences for our student-athletes… bringing communities together…winning Championships and driving brand recognition, often on national stages, as well.

For the first time in 15 years… and the fifth time in program history… The League office just announced Bowling Green State University has been named the winner of the Mid-American Conference Institutional Academic Achievement Award. The award is presented annually to the MAC institution that achieves the highest overall GPA for student-athletes competing in

We are continually improving our facilities and will soon open a state-of-the-art Technology and Engineering Innovation Center. And this weekend, we will hold a ribbon-cutting for a new practice field for the Falcon Marching Band and Club Sports… investing in the student experience and opportunities.

We are even seeing innovation in how we are telling our story… with Bowling Green’s social media reaching millions of people… and is now ranked No. 6 best social media for any university in the nation.

All of this, taking place in one of America’s best college towns, now ranked the safest college town for any public university in Ohio. And even though the mayor bested me in our annual Rally BG Zipline Race, I want to thank the City of Bowling Green, as well as the city of Huron, for continuing to wrap its arms around our University and students.

We are forging pathways across Ohio, leveraging our robust educational ecosystem to create clear paths for those who are interested in learning and developing their talents, including new partnerships with Penta Career Center and Terra State Community College. Additionally, we continue to work on establishing more corporate partnerships and industry alignment, from collaborations with First Solar, focused on micro-credentials, to Meta, working with our College of Arts and Sciences.

We are also pleased to share that Bowling Green has been selected as the only university in the Midwest – and one of only eight in the nation – that will participate in a workforce collective, funded by JP Morgan Chase, to develop national models of partnerships between education technology companies, industry and universities, alongside Arizona State University.

To that end… we will continue to convene and listen to challenges and workforce needs of for- and non-profit organizations, in Ohio, and beyond. We recognize our role, as a public university, in driving forward the work happening across our state and nation, from advanced manufacturing, to innovation in the glass industry, to the need for K-12 teachers, and more. We will – we must – be responsive to this work, as we are critical partner for the success of all.

This momentum is driving national recognition. We continue to be nationally ranked in many academic disciplines, absolutely, but at the University level… we are the No. 1 public university in Ohio for student experience; the No. 1 university in Ohio for career preparation; and, for the fifth consecutive year, the No. 1 public university in the Midwest – No. 3 in the nation – students say they’d choose again, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Great momentum, indeed.

But momentum for the sake of momentum… well… that would be a waste of the energy it carries if it never creates an impact… if it never transfers that energy to something else.

It is “the impact” of our momentum that I want to focus today.

Our physics experts in the room have suggested we discuss the impulse-momentum theorem, which states that the impulse an object experiences, due to the quick action of an external force (acting in a very short period of time) is equal to the object’s change in momentum.

I considered that approach, I did, but they lost me when they said we could make it easy and just use a formula…  J=Δp.

Instead… I thought we could focus on this… the truest measure of our momentum is not how fast we are moving, or how much we are building… it is what that momentum makes possible in the world.

How are we using this momentum?

A few years ago… A Thompson Scholar asked me, What is the greatest public good Bowling Green creates?

Certainly, there were many possible answers…

Our research and creative activities generate tremendous public good, with an impact that spans the globe, from studying the waters in Antarctica to improving water quality right here in Ohio, as well as research on our health, social, and family systems, just to name a few.

Our growing partnership work drives our relevancy in connecting with industry…

Our economic impact, with a Lightcast study citing Bowling Green creates a $3.1 billion impact on Ohio…

Our cultural impact… the events that we host for our learning community and the public…Arts events, public lectures, performances Day of Dialogue, Black Issues Conference, LatinX…

Certainly… many incredible measures of public good.

But our public good with the most extensive reach? My answer to that Thompson Scholar’s question was this: it is our people. It is people who make this learning community what it is, people who create our momentum. Just think…  hundreds of thousands of individual paths have crossed Bowling Green. Whether it is our students, or our faculty and staff, they have had this Bowling Green experience, and they carry it into the world.

Symbolically, I think of our Alumni Gateway… the physical gateway from our campus to the community… a reminder of what we do here… it creates tremendous impact.

You see, we have created this learning community… a learning community that more and more students want to be part of. Here, our students are exposed to people from all backgrounds and walks of life. They meet our faculty and staff, ask questions, and are encouraged to learn with curiosity. They are encouraged to be bold, and take action. This includes joining or starting student organizations, studying abroad, or starting a research project, all in an environment known for its kindness.

Our students, our alumni, take all they gain from that experience and they, in turn, make a difference through their careers and lives… in rural communities in Ohio that are in critical need for teachers… for nurses… for mental health professionals…

Think of that… Bowling Green graduate who now leads a classroom where students are learning to read for the very first time. Or.. the alumna who is pioneering new medical treatments. The young entrepreneur who is creating jobs in our state. The artist whose work helps us see the world differently.

Our alumni are in hospitals, startups, boardrooms, research labs, schools, nonprofits, and the halls of government. They are everywhere. And they carry this University with them into every decision they make, every person they mentor, every life they touch.

That is impact. That is the ripple effect of momentum.

That is the ripple effect of your efforts… the impact of your work… the impact of our momentum.

But our successes… our momentum… come at a time when many are questioning this very value.

Without doubt… there is heightened skepticism towards higher education.

We hear college is too expensive, students incur too much debt, it takes too much time, it’s not a very good value, you don’t need a college degree anymore, there is too much indoctrination, and AI will replace universities anyway.

That’s a lot of challenges… and I will not minimize it. But I will also say this: few professions are as noble, as essential, as the one we share.

Let us not forget all that higher education has gotten right. We have made an incredible impact on society. For example, research, medical breakthroughs, technology. I would argue that higher education has been one of the single greatest differentiators for the United States, as opposed to many other countries around the world, because we have, historically, cast a wide net. It is hard – impossible even – to predict which 18-year-old will go on to start the business, find the cure, invent the technology – but in this country, higher education has opened the door of opportunity for the next generation of leaders – a blank slate, for them to write and we have done this at scale.

A report from the Council on Higher Education and AGB concluded that two of the three main reasons for this nation’s long success are K-12 education and access to higher education, concluding by saying…  “Our country cannot afford the luxury of wasted talent.”

…Our country… and our world… cannot afford the luxury of wasted talent…

Certainly, the challenges we face are not abstract, nor are they things we only see in the news. They are real, and they have reached this campus…

This decline in public trust in higher education has led politicians to take action… What does it mean for us?

A revision in the dispersing of public funding for a portion of the state share of instruction that, instead of focusing on student success and degree completion, is now focused on post-employment salaries…The more money a graduate makes, the more SSI is allocated. We must articulate that we need highly qualified graduates in all professions, including the helping professions.

A bill, now state law,  introduces even more regulations that attempt to ensure free speech at Ohio’s public universities… legislating how learning communities welcome and support our students, faculty and staff, reshaping our structures… and requiring statements of commitment, like the one listed on the strategic plan handout you have… and policies on intellectual diversity, even though, at Bowling Green we have embraced intellectual diversity since our very founding, outlined in our founding documents which read, “Essential to the atmosphere of a University is academic freedom, the full freedom of speech, freedom to teach, to learn, and to conduct inquiry in a spirit of openness necessary to the acceptance of criticism, the expression of differing opinions, and the pursuit of truth.” So let us accept the criticism of higher education and respond in appropriate ways in the pursuit of truth to ensure all voices are heard and all are free to openly debate ideas.  

Further….not only are we in one of the most highly regulated industries, but it is also highly competitive.  Because of our success, the universities we are competing with for enrollment are no longer the universities in our own backyard or region. Instead, it is universities across the state, even out of state, with very different profiles than the universities we were competing with ten years ago. Certainly, this is a good thing, but we recognize the competition is even steeper, and we can’t become complacent or back down from our innovation because we have an even bigger hill to climb.

And, there is the issue of declining public trust, with public sentiment driven mainly against elite universities that don’t look anything like us… or like anything we even want to be. Yet… that is the voice that is driving public perception of higher education.

It would be easy to think the cards are stacked against us. But you know… I like our odds. I believe we are better positioned for this moment than many.

I am reminded of a quote from Abigail Adams, written to her son, John Quincy Adams, “These are times in which a Genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life, that great characters are formed…. The Habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. All History will convince you of this.”

This, indeed, is a great opportunity as we face this next era of higher education.

While some think our purpose is to prepare students for that first job, which is often what I hear when I go to Columbus or D.C, we know higher education is much greater than a degree. It is an experience that benefits one for a lifetime.

And I believe there is no better experience than at Bowling Green. Here… we have taken significant, industry-leading strides in preparing our students for great careers and great lives. We do not just pass along knowledge. We create it. We refine it. We challenge it. And we empower our students to be intentional about their education.

My ask of you is to remain focused… remain focused on our greatest impact. Do not take the bait of the distraction but rather focus our energy with a growth mindset on how we can continue to build on our momentum to be more impactful. We must find ways to be more efficient and to become more relevant, more significant, more essential for our state and nation This will not be easy. 

In that spirit… I propose to you a series of questions:

The first covers one of the most discussed topics facing our world today: AI.

With the introduction of every new significant wave of technology, people worry about its impact on the work they do and how it will challenge what we know. AI is no different, and we can’t be afraid of it.

We must not only ensure our students know how to use AI, but we must leverage it, too. We must embrace it and race with it. We must also acknowledge the even greater importance of developing critical thinking skills in ourselves and our students in this AI world… because it is still us… the people… who will drive the new questions and discovery.

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.”

And so, to that end…  are we confident we are truly preparing students not just for today’s workforce, but for tomorrow’s unknowns? What we teach them today –  it might not be relevant in 1 year let alone 10 years. We say we teach critical thinking and problem solving… but do we, intentionally, teach that? Are we doing all we can to support our students in gaining those durable skills: being curious, reframing challenges, emphasizing collaboration, taking action and embracing a growth mindset?

My next question is a doubling down on our work to drive access to a Bowling Green experience. Is there more we can do to make sure this educational experience is accessible to all, regardless of an individual's race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression? Are we sure that if a student is here and willing to work hard, they will be supported, holistically, to succeed? Are we an institution that truly wants to be judged by the success of those we include?

When it comes to our research, are we certain we are doing all that we can to align our research and creative activities to the needs of our society? Are we able to articulate the importance and the relevance of our work? Are we able to demonstrate how this work is making the world a little bit better? ….Adding to the public good.

And finally… we know that to have a great life our students need a great career. So, are we truly preparing our students to have a competitive edge in the marketplace to compete for the best first job that will prepare them for a lifetime of careers. Are we connecting students with corporate and community partners and alumni to expand opportunities for our students to engage with industries and accelerate their transition from classroom to the first job and their life’s work? Is there more we need to do to ensure we are industry-aligned, pushing the norms of higher education outside of our classrooms and into industry?

This idea of continuing to push the norms of higher education, to challenge ourselves, is something we have already proven possible.

For example, we know *how* a student goes to college matters when it comes to long-term career success and satisfaction with life. Students need many experiences and learning opportunities throughout their education to realize the full value. And, most universities do create and offer these experiences. But they stop there. 

At Bowling Green, we said that’s not good enough. We flipped the script – our students are empowered to *do* this experience, designing an educational experience that is right for them. Sure, they have to take prescriptive courses, but here, they’ll have a holistic experience, with intentionality. 

Books have been written about this, including one recently published, popular book Hacking College, for example, concludes that universities need to help students to be the self-directed designers of their educational experiences… designing their experience…  Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

You have faced, head-on, one of the greatest threats to higher education. This idea that college isn’t worth it, if it is simply a series of checking the boxes on an inflexible, unadaptable checklist. Focusing on just the courses…While that is foundational, we know there is so much more to an education.  We have focused on the entire educational experience.

I am proud that at Bowling Green, we have not only embraced – but are leading - a fundamental shift in our approach to higher education. We call it Life Design, of course, and this year we have reached full scale at the undergraduate level, offering it to everyone. Every. Single. Student.

This is absolutely a differentiator for Bowling Green.

And I want to recognize and thank our faculty and staff who have embraced this change to empower students to design their experience….you have embraced this opportunity to create momentum and further our impact.

My ask of you is to stay focused on all the work we do… continue to challenge yourself. Our momentum is real. Our impact is real – and it is because of our people, who have been willing to do what others have not.

This is a university that has long punched above its weight. We started as a teacher-training institution… a normal college. Today, we are a national leader in preparing teachers… and we have built Bowling Green to be so much more, a national leader in a broad range of innovations and disciplines.

We continue to innovate, we continue to change and adapt, and we continue to build on this learning community that has long been proud to be public… proud to be measured by the success of all we include, not by those we exclude.

So, to all of you—thank you. Thank you for your commitment to our students and our mission. Thank you for turning momentum into impact. Our University is strong because of our people, because of you.

Let us not pause. Let us not falter. Let us carry this momentum forward, together.

Thank you.