This is my second autumn with the University of Chicago, and already campus feels like home. As vice president for Alumni Relations and Development, I help advance UChicago’s mission through the intellectual, social, professional, and philanthropic engagement of our global University community, working closely with President Paul Alivisatos, AB’81; University leadership; and our inspiring volunteers. Advancing the mission of this remarkable institution is an honor and a privilege for me and my colleagues.

Every day my journey connects me to faculty, students, staff, alumni, parents, and friends and ignites storytelling moments about what makes this University so special to them. I also experience important moments when they share their hopes and expectations for what is yet ahead. I have seen up close the rigor and curiosity that animate passion and inspire engagement. UChicago is an exhilarating place, fueled by a diverse and engaged community that spans the globe, and your stories, perspectives, hopes, and expectations frame our future.

Certainly, our community is rooted in the University’s history and values. Founded in 1890, UChicago has been a pioneering place from the start, a home for advanced research and scholarship and academic freedom. In a 1902 lecture, founding president William Rainey Harper commented that “complete freedom of speech on all subjects has from the beginning been regarded as fundamental.” With the Chicago Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression that President Alivisatos launched last year, we continue to hold Harper’s reminder in the highest regard, while acknowledging that free expression is a critical area for further study and practice in Chicago and around the world.

Perhaps nothing more succinctly and uniquely captures the bond we share than our motto: Crescat scientia; vita excolatur, or “Let knowledge grow from more to more; and so be human life enriched,” adopted by the University in 1911. Professor of Greek Paul Shorey created the motto with phrases from two different works of literature. I love this fact because it emblematizes the UChicago tradition of interdisciplinarity—of innovation and the cross-pollination of ideas.

President Alivisatos has said that the University’s distinctive culture “is suffused by a genuine love for ideas and a conviction in the power knowledge holds to shape society for the better.” Our UChicago experiences connect us to each other and to our most curious, engaged selves in countless ways.

It might be the insight from a Core course that you return to again and again, or a chance conversation with a researcher in another discipline that unlocked a lifelong interest. It might be an impromptu return to campus for a reunion that reacquaints you with an old friend. Our UChicago ties endure because they evolve with us, providing inspiration and challenge throughout our lives to think unlikely ideas and fiercely pursue them.

Continuing to build our community is a calling together of future convocations. What do we imagine for the next 50 or 100 years at UChicago? How many lives around the world can we impact and improve through our medical breakthroughs, student scholarships, civic engagement, and climate and energy initiatives? Whether you are a student, faculty member, alum, parent, patient, volunteer, staff member, or friend, you have been touched by this love for ideas and the extraordinary feats we can accomplish when we harness it.

In this spirit, I invite you to join us in authoring the next chapter. I invite you to seize with us this moment in time when we can have a profound impact on the future we envision and on the university we love.

What UChicago moment resonates most with you? Tell me at armin_afsahi@uchicago.edu.