Cold and Dark
January 16, 2025
It’s cold and dark now, but only for a while. One of the real joys of the spring semester is watching the gradual transformation—from cold and darkness to warmth and light. With each passing day as the temperatures rise and the daylight stretches longer, our spirits grow brighter.
At the same time, day by day, we get to watch our students blossom. Students don’t come into our classrooms as blank slates, of course, but they do begin here at Xavier in various kinds of coldness and darkness. This is true when they arrive as first-year students and when this January semester started a few days ago. Through a curriculum we’ve created, they will slowly transform over the next sixteen weeks, becoming proficient in new course content, demonstrating new skills, and practicing new kinds of analysis. This spring the College of Arts and Sciences is eager to welcome you back and offer support as you do the work of growing better thinkers, readers, and writers.
This project of transformation is built not only into Xavier’s curriculum, it’s built into our mission. As a member of CAS’s Curriculum Committee, I am eager to see a breadth of new degree programs coming to fruition, each of which will meet the needs of new students. As chair of CAS’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, I am excited about the work our college will be doing to assure broad, ongoing access to the growth we know takes place for students at Xavier.
All of this work touches on faculty, staff, students, and administrators, and it could not be more important than at the current moment—a particularly dark and cold moment—when the value of higher education has been challenged. That’s worth remembering on particularly cold January days: we’re part of a centuries-old project that transforms lives and prepares individuals to contribute meaningfully to the world. Few professions have a greater privilege or responsibility. Thank you for your contributions; we benefit from each of you!
Dr. Stephen Yandell
Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Professor, Department of English
