LETTERS: NITZSCHKE EXPRESSES HIS GRATITUDE

To the editor

Eighteen months have passed since Linda and I arrived in Cape Girardeau and at Southeast Missouri State University. Time truly does pass very quickly. The holiday season seems an appropriate time to tell everyone how much we appreciate the friendship which the people in Southeast Missouri have extended to us. We feel very much at home here and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the wonderful people of Cape Girardeau and the surrounding communities.

The past 18 months have been a good time for the university. Building on work that was done before my arrival, the university has experienced a small enrollment increase, has completed work on a campus master plan and has seen the Coordinating Board for Higher Education approve a very significant enhancement of our mission to this region. We also have made considerable progress in extending access to higher education throughout Southeast Missouri with the development of new partnerships with the region's community colleges and public schools. None of this would be possible without the support of the people of this region. We are deeply grateful to so many individuals, families and businesses throughout the region who have supported this university in so many ways.

Linda and I are grateful for all the warmth and friendship extended to us by all the marvelous people who make up this region. Each new friendship brings us much joy.

In fall 1998, the University will celebrate its 125th anniversary. The writer John Angus McLeod said, "To be permanent, a college cannot be built. It has to grow. ... To serve fully, it must identify with its constituents, sharing their aspirations, their struggles, their successes."

We will continue to strive to identify with all the people of Southeast Missouri and to serve them fully. Sincere thanks to all of you as we move forward together to accomplish that goal.

DALE F. NITZSCHKE, President

Southeast Missouri State University

Cape Girardeau