What makes a University of Dayton education exceptional? An address to the Class of 2030
Good morning, Flyers, families, faculty, and friends.
Welcome to the University of Dayton. To our new students: Today marks the official beginning of your journey as part of this extraordinary community, and we are thrilled to have you here.
When you attend convocation ceremonies, it is customary to hear a long list of advice on how to study, how to manage your time, or how to navigate college life. But today, I want to step back from giving advice. Instead, I want to offer you a frame for understanding what a University of Dayton education actually is — and why the experience you are beginning here is exciting and fundamentally different from anywhere else.
By coming to the University of Dayton, you have chosen a university committed to giving you a world-class education both inside and outside the classroom. Grounded in our Catholic faith and the mission entrusted to us by the brothers of the Society of Mary, our founding order, we approach education not as a transactional process of acquiring credentials, but as a formation of the whole person. We affirm the fundamental dignity of every human, embrace our moral responsibility for creating a more just world, and prepare you for leadership for the common good. We measure the value of what happens here not just by what you know when you graduate, but by who you become and how you use your talents to serve others.
To deliver that world-class experience, we have intentionally built an educational environment defined by four key pillars:
1) How you live is as important as where you learn.
At UD, learning is not something that begins when you step into a classroom at 9 a.m. and ends when you leave. Our residential campus is designed as an integrated living-learning environment where academic inquiry and personal growth blend naturally into one another. The conversations you have in your residence halls, the ideas you debate over lunch, and the collaborative projects you build in student organizations are all part of your education. Our community is a living laboratory where hospitality, mutual respect, and belonging are lived out daily.
2) You have partners in your academic and personal journeys.
No student is expected to navigate the University of Dayton alone. We believe that education thrives when students feel truly seen, known, and supported. That is why we have developed a comprehensive ecosystem of care centered around holistic advising and your Flight Crew. From advisors and faculty mentors to peer leaders and resident assistants, your Flight Crew is there to guide your progress, challenge you to stretch your boundaries, and ensure you have the resources you need to flourish from day one through graduation.
3) Your UD education connects rigorous academic theory with real-world practice.
Your high-impact, experiential learning opportunities will test your knowledge in complex, real-world environments. You could conduct research with world-class faculty on genetic traits of Alzheimer's. You may launch a business with your classmates. You could partner with neighborhoods to improve the reading of young children. Whatever hands-on learning you choose to pursue, you will learn by doing, solving actual problems, and gaining the practical expertise to launch your career.
4) You will harness technology to aid human flourishing.
You are embarking on your college career during a period of profound technological shift, where artificial intelligence is reshaping civil society, the workforce, and human communication. At UD, we are guided by the call of our Marianist founder to adapt and change to meet our moment in history. We do not fear emerging technology, nor do we passively let it replace deep thinking. Instead, we view AI as a powerful tool to augment — not supersede — human creativity, strategic inquiry, and critical analysis. True leadership requires ethical reasoning, information literacy, empathy, and the ability to work across differences. We prepare you to harness technology ethically and responsibly, ensuring that technological progress always serves the common good.
While I promised to avoid a long list of redundant advice, I will offer you just one key suggestion to unlock everything this university has to offer. I encourage you to ASK, ASK, ASK. Ask your faculty if they have opportunities for you to engage in research alongside them. Ask advisors about other majors and about summer fellowships. Ask our staff or your peers how you can start a new student organization. Ask alumni about employment opportunities. You are one conversation away from an internship or co-op, a study-abroad experience, a paid research opportunity, or a leadership position. You are one conversation away from an opportunity that will transform you.
Class of 2030, you belong here, you belong to one another, and we are honored to walk this path with you.
Welcome home, Flyers!
photos by Sylvia Stahl ’18