YOU?

“Why OU?” is a question I know many of you will ask yourselves over the next months or years. Why should you as a student choose to attend Oglethorpe University is one version of that question. Why should you as an alumnus or alumna choose to support Oglethorpe is another version. I could go on: why come to work here?; why send your son or daughter here?; why stop by and visit?; and on and on.

The answer for Oglethorpe is different than most institutions you will look at. While it’s always difficult to capture something complex in a few words, here’s my take on it. Personal is powerful. Because of our small size and the intimate nature of our community, you would expect to find that we are all about people, about being personal. You will build relationships at Oglethorpe that will last a lifetime and not just with your roommates, but with your teachers and advisors.

People talk all the time about community. At Oglethorpe we live community. But we are far more than that; the personal here is powerful. We will challenge you from the moment you become part of our community to be a leader. Our students are regularly leading trips to New Orleans to rebuild that city. Our students plan campus conferences on issues such as the genocide in Darfur. Our students are out working in places such as CNN, Cox Communications, Coca-Cola, major accounting firms, ecology centers and with local religious groups.

At Oglethorpe, students come to be engaged in their academic pursuits, but more than that, they come to be engaged in life. And as a Northerner come south, I can tell you there is simply no better city in the country to live, work and play. Atlanta is America’s new great city, full of opportunity and openness (and unbelievably beautiful weather).

So YOU? Because it’s a place that will change you and challenge you to make a difference. Come visit.