Letter from the President

Dear Friends,

Each season at Fairfield engenders a renewed sense of purpose — and none more so than spring, when we celebrate the accomplishments of our graduating students. Following joyful Commencement Exercises for the Class of 2025, we pause to reaffirm who we are and why we do what we do, as we look ahead to the transformative work yet to be done.

Throughout this semester, we as a university have been actively engaged in our civic mission. Personally, I have travelled to Washington, D.C., several times — speaking to the American Council of Education and academic innovators from around the world at Georgetown University, as well as meeting with elected officials and convening with advocates for higher education. In all of these meetings I have drawn upon my academic work and invoked Alexis de Tocqueville, the mid-19th century French political philosopher whose two-volume Democracy in America remains one of the most compelling treatises on the American experiment. Tocqueville observed that America’s exceptionalism — its strength and enduring promise — did not derive from its elected officials. Rather, it came from the vibrancy of its civic institutions: its schools, its churches, and its voluntary associations.

At Fairfield University, we take this Tocquevillian obligation exceedingly seriously. We are a civic institution, rooted in the Jesuit, Catholic tradition, dedicated to forming men and women for and with others — as children of God, in service of the greater good. And we do so not just through education in the classroom, but by engaging fully in the economic, cultural, and spiritual life of our community.

Fairfield is positioned as a national university of prominence — attracting, educating, and sending forth leaders, prepared to think critically, communicate thoughtfully, and accompany all they meet with a spirit of encounter and humility.

We continue to draw remarkably talented young people to our community. In this year’s admission cycle we received 21,290 applications, a 15 percent increase from last year and a remarkable 38 percent increase over the past two years. Targeting a Class of 2029 size of 1,450 students, our selectivity has increased dramatically: this year’s admit rate dropped to 25 percent — the most competitive in our modern history.

Fairfield is proud to celebrate its first graduates of Fairfield Bellarmine, our two-year associate’s degree program. These students represent the realization of our Jesuit promise to expand access to transformative education. Of the 35 graduates, 31 will be continuing on at Fairfield to pursue a four-year degree — a testament to the power of accompaniment.

In March, we announced the naming of the College of Arts and Sciences in honor of John Charles Meditz ’70 whose $50 million gift will create a lasting impact and advance the University’s mission to expand student learning and continuously enhance the quality of its Jesuit, Catholic liberal arts and sciences education. In this issue, you can read about John’s inspiring story and dedication to Fairfield.

As part of the Jesuit family, our Fairfield University community shared a special connection to Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pontiff. We mourned his passing as the loss of a healer and peacemaker who showed us the face of humanity at its best. Meeting him last November, for those of us on Fairfield’s Ignatian pilgrimage to Rome, was one of the greatest privileges of our lives.

At the time of this writing, the College of Cardinals has just elected our first American pope. We pray that Pope Leo XIV will guide the global Church forward with wisdom, humility, and courage.

With deepest gratitude and warmest wishes,

Mark R. Nemec, PhD
President

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