I first came to Washington University and the Skandalaris Center in 2007, long after the late Bill Danforth was at the helm of this great institution. During my initial time here, the Center reported to then-Chancellor Mark Wrighton, who was an avid supporter of innovation and entrepreneurship. Early on, Chancellor Wrighton gave me a copy of “Thanksgiving Letters” – a compilation of the formal letters Bill Danforth wrote while Chancellor. In the thirteen years since, the single item that has remained on my desk across six offices has been this book. I revisit it sporadically and naturally spent a little more time with it after Chancellor Emeritus Danforth’s passing.

Perhaps in the spirit of “Chan Dan” reading stories to his students, I read a few passages to the Skandalaris team in the weeks following his passing. I’d like to now share them with you as well.

“I take Great satisfaction that so any of the brightest students come to Washington University, but I view with concern the advancing cost of higher education and the financial burden on families who want the best for their children.”

We often set out to reach seemingly impossible goals. The above passage was from his 1979 letter. 41 years later, the concerns of our students’ ability to afford the opportunities that Washington University can present remains. The Skandalaris Center works to address this by deploying philanthropic funds towards ensuring that all students at WashU have access to the entirety of the WashU experience. Scholarship and financial aid provide near-comprhehensive support for our students, but we cannot stand by and pepertuate programming and initiatievs that only some students can afford or access.

Our Center was at the forefront of the University’s effort to develop and deploy a Crisis Response Fund for students and employees facing significant, unexpected financial challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I am incredibly proud that the University turned to us to stand this up and ensure our community’s access to much needed emergency resources.

When we cannot meet our challenges and reach our seemingly impossible goals, I take great solace in knowing that even the Chancellor – with all the power and resources – sometimes struggles to meet the seemingly impossible.

“At its heart, our institution is a community of scholars who add to the world’s store of knowledge and wisdom, and provide education for some of the most promising of coming generation. This community started long before we were born and will be here long after we leave the earth. We are all part of an institution with a heritage of striving for excellence, an institution that never ages, but rather is constantly renewed so as always to be ready for each new faculty member and each new freshman. What could be a greater privilege?”

It is hard to think about the constant nature of the University referenced in this 1988 letter when so many of us are not on campus during this pandemic. I am teaching completely online this fall, and all of the Skandalaris Center events and programs are being conducted virtually. It is refreshing and humbling to consider our place at this institution and on this planet as Dr. Danforth did here.

One of my undergraduate degrees is in Mathematics, so I love numbers. I once calculated that, assuming I live to be 100, the ratio of time that I will have been on earth compared to the time earth has existed will be equivalent of 76 seconds of my 100 year life. It may not get more humbling than that.

I cannot emphasize it any better than his 1988 letter does. It is a privilege and honor to be a part of this community, to know that what we do during our time here can change the trajectory of humankind.

Happy Thanksgiving.