Our passionate, committed graduates ready to change the world
From my office in Magan Hall, I can look down the Centennial Pathway and watch students passing back and forth each day. This time of year they often gather in their academic regalia and take pictures with family and friends.
I often wonder, as I watch them walk, what they may know about the incredible history of Loma Linda University that is engraved on the granite beneath their feet on the Pathway. Recorded are the significant events that shaped this university over the past 119 years, when each school and many programs began, challenges and triumphs over the decades, and the individuals who gave their talents and lives to this place. Even the buildings they pass by — Magan, Burden, Risley, Shryock, and Evans — each tell a story.
Though hidden now by trees from the vantage point of my office, the Mission Globe and rotating globe in the Centennial Complex also tell part of Loma Linda University’s story. Service, both in this country and around the world, has been part of our university’s DNA from the very beginning. Our reputation and credibility rests on the shoulders of the thousands of alumni who have impacted their individual corners of the world.
Through the years, I have had the privilege of meeting with many of these alumni and am often amazed with the positions they occupy, the reputations they have developed, and the differences they are making. They will recall something about their time at Loma Linda University, some event or place or teacher that had an impact on them, and the many memories they carry. They will ask about a favorite professor and seek reassurance that this place still carries the spirit and vibrance they remember. I will reassure them as best I can that Loma Linda University is alive and thriving, though bigger and more diverse, and that our values have not changed.
And now, this graduation, we are sending another 1,413 graduates into this world, a world full of both incredible scientific advances and numerous challenges. While our founders would have a hard time even comprehending the world of today, they would quickly recognize the passion and commitment of our graduates. They still go, to places familiar and those unknown. They take jobs that were yet to be invented even a decade ago. They explore, create, heal, teach, and push the boundaries of society in ways unexpected. I am attaching the full list of degrees and numbers from Loma Linda University this year. As you can see, it totals 1,446, as some students have earned more than one degree or certificate.
We have also recently made a decision that has been a long time in coming. For most of its life, Loma Linda University has been a “transfer only” institution, meaning you had to take college prerequisites somewhere else before entering here as a sophomore or junior. Starting this fall, we are offering an Associate of Science degree in Health Science that can be a steppingstone to our bachelor’s degrees. In other words, you can come here as a freshman, or first-year college student, and pursue a variety of advanced degrees. Around 25% of our students are already undergraduates, primarily in nursing, dental hygiene, and a variety of allied health disciplines. This new pathway will make it possible for applicants in the future to take all their prerequisite courses here at Loma Linda University.
Over these two graduation weekends, I will have the privilege of shaking hands with most of these current graduates at our 10 commencement ceremonies (two each for nursing and allied health). As I look into their eyes, I wonder what the world holds for them, what challenges they will face, and what will give them meaning. Perhaps that goal of finding meaning, doing something that fills the soul, is the most important lesson they learned here at Loma Linda University. Our prayers will go with them.
Degrees / Certificates to be Conferred — 2024
Graduates by School — 2024
Sincerely,
Richard H. Hart, MD, DrPH
President
Loma Linda University Health
|
