Dialogue with President Beth Paul

  Welcome back, Nazareth students! I am excited to start the new year with you. I have been energized by the six-word stories so many of you shared in response to my prompt last week, capturing the enormous spirit of our community.  The form is still open to students, faculty, and staff  if you would like to share a six-word story that captures how we will emerge from this time.   As you return to campus this weekend, I’d like to share a few six-word stories from faculty, staff, and students: “We rise above and take charge” “Bravely leading, not led by, change” “Experiencing new beginnings with renewed strength” “With light, mercy, balance, and purpose” We embrace the spring semester with a hope that energizes us, and the anticipation of what this year ahead will hold. Together, we will muster the endurance and patience that will write the positive story we will tell in the weeks and months ahead. You and I, along with all members of our community, will continue...

Dear students, faculty, and staff, Warm Naz greetings! I am excited that we will come together on campus again soon with the hope and possibility that change inevitably brings.  I have been thinking of you often these past few weeks. With hope and expectation, we welcomed the new year. As a friend cleverly said to me, the year 2021 is the only time we will truly be able to say that hindsight is 2020! And so quickly into the new year, we were faced with clear evidence of continued social turmoil in the collision of four major challenges — pernicious systemic racism, a virulent pandemic, economic strife and growing inequity, and damaging tests of our democracy. It is all too easy to feel overwhelmed by so much swirling unrest. Especially as our instincts to draw together are made more challenging by the health precautions we must take.  Thinking about you and our Naz learning community gives me other lenses on our times. As an educator, I know the benefits of ...

I invite you to listen to the new “Prez Paul Podcast” episode as my guests, Dr. Tim Kneeland and Dr. Susan Nowak, help us look forward to the upcoming Nazareth College centennial celebration in 2024, and look back to the lessons our founders can teach us today. Nazareth College was started in 1924 by a group of brave women, whose mission was higher education as a vehicle for social transformation. In this podcast, we discuss the parallels between the era in which we were founded — on the heels of the 1918 pandemic — and now, nearly 100 years later, again faced with a global pandemic and a divided nation embodied by the January 6 events at the Capitol. We hope you enjoy this podcast as we discuss “What would our founders do?”, the relevance of our founding values, and why they are needed now more than ever. Your comments and suggestions for future podcasts are welcome. Please share your ideas by calling “The Prez Paul” voicemail at 585-389-4500 or use our  Ask a Question form . List...

  Dear Nazareth community, I look forward to joining together for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration on Monday, January 18, 2021. Dr. King said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” As we join together on Monday to reflect on the life and legacy of Dr. King, let us honor him by asking ourselves if we are doing all we can to build a culture of love and respect for all persons, shining light in the dark.  In fall 2020, the Nazareth College community committed to a movement for anti-racism, equity, and inclusion. Our movement has catalyzed important action and progress to: Grow and value the diversity in our community, Bring an equity lens to our work,  See, educate, and eradicate bias, and  Create a community that is inclusive, and in which all individuals feel a sense of belonging and their full potential is empowered. We look to the bedrock principles upon which...

What does the violence and lawlessness at the Capitol January 6, 2021, indicate about democracy in this country?  What context and perspective can scholars from history and political science, sociology, and communications and media, offer?  More than 100 faculty, staff, and students attended this Nazareth College flash forum quickly organized online January 7, 2021, after the unprecedented events the day before at the U.S. Capitol.  I moderated a discussion featuring Tim Kneeland, Ph.D., a professor of history and political science; Devparna Roy, Ph.D., an assistant professor in sociology; and Ana Gomez Parga, Ph.D., an assistant professor in media and communication, who shared expertise, wisdom, and reflection, and addressed audience questions.  Watch the recording >

Dear Nazareth community, During this defining time in our democracy, I reflect on Nazareth’s vital commitments to inclusion, belonging, community, and citizenship. Let our ideals of citizenship and inclusion provide the inspiration for the kind of community we want to become; where the diversity of humanity and ideologies is valued, all are welcome, and each person thrives with the support and empowerment of belonging. As students and citizens of this time, you take your place in this important work. In our learning community, we explore freedoms and responsibilities, diversity of thought and ideas — fully immersed in putting values into practice. Whatever your ideology, it is openness, understanding, and empathy that will bring us together. Citizens ideally both feel belonging in a community and take responsibility for their own and others' belonging, honoring the right of each person to be fully oneself.   Let’s gather together today to reflect on this defining...

We have shared an experience this past year that we will likely remember all the days of our lives. We came face to face with deep challenges to humanity. Our mission compelled us to rise to the challenge. We pivoted. We empathized. We innovated. We advocated. We learned. We were unstoppable! As we look to the new year, let us be bolstered by the vibrancy of our learning community. Let us be comforted by the care and support that surrounds us. Let us be inspired by the values and principles that compel us. And let us be emboldened by what we have endured as it propels us forward with courage and resilience. It is with gratitude that I look to the new year when we will soon be together with all the promise and possibility the future holds for our students and the faculty and staff so dedicated to their success. I hope you find this video uplifting as we collectively look ahead with anticipation and imagine what can be! I wish you and yours a happy new year!