November 13, 2008

I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a safe and joyous holiday season. The year's end gives us a moment to pause and think about the state of the world. While hardships abound, may our holiday wishes for peace on earth and for those less fortunate than ourselves bring hope and progress in the New Year.

It has been a busy and successful fall term. We welcomed filmmaker Lance Hammer who screened his Sundance award-winner Ballast. Violinist and composer Daniel Bernard Roumain gave a fantastic performance and worked with dozens of student musicians in his two day residency. We learned about shoes and sex, and fretted about security for the wonderful Manolo Blanik and Roger Vivier shoes and the chairs from Phillippe Starck and George Nakishima in our Rest Your Feet exhibition. Five recent college graduates screened their first full-length feature Happy Birthday Harris Malden. MAD Dragon released new albums from Andrew Lipke and Matt Duke and The Drexel Fusion Band released an album as well. Our students and programs continue to earn major awards: Last Designer Standing at the Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) Conference, at KlingStubbins Design Competition, at the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture, and MAD Dragon Records was nominated for three Independent Music Awards.

We'll enliven the cold winter days with residencies that feature Raiders of the Lost Ark costume designer Deborah Landis and Japanese master-calligrapher Chukin Takagi. University 101, our student-produced drama series, will premiere on DUTV in February, the same month we'll feature Red Herring, the latest stage productions from the Drexel Players, the 19th annual Madrigal Dinner and the MAD Dragon concert at Mandell. Our newly-acquired Polish poster collection will be on display in the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery in January, and we'll present the premiere of Andrea Marks' film Freedom on the Fence, about the political and cultural significance of this poster art.

Again, best wishes to you and yours for a wonderful holiday season.