Dear Larson, for Clarkson

On October 24, 2025, Clarkson faculty, staff, students, alumni and trustees gathered in celebration of the Investiture of our 19th President, Michelle B. Larson. To commemorate this historic occasion, President Larson wrote an open letter to the Clarkson community, her peers and colleagues across the country and world.

Please read her message, below, and reach out with your own thoughts and reflections. Michelle is personally inviting you to be a part of her Inauguration Letters Project — Dear Larson, for Clarkson. Each correspondence will be read and kept by President Larson, as a source of inspiration and influence in shaping Clarkson’s next chapter.

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President Larson's Inauguration Letter

October 24, 2025

Dear Colleagues, Community, and Friends:

On the occasion of my inauguration as Clarkson University’s 19th President, I find myself reflecting on the role of higher education in shaping people, their lives and their careers. When I first stepped onto my college campus as a freshman, I felt the energy of curiosity meeting intention — people asking bold questions, developing new skills and thinking deeply about what’s possible when we work together on projects larger than ourselves. I felt charged with a new sense of possibility. I’d arrived at college believing it would prepare me for a job. What I discovered was a community that empowered me to imagine what I could become — giving me the skills to achieve my potential and the path to realize my purpose.

That realization continues to resonate deeply with me, and in conversations with Clarkson alumni — spanning eight decades — I hear it consistently reaffirmed. Whether as the first in their family or part of a proud legacy, I hear one clear message: attending Clarkson and earning a college degree is a transformative experience. Alumni share again and again how they learned valuable skills and gained insight into themselves during their years at Clarkson. 

The college experience is, in fact, deeply personal for each of us, because in addition to what we learn, universities create the conditions for exploration, collaboration and challenge that allow us to realize our individual potential. When I hear “college changed my life,” what I know is that college enabled us to change ourselves.

Learning is not a solitary pursuit. It happens through teamwork and trust — during classroom lessons and community projects, in laboratories, on project teams, and on the playing field. It happens when we gather — as students, professors, staff and alumni. At Clarkson, learning and leading is a team sport. Students are provided countless opportunities, realize the value of showing up prepared and discover the joy of contributing to a broader good. Meeting the real needs of the people is our University’s founding purpose and promise.

Every day, I witness students leaning into opportunities before them, and changing each environment they encounter with their unique insights and personal contributions. I see faculty pushing the boundaries of understanding and engaging students in the process of learning, demonstrating the value of collaboration and pooled talents in tackling difficult challenges. 

I invite you to share your reflections about what education has meant for you or someone you know. My inauguration letters project — Dear Larson, For Clarkson — will gather stories of your insights and adventures, both hiccups and hoorays, to weave a collective narrative that will further shape my perspective and seed inspiration in the years ahead. Going forward, our shared responsibility is to extend the opportunity for transformative experiences to new generations. After all, everything we know today was discovered by humans. We are humans, and our time is now.

Together we rise,

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Michelle B. Larson
President