Dear Wolf Pack Family,
I’ve often said that our University is connected to the city, region and state we serve in a variety of ways. This is perhaps most notable in the ways our campus and community work together to untangle complex issues that drive real and lasting change.
Throughout our 150-year history, the University has made positive impacts in our community and across the state because of people, programs and partnerships that were timely and impactful. These initiatives, personified most movingly by our incredible Wolf Pack Family, have built a sense of partnership and trust between the University and the communities we serve, creating ties that bind us together.
Mental health advocacy, outreach and research are areas — among many — where our University has made positive inroads into our community. The individuals highlighted in this issue’s cover story are all profoundly impacting mental health care in northern Nevada and across the state. From supporting first responders to providing child and adolescent psychiatry, and from helping to establish women’s health practices to the vital role of clinical social work in our community, the University’s people and programs are delivering a transformational investment in our future.
I am reminded of this ripple effect during our spring Commencement ceremonies each May, as I share stories of our graduates with the families, friends, faculty, staff and alumni assembled on our historic Quad.
I’ve told the story of a young man who struggled through our foster care system and then, thanks to an internship through our School of Social Work, found his calling providing guidance to the youth of the Truckee Meadows Boys and Girls Club. A woman who, while scribing and helping with emergency room admissions, was tasked with tending to her mother’s recovery following surgical complications — and through it all was more determined than ever to continue helping others through a career in health care. A graduate whose work with children in speech language pathology taught her an important lesson: “I firmly believe in the transformative power of empathy and compassion, resonating with the quote that ‘Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to others.’”
What makes these stories so compelling is that they all are part of a larger narrative – that of a University which has always embraced, and has been embraced by, the community of which it is a part.
Together, our efforts to navigate intricate challenges continue to create a silver thread that connects us all.
Go Pack!
Brian Sandoval ’86
President