Date: 08/20/2008

San José State's New President to Discuss Priorities in His First Major Public Address

Contact:
Pat Lopes Harris, SJSU Media Relations, 408-924-1748

SJSU map, directions.

SAN JOSE, Calif., -- SJSU President Jon Whitmore will deliver the Fall Welcome Address at noon Thursday, August 21, in the newly renovated Morris Dailey Auditorium. This will be Whitmore's first major public address since taking office earlier this month. An annual tradition, the address gives the president the opportunity to discuss the coming year. The event is free and open to the campus community and media. The speech will also be shown live via webcast accessible from the SJSU homepage.

Whitmore will discuss his initial thoughts on deepening SJSU's engagement with Silicon Valley, focusing on sustainability, improving graduation and retention rates, and making excellence in information technology a defining attribute of SJSU. He will also introduce a presidential blog that will be accessible from the SJSU homepage after the address concludes. Among the blog's features will be "A Day in the Life of SJSU," in which readers will follow the president as he works shoulder-to-shoulder with the staff of various departments across campus to experience first-hand how the university functions.

The address will be preceded the same day by the Welcome Convocation, another annual tradition. Oriented toward students and their parents, the convocation will begin with breakfast at 9 a.m. on Tower Lawn, followed by a short program at 10 a.m. on the Science Lawn next to King Library. Whitmore is expected to attend the breakfast and offer brief remarks during the program.

Read more on President Whitmore.

Read more on the Office of the President.

View the Fall Welcome Address with Real Player.

San José State -- Silicon Valley's largest institution of higher learning with 32,000 students and 5,700 employees -- is part of the California State University system. SJSU's 154-acre downtown campus anchors the nation's 10th largest city.