A MESSAGE TO OUR PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS

As you browse the Provost's web pages and those to which they are linked, a portrait of Christopher Newport University emerges; and this portrait differs in important ways from those evoked by many other institutions. You will find a campus of beauty, intimacy, and people who are both engaged and engaging. You will find an extensive curriculum designed and delivered by a talented, world-class faculty. You will find a broad spectrum of activities and support services which exist for the benefit of our students. And most of all, you will find that at CNU we know who and what we are. Read on and find out. And if your own aspirations for higher education are aligned to our values, consider joining this very special academic community.

“Students first,” we say; and to us it is much more than a slogan. Nor does it mean that we will indulge you when such indulgence is contrary to your own academic best interests. Rather, it is a way of institutional life. It means that our overriding commitment is to your preparation to lead a life of substance, significance, quality, and rewards. In keeping with this commitment, your educational experience with us is one of liberal learning (literally, the learning of a free person) characterized by academic rigor, disciplined inquiry, lively dialogue, real-world experience, and – most important – undertaken in a community of honor.

When you visit our campus and witness $500,000,000 of either just-completed or nearly-completed new construction and meet some of our more than 600 faculty and staff, be mindful that these facilities and people have but one purpose at CNU: to provide the very best in liberal learning to our students. In the words of Parmenides, founder of the ancient Greek Eleatic School, you will leave us not just with marketable skills and cultivated talents, but – more importantly – also endowed with “the unshakable heart of well-rounded truth.”

The Office of the Provost is responsible for the overall conduct and direction of the CNU academic program. This includes the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the School of Business, the University Library, and a number of other offices which support the academic program and its students. The commitment of the Provost is to foster for your benefit the most rewarding possible curriculum and the most effective faculty to deliver it. From philosophy to physics, chemistry to choreography, economics to ecology, we assure that your learning is broad, deep, and relevant to your success in tomorrow’s world. Come and relish the experience. Give us your undivided commitment and your uncompromising effort, and we will give you the best four years of your life and a future of boundless opportunity.

Mark W. Padilla , Ph.D.
Professor of Classical Studies
Provost of the University