It is easy being green.
I mean no disrespect to Kermit the Frog, but it’s been a real pleasure to watch the three Pace University campuses move back to the Green COVID-19 Alert Level. And it’s been even better to see how well our community is responding to the change. When I’ve walked around our campuses this week, I’d like to think I’ve seen a little bit more joy, a little bit more freedom, and a little bit of pride that we’ve kept our community so safe and strong over the past 24 months.
What impresses me most is that I see a community that is still being careful. As you know, we’ve made Pace a “mask-friendly” environment. We continue to require masks in certain places—in classrooms during classes, on elevators, in healthcare settings—and we welcome them, even encourage them, in other places, especially crowded ones. Across Pace, I’ve seen diligent students, faculty, and staff responsibly continuing to wear masks as they walk down hallways or gather in lounges. It’s not required any longer, but the people of Pace know how to be responsible, how to take care of themselves, and perhaps most important how to look out for each other.
Now that we’re returned to normal capacities and more normal events, I’m looking forward to being out and about on our campuses. This week I’ll attend Haub Law’s annual Law Leadership Dinner, our first fully in-person event for alumni and friends in more than two years. I want to get back to all those in-person student activities I’ve missed—the celebrations and awards ceremonies and Midnight Breakfasts. As we ramp up Employee Recognition Month, which started on Friday, I want to get back to the in-person meetings and councils and recognition ceremonies. And perhaps most of all, I’m looking forward to Commencement 2022, our first in-person graduation celebration in three year. I’m excited for our big day, with thousands of graduates, family, friends, faculty, and staff, all gathered at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Finally, I can’t speak of all this good news without acknowledging a horrible loss. Since I last wrote to you in Pace Now, Pleasantville sophomore Jordan Robinson passed away. I didn’t know Jordan, but everything I hear about him breaks my heart further. Jordan was a remarkable young man, kind and giving, who could light up a room. The outpouring of love for him on our Pleasantville Campus was both inspiring and a real tribute to the person he was.
Jordan was a believer in paying kindness forward. As we move forward, let us keep Jordan in our hearts, and let us use him as an inspiration to continue making the world a better place.
Pace University’s Lubin School of Business continues to strengthen its national reputation. Its latest recognition from The Princeton Review places Lubin among the country’s leading on-campus MBA programs, underscoring the school’s academic excellence, industry connections, and proven commitment to career-ready graduate education.
Inside the newly revitalized One Pace Plaza East, Pace University’s Commercial Dance students got their first glimpse of a space built for the way they move, create, and collaborate. What began as a social media shoot became a live lesson in experiential learning, as Sands students choreographed, directed, and performed original movement in minutes—offering a joyful preview of Pace’s next chapter in the performing arts.
From celebrating 120 years of Pace pride to earning national recognition, launching new centers, advancing sustainability, and empowering students to lead, this semester offered 10 inspiring reminders of Pace’s momentum—and the community driving it forward.